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Choices hard for Medicare recipients PART D PROGRAM BY THE NUMBERS MEDICARE HELP
Seniors must decide this month on their Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage
Date published: 12/13/2008
BY JIM HALL The last six weeks of the year are stressful for Medicare recipients. It's when they must decide what to do about their drug coverage. Now in its third year, the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan asks participants to pause during November and December and choose a plan for the new year. Participants can stick with the plan they have or pick a new one. If they don't already participate in the optional Part D program, they can decide whether to join. "This is the only time that people have to find a plan that fits their needs," said Valerie Hopson-Bell, owner of ElderCare Connections, a local consulting company. More than 98 percent of those 65 and older participate in the Medicare health insurance program. The Fredericksburg area is home to almost 29,000 participants, a third of whom have joined a Part D program. Local seniors can choose from 48 different Part D plans, all offered by private insurance companies. Each plan also has a monthly premium, yearly deductible, co-payment, coverage gap and formulary to consider. "I get confused with all these Medicare choices," said Shirley McChesney, 70, of Fredericksburg. McChesney gets her drug coverage through a Medicare Advantage plan from Humana. She has been happy with it, she said last week, but the cost of the plan is going up, and she wonders if a Part D plan would be better for her. McChesney is a retired Boeing worker who moved to the area three years ago to be near her children. She lives on Social Security and retirement income that totals $18,535 a year. "My biggest problem is being able to meet the monthly premiums," she said. McChesney went to the Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic in Fredericksburg last week to get help with her decision. The clinic had arranged with Hopson-Bell and a team of volunteers to meet with seniors about Part D. The counseling sessions were free. McChesney met with volunteer Donya Currie. Together they looked at several Medicare plans, using the medicare.gov Web site. McChesney does not use any medications regularly, and her drug bill so far this year is only $64. So she and Currie agreed that her best option was to pay the higher premium and stay with the Humana plan.
Read more stories about Fredericksburg Date published: 12/13/2008
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