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| Prescription Drug Discount Cards... |
May 03, 2004 |
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Dear Friends,
Seniors can apply for a prescription drug card beginning May 3, 2004 and the cards become active on June 1. It`s completely voluntary, so nobody has to get the card. But you might check to see if you (or your Mom or Dad) might benefit from one of them.
Last December when we added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, we knew that it was going to take some time for the whole big program to get up and running. The whole thing won`t be operating until 2006. But we also wanted to give people some immediate help. So, we added a Medicare-approved Prescription Drug Card program for this year and for 2005.
We also put a requirement in the law that was probably one of the best little ideas in the bill. (It wasn`t my idea, but it is really useful.) We required the Medicare people to use the internet to provide cost and price comparisons for the different cards and pharmacies all over the country.
That web site is now up and running and I just tried it. You can try it at http://www.medicare.gov/AssistancePrograms/home.asp
You can enter in your zip code and the medicines you take, and it will tell you which plan has negotiated the best prices on the drugs you take and where you can get them near your home.
I picked three common medicines -- Levothyroxine, Lipitor and Flonase. (It`s allergy season, after all.) I put in a notional income level and the web site was kind enough to tell me that I might qualify for the $600 low income help to be added to my card up front and tells me how to apply for it.
There were 13 different card options that covered all three of my medicines. They had annual fees ranging from $19 up to $30 and the monthly cost of my drugs would be from $184 to $216 depending on the card. The options ranged from a mail order outfit to one where I could get the medicine from any of 28 pharmacies within 5 miles of my home in Albuquerque.
Now, I don`t buy those three medicines normally, so I can`t compare the price to regular retail. But if I was a senior already on those prescriptions I could. And just among the cards, I could save over $350 a year by choosing the one that negotiated the best deal on the medicines I need.
A recent study by Harvard Medical School researchers found that seniors who currently do not have coverage will save an average of 17.4 percent with these cards. The Harvard findings were published in the journal Health Affairs. This figure does not include the additional $600 subsidy that many low-income seniors will have from the start with their cards, providing a larger net savings.
Roughly 49,000 New Mexico seniors are expected to qualify for the extra $600 subsidy on their drug cards because they have annual incomes below $12,569 for individuals or $16,862 for couples.
It`s a great service to get that much personalized information right on the internet about the choices available to you or to someone you care about.
So if you or a senior you know takes prescription medicine, check out the web site. It could save you a lot of money.
Good to be home,
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