Industry Programs May Best Medicare Drug Benefit
The November 15 enrollment date for the Medicare drug benefit is drawingnear, but a new study shows that some lower-income seniors may want toconsider signing up for assistance programs sponsored by drug companiesinstead. Researchers found that the Medicare drug benefit provides themost savings on annual drug costs only for seniors living at or nearthe federal poverty line. However, once annual income approaches 135 to150 percent of the poverty line, the line between drug companies’programs and Medicare begins to blur; for those with income surpassing150 percent of the federal poverty line, industry programs are the farbetter choice – 77 percent of savings compared to 31 percent withMedicare. Furthermore, late enrollment in the Medicare drug benefitinvokes a penalty of higher monthly premiums. Drug company programs dohave their limitations, however – the range of drugs offered may belimited, and most people are utterly unaware of the existence of suchprograms. Click here to view the Reuters news article on this topic.
The study, Impact of the Medicare Modernization Act on Low-Income PersonsDawn E. Havrda, PharmD, BCPS; Beth A. Omundsen, MD; William Bender, MD; and Mary Ann Kirkpatrick, PhDappears in the Oct. 18 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.