Guest guest Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Joy - Perhaps you didn't notice, but from last year to this year, the out-of-pocket amount before the donut hole decreased, the donut hole expanded and the total out-of-pocket before catastrophic coverage increased, and of course, the monthly premium increased. And every indication is these increases will occur annually. Just another gift from Bush and the insurance industry. When we first entered Plan D, it was a tossup between D with its premiums and the exorbitant US drug prices and going Canadian. Last year, we used plan D until we hit the donut, and then bought Canadian for the rest of the year. However, if they continue reducing the benefits of Plan D and increasing its costs, we may drop plan D and go Canadian altogether. Most of our drugs are available from Canada for from 25% to 40% of US prices. We also found quite a few of our drugs are AARP/United tier three with that hefty $62 copay, which will probably increase next year. Most of those drugs have less costly copays under BCBS Plan D. AARP is doing its best to push people into lower cost alternatives which they claim are as effective. I tried one as an alternative to Aciphex and thought I'd keel over from the recurrence of my GERD. Not all AARP alternatives are created equal. Ohldepharte ----- Original Message ----- From: JoyCarol and Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2007 10:31 AM Subject: [ ] Medicare Rx programs The time to switch insurance enrollments is next month and I presently have Medicare with Rx insurance through AARP. My medicare pays 90% of my xolair, I pay $100.08 a month. Now, my AARP insurance started out great but over the past two years some of my asthma drugs have been dropped (like singulair) and most of the 'newer' inhalers are not on their drug list. I'm also approaching my maximum coverage amount on the first tier and there are still three months left in the year. Has anyone found a medicare Rx program that I should consider investigating that is better than AARP? Also, are there any upstate NY xolair users that are enrolled in Senior Blue, CDPHP or MVP that have their Xolair covered and how much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 All supplemental drug plans try to push the generic. My company pushed for me to try the generic omperazole (or whatever it was) and it did no good. I am on Nexium which seems to work better for me, but the generic was like taking a placebo--zilch help! My co-pay is 50% of cost, but it is still better than using a plan D from medicare. And it is those of us who are in the middle income bracket that hurt the most. My mom who is on social security only gets help with her medicine co-pay, so much so that she pays less than a dollar for some of her meds. But then there are two that she still pays $32 for each refill. Even though I pay through the nose for my meds (co-pay) I did not qualify for any help because our retirement income is just barely over the limit and we had a little too much in our savings account! Caught in the middle! Adah Terry <onabeach@...> wrote: Joy - Perhaps you didn't notice, but from last year to this year, the out-of-pocket amount before the donut hole decreased, the donut hole expanded and the total out-of-pocket before catastrophic coverage increased, and of course, the monthly premium increased. And every indication is these increases will occur annually. Just another gift from Bush and the insurance industry. When we first entered Plan D, it was a tossup between D with its premiums and the exorbitant US drug prices and going Canadian. Last year, we used plan D until we hit the donut, and then bought Canadian for the rest of the year. However, if they continue reducing the benefits of Plan D and increasing its costs, we may drop plan D and go Canadian altogether. Most of our drugs are available from Canada for from 25% to 40% of US prices. We also found quite a few of our drugs are AARP/United tier three with that hefty $62 copay, which will probably increase next year. Most of those drugs have less costly copays under BCBS Plan D. AARP is doing its best to push people into lower cost alternatives which they claim are as effective. I tried one as an alternative to Aciphex and thought I'd keel over from the recurrence of my GERD. Not all AARP alternatives are created equal. Ohldepharte ----- Original Message ----- From: JoyCarol and Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2007 10:31 AM Subject: [ ] Medicare Rx programs The time to switch insurance enrollments is next month and I presently have Medicare with Rx insurance through AARP. My medicare pays 90% of my xolair, I pay $100.08 a month. Now, my AARP insurance started out great but over the past two years some of my asthma drugs have been dropped (like singulair) and most of the 'newer' inhalers are not on their drug list. I'm also approaching my maximum coverage amount on the first tier and there are still three months left in the year. Has anyone found a medicare Rx program that I should consider investigating that is better than AARP? Also, are there any upstate NY xolair users that are enrolled in Senior Blue, CDPHP or MVP that have their Xolair covered and how much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 I am from the Rochester area it is all covered with Preffered Care I just pay the 20.00 specialist co pay . Yes we are trying again after the first frost. Karin A Melvin ----- Original Message ----- From: JoyCarol and Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2007 10:31 AM Subject: [ ] Medicare Rx programs The time to switch insurance enrollments is next month and I presently have Medicare with Rx insurance through AARP. My medicare pays 90% of my xolair, I pay $100.08 a month. Now, my AARP insurance started out great but over the past two years some of my asthma drugs have been dropped (like singulair) and most of the 'newer' inhalers are not on their drug list. I'm also approaching my maximum coverage amount on the first tier and there are still three months left in the year. Has anyone found a medicare Rx program that I should consider investigating that is better than AARP? Also, are there any upstate NY xolair users that are enrolled in Senior Blue, CDPHP or MVP that have their Xolair covered and how much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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