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September 2007 Medicare Part D Newsletter - Special Edition
This special edition newsletter is to announce the arrival of the 2008 Medicare Part D national plan features and premiums. Below you will find an overview of the prescription drug plan changes for 2008 and useful links to summaries the newly announced Part D plans. Finally, we have also added our 2008 state pages allowing you to compare plan features and premiums available in your area.
:: 2008 Changes in National Part D Plan Providers
:: 2008 Changes in Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans
:: What’s Next?
:: A Few Closing Notes
2008 Changes in National Part D Plan Providers
Which 17 health insurance providers are offering 2008 Medicare Part D prescription drug plans (PDPs) on a nationwide basis? Click here to see a listing of the 2008 Part D plan providers. This link also contains a 2007 list of the current 17 national Part D prescription drug plan providers. Please note that there are a few changes in the 2008 national Part D plan provider list.
Which two companies will begin offering 2008 Prescription Drug Plans across the nation?
- Sterling Insurance Group - Sterling Life Insurance Company
- Universal American Financial Corporation - Pennsylvania Life Insurance Company, American Progressive Life & Health Ins Co of NY
Which two companies will no longer offer national Prescription Drug Plans in 2008?
- Express Scripts, Inc. - SAMAscript
- NMHC SYSTEMS, INC - NMHC Group Solutions
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2008 Changes in Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans
According to the newly released Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data, an average of 91% of the Medicare beneficiaries will have access to lower cost Medicare Part D plans in 2008 -- as compared to 83% of the Medicare beneficiaries in 2007.
Monthly Part D plan premiums in 2008 will range from $9.80 (MedicareRx Rewards Standard in Arizona) to $107.50 (Humana Complete in New York) - as compared to a range in 2007 of $10 to $110.
The average monthly premium across all 2008 Part D plans in the 50 states is about $40. The average premium across all Part D plans in 2007 was $32. However, as noted in earlier Newsletters, CMS expects that the average Part D premium that will actually be paid by Medicare beneficiaries should be around $25, only slightly higher than the actual average Part D premium of $22 in 2007.
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Will there be fewer prescription drug plans in 2008?
No, as you can see from the the CMS Part D state summary, Medicare Part D beneficiaries will have more choices than ever. Although there are 17 Medicare Part D plan providers offering PDPs across the entire country, most states or Medicare Part D regions have a large number of local or regional Medicare Part D plans being offered this year. On average, there will be 53 Medicare Part D plans offered in each state during 2008, with up to 63 prescription drug plans available in the Pennsylvania and West Virginia region. If you wish to see more details on the national Part D plans available in your state, click here to compare plan features and premiums in your area.
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Which Medicare Part D plans provide complete Doughnut Hole or Gap coverage?
No 2008 Part D plan provides complete doughnut hole or gap coverage.
Although only 15% of the Part D plans offered coverage during the doughnut hole (donut hole) in 2006, around 30% of the Part D plans will provide some generic prescription coverage during the gap in 2008 - that's the good news. (Recall that the 2008 coverage gap or donut hole is the portion of your Medicare Part D plan that starts after your total retail costs reach $2,520 and continues until your total retail cost reach $5,726.25 or when you have actually spent a total of $4,050 out of pocket. Here is a guide to help.)
The bad news is, again, that no 2008 Part D prescription drug plan will offer complete brand-name and generic drug coverage through the coverage gap or doughnut hole – the Sierra Rx Plus plan will not be offered in 2008. The 2008 Citrus Part D Plus plan is the only prescription drug plan which offers some brand-name gap coverage. This plan is only available to Florida residents.
The coverage gap aspect of the 2008 Part D plan landscape will certainly pose a hurdle for many Medicare beneficiaries who are dependent upon medications with no generic alternative. Use our free 2008 Doughnut Hole cost estimator to help forecast potential prescription costs in 2008 and this simple tool may give some insight about how to begin budgeting for next year. Also, the 2008 Medicare.gov tool which calculates estimated plan costs based on your prescription usage will be available after October 11, 2007 on the Medicare website.
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What’s Next?
To sum up the changes for 2008: there are more Part D plans available in most states, monthly Part D premiums will increase, and no Part D plan will offer complete coverage of both brand-name and generic drugs in the coverage gap. On Monday, October 1, Part D plan providers are permitted to begin marketing their new Part D plans. Medicare Part D plan providers are required by the end of October to send letters to all of their plan members explaining the changes in the next year's prescription drug plan. The annual enrollment period for 2008 Medicare Part D plans begins on Thursday, November 15 and continues until December 31. Please note that if you are satisfied with your current 2007 prescription drug plan and understand the 2008 changes, you do not need to make any enrollment decision during the annual enrollment period (or Annual Election Period – AEP) and your 2007 Medicare Part D plan will continue with any new changes or features through 2008. What to do? Begin now to review 2008 Part D plans, take your time and make sure you are well informed before making a decision.
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A Few Closing Notes
News and Feedback :
Would you like to provide your comments? Please use submit your Blog or Website Comments directly over our comment form (click here for our Online Comments Form). You are still welcome to sign-up to be a “Friend of the Blog". You only need to sign up one time and will receive advance notification by eMail when we post a new article or Blog – you can also login and add comments directly to some of our new Blogs.
Click here to receive your own copy of the Medicare Part D Newsletter. There is no cost for our Newsletter and you eMail information will not be shared with any third parties.
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Best Regards from,
Campbell Johnson, MBA, MSEd, JD, Online Editor (CJohnson@Q1Group.com)
and
Your Online Research Team
National Insurance Markets, Inc. and Q1Group LLC
Q1Insurance.com
Q1Medicare.com
Q1Group.com
Group Email: team@nimbroker.com
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Last updated on: 07/05/2009
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