Unlike some common vaccines, like those for the flu, hepatitis B and pneumonia, shingles shots are not covered under Original Medicare Parts A or B. Medicare coverage for the two commercially available shingles vaccines, Shingrix and Zostavax, is provided only if you are enrolled in a stand-alone Part D drug plan or a Medicare Advantage […]
“… a huge thanks for cluing us in to the EPIC ..program.” “…we now estimate yearly savings to be $7,000+/-” “…we’d never heard of this program until one of your newsletter emails..” When Mary became eligible for Medicare I helped her enroll in the Medicare Supplement Plan G she selected as secondary to Original Medicare. […]
This month I received this wonderful thank you note from Nancy. She had recently relocated and needed to find new doctors along with a Medicare Advantage plan covering those doctors and her medications. Nancy was concerned that she would have to remain on her current plan and wait until the Annual Open Enrollment Period in […]
Individuals enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B may apply for the Medicare Savings Program. If eligible you will receive help paying the Medicare Part B premium, currently $135.50. In some instances, (QMB) the program will pay your Part A and Part B deductible and co-insurance amounts. (And possibly a percentage of your Part C […]
This is a step in the right direction. Drug manufacturer Eli Lilly is introducing Insulin Lispro, a generic version of Humalog – an insulin to treat Type 2 diabetes. However don’t expect for this to appear on your health insurance generic drug formulary anytime soon. “…those with drug coverage will either experience no change or […]
If you, a loved one, friend or neighbor has experienced “sticker shock” with your Medicare Part D prescription drug co-payment, the following case study may interest you. Earlier this week, I received this message from an Albany New York County couple: “We were talking with our neighbor Kathy about the sudden and unaffordable cost of […]
On January 4, 2019 the Wall Street Journal published a powerful article written by Joseph Walker and Christopher Weaver describing how Medicare Part D insurers kept $9.1 billion more in taxpayer funds than they would have had their estimates been accurate from 2006 to 2015. In the WSJ article, the writers do a deep dive […]
A client called this morning and asked this question: “Dan, I went to refill my prescription and was quoted almost double what I paid in 2018.“ Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plans reset each year on January 1. What that means is the prescription drug benefit levels start over at what is called the Deductible […]
Previously: In the first two posts in this series, Phase I: The Prescription Drug Deductible, and Phase 2: The Initial Coverage Period, I reviewed how Medicare Part D drug plan benefits reset each January 1, how Medicare Part D prescription drug plans may include a deductible amount to be paid before any medications are covered […]
In my previous post, Phase I: The Prescription Drug Deductible, I covered how Medicare Part D drug plan benefits reset each January 1. The post also described how a plan deductible amount may apply to any or only a specified group of medications. For many, depending on whether your January refills were affected by the […]