subject: Latest Changes To Medicare Prescription Drug Plan [print this page] Once again Medicare is changing the rulesOnce again Medicare is changing the rules. This time its to make it simpler for Medicare beneficiaries to select the prescription drug coverage that is right for them. However, according to a new analysis by Avalere Health, it could cause more than three million Medicare beneficiaries to change their plans in 2011.
From what I understand the purpose of the change is to decrease prescription drug plan duplication by the same insurer, suggests Alan Weinstock, insurance broker at http://www.MedicareSupplementPlans.com. Its not that seniors are going to lose their coverage, its just that their premiums and copayments could change.
Overview of the New Medicare Prescription Drug Plan
Insurers have already been notified by Medicare they wont be permitted to offer more than one basic drug plan in any given region. Several major prescription plans currently do just that. But eliminating these duplicate plans could mean that nearly three million Medicare beneficiaries will need to find new coverage.
Part of the plan is that now insurers that offer multiple Medicare prescription plans will have to show that each plan is different. Currently there are nearly 1,600 plans available. Unfortunately, too many of these lack any significant differences from one another.
The expectation is that Medicare will release its list of prescription drug plans for 2011 sometime in late September. Medicare beneficiaries may see their options drop from over 40 per state to around 30.
Medicare Disagrees with the Findings
Medicare officials disagree with the Avalere estimates and feel that "anybody who is producing that kind of analysis is simply guessing." Instead, they claim that Medicare is not reducing the number of insurers or the number of quality prescription drug plans. Its a matter of streamlining and allowing insurers to offer fewer top quality choices in order to make it easier for seniors to choose. This places seniors in a stronger, not a weaker position, indicates Medicare officials.
However, opponents of the changes argue that choices are being taken away from seniors, that it could be a hassle for those who had not intended to change plans and that this action risks undercutting President Barack Obama's promise that people who like their health care plans can keep them.
When all the changes anticipated are taken into account, Avalere estimates that as many as 3.7 million Medicare recipients may have to switch. That is equal to about 20% of the 17.5 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in stand-alone drug plans.
Currently Medicare is working with insurers to ensure there are limited disruptions in coverage for Medicare beneficiaries. This may include automatically reassigning beneficiaries to a comparable plan with the same insurer if the original plan is eliminated.
