1 in 5 pay more in Medicare Rx plan

[spinbaby]

Funny, on the news the other night they were bragging about what a rousing success it was:

Medicare's new prescription-drug program has increased out-of-pocket costs for about one in five participants, causing some to risk their health by reducing or eliminating medications.

Though most of the more than 30 million beneficiaries enrolled in the program are saving money, two recent surveys suggest a substantial minority of seniors and people with disabilities are not:

• A Kaiser Family Foundation poll taken April 6-11 found 55% of 154 seniors who had enrolled said the plan would save them money, 19% said it would cost more, and another 19% said they would break even.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/1in5paymoreinmedicarerxplan;_ylt=Anr416qIrG8vt9Y4rxcggoYDW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBhcmljNmVhBHNlYwNtcm5ld3M-

[OKNancy]

1. My parents didn't enroll

My mother and step-father ( they married in their 70's) didn't enroll because they found that the plan he got with his post office pension and retirement package was better. I'm glad they took the time and effort to find out.

[LA lady]

2. good of you to check

Everyone really should check, it has been very good for my family.

My Uncle is a pharmacist and could explain all the intricacys

[mitchtv]

3. I didn't join, but my company swithched all us retirees

without telling us. It wa just horrible. We had a decent plan to begin with. From December until late March they refused to honor anything, till I was nearly out and ready to get a gun. We were "ineligible" for the first thee months of the year. Prices have gone up drastically, in addition to dropping coverage of some drugs and adding a step called "prior authorization", in which the doctor must get from a fax number that is always busy. They have added a layer of impossibility to the mix. I am ready to kill someone

[dchill]

4. Whether you're in or out....

of the Medicare Rx plan, it's going to cost more. I'm not in one yet, but I am taking five prescriptions, and since the first of the year, they have all gone up - I'd say 5% to 10%, on average. Unless you're in drug company or insurance stock, you're gonna lose.

[partylessinOhio]

6. Most everyone retired or disabled cannot afford to lose!

A sensible drug benefit would give a drug card to each person with the same coverage and the same co-pay if there had to be one.

There should never have been all these different plans with different drug lists. There should not be a doughnut hole where there is NO benefit. This was just flim-flam. Congress should be ashamed and held accountable. The program should be scrapped and written properly.

[sutz12]

5. Who is really surprised?

Any time you start offering these 'cafeteria' plans with so much 'choice,' it favors the corporations. More complexity always favors the beaurocrats, not the consumers.

Meanwhile, it is eating massive holes in the budget, like pretty much everything else this admin has done.

[seasat]

7. Dealing with all these plans is adding cost into the system.

Another point about Shrub Inc's idiotic bill is the cost to the pharmacies in dealing with a multitude of drug plans. The incredible Bureaucracy that is health insurance these days is IMHO, one of the major reasons for the rise in medical costs. If we went to a single payer system, it would substantially reduce the overhead. I wonder if anyone has ever done a study detailing these costs? I imagine that it would be difficult to do since Shrub Inc would never fund such a study at the federal level since it would undoubtedly negatively reflect on some of their major corporate donors.

[TexasLawyer]

8. The Doughnut

And I am betting most people haven't even hit the "doughnut" yet.

Google "Paul Krugman" and "doughnut" if you want to find out more.

[spinbaby]

9. Very good, thanks

Here's a link for those who want to read this:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/111105K.shtml