As from November 15, American seniors will be able to sign up for Part D of the Medicare Prescription Drug Program. There are so many options to sign up to that many seniors have written in to Medical News Today saying much of this maze is so overwhelming they just do not know how to proceed.
The new law that affects Medicare offers seniors prescription durg benefits as well as subsidised doctor and hospital care. The US government is subsidising insurance companies, which will now be able to offer new Medicare managed health plans.
For seniors who do not have coverage the benefits seem worth it – it costs relatively little to sign up and the benefits are good. The choice of offers you can sign up to is vast, and within that choice, the benefits vary considerably. If you are eligible for Medicare you have until May next year to sign up.
On average, seniors have over 40 different plans to chose from. They vary widely in what they have to offer and how much they cost to join. The best place to start is at www.medicare.gov – there you will be able to see what plans are available in your area.
It is hard to find out what your prescription prices will be for each plan, short of phoning up the insurer yourself.
The monthly plans cost, on average, about $30 per month. Many worry that the low price for joining up is just an initial price – as soon as the insurers have signed up as many people as possible they might start raising the premiums and shaving off benefits which are currently on offer.
The size of the market is large – there are 44 million potential Medicare patients.
Insurance companies are also taking a risk. If an insurer’s premiums are low and its benefits are high, and it ends up with enormous numbers of people signing up who consume lots of expensive drugs, the company could find itself in trouble.
Written by:Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today