Double-digit hikes for some Medicare drug plans
posted on September 23, 2010WASHINGTON – Millions of seniors face double-digit hikes in their Medicare prescription premiums next year unless they shop for cheaper coverage. A new analysis of government data finds that premiums will go up an average of 10 percent among the top plans that have signed up some 70 percent of seniors. That's according to Avalere Health, a private research firm that crunched the numbers. Marketing for next year's drug plans gets under way Oct. 1, and seniors will see some of the biggest changes since the Medicare prescription benefit became…Read More
Medicare Saves $33 Billion through Generic Drugs
posted on September 17, 2010According to a Congressional Budget Office report, generic drugs saved both the government and beneficiaries roughly $33 billion in 2007. Businessweek reports the trade group Pharmaceutical Care Management Association expects an additional $14 billion in savings over the next few years due to new generics entering the market through 2012.
Medicare Drug Plans Rise $1 a Month
posted on August 19, 2010The average Medicare drug benefit plan will cost $30 a month next year, a $1-a-month increase from this year’s average premium, federal officials said Wednesday afternoon. The officials portrayed the estimated new cost as a very small price increase, while saying many older Americans will pay less out-of-pocket for brand-name pharmaceutical drugs under the health care law enacted in Washington in March. Dr. Donald M. Berwick, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said 99 percent of older and disabled Americans who receive drugs under the Medicare plan…Read More
