Medicare Drug Plan
Today is the first day of the six week period that seniors have to select their Medicare drug plan, that’s Medicare part D. It’s changed as far as some drug charges so it’s a major project once again. All seniors should sign up for one of these plans because if you don’t you may have to pay very expensive penalties later on if you do need to use it to get medication.
The government has a website to guide you through the selection, however that can be confusing also. Terry Savage has written an article with a step by step guide to using the government website so my advice is to follow this link and use Terry’s guide.
More People Skipping Meds
More people now than ever are skipping or finding ways to stretch their medications because they simply can’t afford them anymore. This includes the elderly which have hit the “donut hole” in their medicare coverage. The so-called “donut hole” remember is the point at which they have reached the payout limit and must pay the next few thousand out of their pockets. Add in the 47 million who are uninsured and you’ve got people, myself included, that are stretching their meds by cutting pills or skipping days. One woman is even considering taking her elderly mother off of her Alzheimers medicine because it totals one fifth of her income and she simply cannot afford it without cutting back on other essentials like groceries, and gas.
The drug companies are starting to feel it now too by losing profits. So sorry for them, but the main concern is the person who needs a medication to live and has to risk their lives by having to choose between food and meds. I don’t have the answer but someone needs to come up with something. I think everyone has a responsibility to take care of their own health matters, however there are so many who have done everything right and the way they were supposed to but have now fallen through the cracks, unable to help themselves any longer.
There is a lot of talk lately about whether medical care and medications are a right or a responsibility. I believe that a person who fufilled their responsibilities throughout life, now has a right to at least the minimum of care.
Medicare Part D Results
After three years of the Medicare Part D Program. a couple studies on the results have been completed.
What they’ve seen are great improvements for some patients but they’ve also seen some really sick people still skipping medications or cutting down there dosages because they simply can’t afford it.
Even worse there are still seniors who don’t yet understand how the program works. I must say it does seem to be confusing. There is also still what they call a “hole” that some people are falling into because there is no coverage for medications that cost into the thousands.
Much more study needs to be done to determine what is both good and bad about the plan so that our seniors can get the care and medicine that they need to live.