The WaPo has an interesting piece of reporting today that includes some senior comments about the new Drug Plan. Rather than excerpting it, I will simply direct you to the story itself, which is worth a read.
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Mike in SLO
Wait until the end of the year and then re-poll these people. From what I understand, there is the “donut hole” provision that hasn’t hit most of these people yet. So far it seems people are in the most part saving money, but we really won’t know until the end of the first year what their actual costs are. I think it premature to grade Part D yet.
RandyH
Yeah, one thing that the politicians never gave much thought to was that so many Part D participants would happen to run into the “Donut Hole” (where they have zero coverage and yet are still paying monthly premiums) right around September/October/November of the ’06 Mid-term election. And seniors almost always vote. So, even if they have not yet personally experienced the pain of the “Donut Hole,” they surely will have heard stories from their friends and pharmacist about it.
Oh well, goodbye congressional leadership. Don’t let the door hit ya… Hopefully the next congress will actually fix this disaster of a program so it’s actually good for seniors and not just the drug and insurance companies. First step, I think, would be to get private insurers out of the equation entirely.
My dad is on Meicare and thank god he already had excellent (retired military) drug coverage and didn’t have to join this program. Neither one of us can understand how this scheme really works – and all the confusing ads for the different plans are really not helpful.
yet another jeff
It has to be part of a plan to show that Medicare can’t work and must be privatized…but then again, I think it’s part of what we saw last year with the flu vaccine.
There is no Social Security Crisis if all the retirees die of the flu, or of other ailments because they hit the donut hole and can’t afford medication.
ThomasD
Interesting that there were so many ‘above average’ grades handed out – wonder if they are truly representative. The couple taking 17+ meds sure seemed troubled. Given that number of meds it is all but improbable they would fail to save money regardless of which plan they chose, almost sounds like a case of decision paralysis.
The donut hole is all but a non-issue as many PDPs are available with supplemental coverage that eliminates the gap. Sure they cost more, but if you already know that you will hit the gap then do your homework and you will also save more in the long run.
The bigger issues will be the shenanigan that are due to begin in the next few months. Many of the major plans will begin reviewing and making alterations to their formularies, meaning previously covered drugs may be dropped, or the co-pays for selected items may change drastically. Alot of these plans said they would not change much until they had at least six months worth of utilization data, privately they also felt it unwise to make changes until they had locked in the maximum number of beneficiaries prior to the cut-off date. Look for the number of ‘below average’ grades to increase in the coming months. Also look to the number of individuals switching plans during the next open enrollment period towards the end of the year.
Even more interesting, look at which, if any insurors pull out of the market (it truly remains unclear if this is a profitable marketplace.)
trostky
I love the first sentence: ” … if an informal poll is valid.”
Well, it’s not, if you want to get all fussy about it.
radioleft
Here’s the question no one will answer for me. What plan should my father be on that will cover the new drugs that will be prescribed next month. The answer – who knows. Choose a plan. It’s a crap shoot. This plan is nothing more than a criminal scheme to funnel money to the insurance industry. Herre’s what my elderly relatives did:
http://blog.radioleft.com/blog/_archives/2006/5/9/1945528.html