New Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage

Article submitted by Alex Trujillo, Regional Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Denver, CO.
For more details, they can be reached at 1-800-633-4227, or visit their website at www.medicare.gov.

This autumn is a very important time for people with Medicare. The new prescription drug coverage will be available starting January 1, 2006, and can make a significant impact on your prescription drug costs. But you must sign up for the coverage, and make your own decisions on how to get the most out of this benefit.

By early October, the specific details of the available plan choices, including premiums and coverage, will be publicized. There will be a number of choices, and, just as medical insurance varies from one plan to another, so will prescription drug coverage. CMS will be an objective source of information about the choices, through a number of sources.

Late in October, the 2006 "Medicare & You" handbook will be mailed to every person with Medicare. This will be the largest, and most important edition of this handbook we have ever produced. It will contain details of the plans available in Colorado, for you to compare at your convenience.

CMS will also have a plan comparison feature on our website. You can enter your zip code, the prescription drugs you are taking now, and other information so that the site will customize the choices to fit your priorities. You can than compare two or more plans that you consider suitable, side by side, to help you make a confident decision about which one best meets your needs.

In addition, the CMS phone line will be staffed by trained people, 24 hours every day. They can walk you through the same steps that are used on the website, to assist you.

And local people are ready to help, too. The Access to Benefits Coalition, a key CMS partner in our awareness, education, and enrollment efforts, has its own phone line, at 1-800-503-5190, where you can find the information you need.

How do you compare? The amount of the premium is one important consideration, of course. But there are others. For example, you need to know which plans cover the drug(s) you are taking now. You may have a favorite pharmacy you'd like to keep using. Knowing which plans cover which drugs, and use which pharmacies, can be critical to making the best choices.

The sign-up period begins on November 15, 2005. People with Medicare who enroll between then and December 31, 2005, will get coverage beginning on January 1, 2006. If you enroll after that, your coverage will begin on the first of the month after you sign up. The enrollment period ends on May 15, 2006. If you don't enroll by then, in most cases, you will have to wait until the next enrollment period, starting November 15, 2006, to join. And you may have to pay a penalty if you don't sign up at your first opportunity.

It's important to remember that everyone eligible for Medicare (Part A or Part B) is also eligible for this prescription drug benefit, regardless of income, prior illness, or where you get your health care now. Coverage will pay for both brand name and generic drugs. And, depending on how much you spend on prescriptions now, and in the future, it could save you hundreds of dollars next year, and every year.