More about New Medicare

In our posting of last monday we discussed about the new Medicare plan.
Here are some more highlights of this program:

People must enroll in a plan offered by a private provider that contracts
with the federal government. The insurer will issue a card that
beneficiaries will take to the pharmacy along with their doctor's
prescription. The pharmacist will use the card to determine the type of
coverage the customer has. This dictates out-of-pocket costs.

The standard benefit calls for premiums of about $32 a month and a
deductible of $250. That means paying the first $250 worth of prescriptions
for the year. After the deductible is covered, the customer pays 25% of
the cost until drug spending reaches $2,250. Beneficiaries then must pay
all drug costs until they hit $5,100. At that point, the customer pays 5%
of further charges.

Insurers know that beneficiaries have different needs and are offering
different options. For example, some older people would prefer a more
basic, no-frills plan. This allows providers to offer premiums dramatically
below the $32 monthly national average. Several offer no deductible,
meaning coverage starts with the first prescription purchase of the year.
Many plans fill in portions of the coverage gap between $2,250 and $5,100.

So, take some time to go through the offers and choose a provider
carefully. It's sometimes overwhelming to get into so much of information
to decide what servers best your purpose. So, before you go through the
brochures, write down what are the things you'll look for inside those
bunches of papers. Then it would be easier to concentrate on relevant
portions.