Tag: Part D

Medicare Surprise: Drug Plan Prices Touted During Open Enrollment Can Rise Within a Month

By Susan Jaffe  | Kaiser Health News | May 3, 2022 | This KHN story also ran on

Something strange happened between the time Linda Griffith signed up for a new Medicare prescription drug plan during last fall’s enrollment period and when she tried to fill her first prescription in January.

She picked a Humana drug plan for its low prices, with help from her longtime insurance agent and Medicare’s Plan Finder, an online pricing tool for comparing a dizzying array of options. But instead of the $70.09 she expected to pay for her dextroamphetamine, used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, her pharmacist told her she owed $275.90.

“I didn’t pick it up because I thought something as wrong,” said Griffith, 73, a retired construction company accountant who lives in the Northern California town of Weaverville.  “To me, when you purchase a plan, you have an implied contract,” she said. “I say I will pay the premium on time for this plan. And they’re going to make sure I get the drug for a certain amount.”

But it often doesn’t work that way.  [Full story in Kaiser Health News, NPR  and Tampa Bay Times]  

 

 

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Lifting Therapy Caps Is A Load Off Medicare Patients’ Shoulders

Last month’s budget deal means Medicare beneficiaries are eligible for physical and occupational therapy indefinitely. Plus, prescription drug costs will fall for more seniors.

By Susan Jaffe  | Kaiser Health News | March 14, 2018 | This KHN story also ran on 

Physical therapy helps Leon Beers, 73, get out of bed in the morning and

Leon Beers gets help from caregiver Timothy Wehe. (Bert Johnson for KHN)

maneuver around his home using his walker. Other treatment strengthens his throat muscles so that he can communicate and swallow food, said his sister Karen Morse. But in mid-January, his home health care agency told Morse it could no longer provide these services because he had used all his therapy benefits allowed under Medicare for the year.

… Under a recent change in federal law, people who qualify for Medicare’s [physical, occupational and speech] therapy services will no longer lose them solely because they used too much. 

“It is a great idea,” said Beers. “It will help me get back to walking.” [Continued at Kaiser Health News,  NPR  and The Washington Post]

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