March 10, 2011

There will be a 50% discount on brand-name drugs (this is contributed by the manufacturers).

Also, there will be a federally subsidized 7% discount on generic drugs.

Over the next 10 years these discounts will get larger, so that by 2020 you will pay no more than 25% of the cost of any Part D drug in the doughnut hole.

* The Medicare doughnut hole is a Medicare Part D coverage gap, the difference of the initial coverage limit and the catastrophic coverage threshold.

September 29, 2010

MEDICARE ARTICLE!

Medicare restrictions prevent any commentary in a public forum. However, this article is interesting and relevant for all who are on Medicare.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704129204575505870259644884.html

September 8, 2010

Today’s, Wall Street Journal headline “Health Insurers Plan Hikes”.

According to the WSJ, (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703720004575478200948908976.html), insurance carriers in other states have filed requests with their state regulators to raise premiums due to additional costs resulting from new preventative care mandates.

Undoubtedly skeptics will proclaim this a ruse by the insurance carriers to make more money; the insurance companies in turn will insist it is necessary for profitability.

Without access to their actuarial statements we don’t know for certain who is right.

However, we do know the health reform act has required companies to cover some procedures that weren’t previously covered. This is good news for patients, but obviously it is going to result in additional costs that someone down the line will have to pay for.

There is a silver lining for Montanans – because primary carriers like Blue Cross Blue Shield, New West and Allegience already offer some sort of preventative benefits, similar rate increases shouldn’t be as extreme as other states are experiencing.

We will continue to monitor this situation.