Open enrollment for Medicare Part D starts Sunday
The time for many senior citizens to make an important choice about their prescription drugs is here. Open enrollment for next year’s Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage begins November 15, 2009 and ends on December 31, 2009. During this time seniors and people with disabilities who qualify for Medicare coverage can switch their Part D plans for prescription coverage.
Medicare Part D is the prescription drug benefit delivered through private insurance plans and reimbursed by the federal government. Every plan is different and each year the private plans can change the cost of their premiums and the coverage design of their plans.
When it comes to Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage, it pays to shop around. In order to find a plan that meets their prescription drug needs and saves them the most money Medicare Part D recipients must evaluate and compare plans each year. Many of the Illinois insurance plans have changed for 2010 and in many cases premiums have dramatically increased or the benefit structure of the plan may have changed, so senior citizens and people with disabilities need to be informed about their options.
Also, beginning in 2010, a new Illinois law will become effective which will benefit Illinois residents who qualify for the Illinois Cares RX basic program. Illinois Cares RX is the state program which offers additional assistance for low-income Medicare eligible individuals to receive help with their premiums and doughnut hole Medicare Part D coverage. To learn more about the new law beneficiaries should check with their local Area Agency on Aging, the Illinois Department on Aging, or the Senior Health Insurance Program.
Citizen Action/Illinois, the state’s largest public interest organization, is working to educate consumers about this important issue. Go to the Citizen Action/Illinois website, www.citizenaction-il.org, to download a copy of the “Cautious Consumer Guide” to find out tips on how to shop around for the best plan, and the other resources available to help.
Sincerely,
Lynda DeLaforgue
Co-Director
Citizen Action/Illinois
Chicago
Emily Stuart
Organizer, Citizen Action/Illinois
Chicago
Emily Stuart:
Medicare Part D is the prescription drug benefit delivered through private insurance plans and reimbursed by the federal government. Every plan is different and each year the private plans can change the cost of their premiums and the coverage design of their plans.
Fercrysakes, keep this out of the hands of Lisa12! She still thinks the government negotiates prescription drug costs down to the amount of the co-pay.
is,
That’s not what I think. But it is a waste of time trying to explain things to you. You are ineducable.
“…reimbursed by the federal government.” And who reimburses the fed?
Lisa12:
“Medicare Part D is the prescription drug benefit delivered through private insurance plans and reimbursed by the federal government.”
I’ve been educated enough to understand that when someone is reimbursed by the government after paying the cost of a program, it’s a subsidy. Is that too tough to understand?
“…it’s a subsidy.” And who subsidizes the subsidizer?
egoist:
““…it’s a subsidy.” And who subsidizes the subsidizer?”
Ssssh! Lisa12 thinks it’s a component of Medicare part A and B. The shock may do irreparable damage to her fragile psyche.
Since Obama became President there has been a significant increase in US Military casualties in Afghanistan. If you watch the mainstream media you may not know this as troop casualties are not as highly reported as in the Bush days so not to embarrass the Obama administration. But the current administration has also once again put the blame on Bush saying that he didn’t pay enough attention to this war as the reason for this increase. There is most likely another very valid reason. A soldier just returned from Afghanistan.
This brave US soldier says that since Obama has been the “Commander and Chief” US military moral is at the lowest it has been since the Clinton days. He says the biggest reason for the increase in Military casualties in Afghanistan is the largely unreported immediate change in the rules of engagement that Obama insisted on the first week he was in office. No longer are US troops allowed to return fire on suspected terrorist insurgents if any so called civilians are in the area and could come under fire. If they are being fired upon by snipers from a village they are not allowed to return fire especially if any women and children are present.
The Muslim and Taliban insurgents know of this change in our rules of engagement are now using women and children as shields in fire fights with US troops knowing that they will not return fire. One of this recently returned soldier’s best friends was killed in a fire fight by snipers firing from a building in a village where the Taliban had positioned women and children standing in plain view on the roof of the building. His unit was prohibited by Obama’s new orders from returning fire at the snipers. I don’t care how you feel about the war in Iraq or Afghanistan or Bush but to put our brave soldiers in harms way like this and then tie their hands to defend themselves is just wrong!!!
is,
I am probably wasting my time, but I will try yet *again* to explain how Medicare Advantage works.
Here are the costs under Medicare and Medicare Advantage…
Parts A&B
Medicare: $8,829
Medicare Advantage: $8,829 * 114% = $10,065
(The Part A&B numbers are real numbers from the MEDPAC report.)
Part D
Medicare: $2,300
Medicare Advantage: $2,200
(The Part D numbers are estimates based on your figure of $2,250 per person, and that the MEDPAC report says the Medicare Advantage bids for Part D are slightly lower than stand-alone prescription drug plans bids.)
So for example…
Medicare recipient with Part D: $8,829 + $2,300 = $11,129
Medicare Advantage recipient with drug coverage: $10,065 + $2,200 = $12,265
Therefore, if Medicare Advantage gets a 14% CUT in their Part A&B payment from $10,065 to $8,829, then that would be a savings for taxpayers of $1,236 per senior.
The Part D numbers would not be affected in any way. Part D in Medicare Advantage is bid on separately from Parts A&B, and paid to Medicare Advantage plans IN ADDITION TO the Part A&B amount.
And in case you were wondering how much taxpayer money will be saved by eliminating the subsidies to private Medicare Advantage companies, the answer is $170 billion.
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/106xx/doc10688/hr3962Rangel.pdf
page 7
Setting payment rates in the Medicare Advantage program on the basis of Medicare spending per beneficiary in the fee-for-service sector and changing the way that payments to Medicare Advantage plans reflect differences in the health status of enrollees, yielding savings of an estimated $170 billion.
Lisa–
It does NO good to try and educate Sage.
It’s like teaching a pig to sing …. it only wastes your time and makes the pig angry