another discussion of Medicare drug plan

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mona-gable/medicare-madness_b_17775.html

Mona Gable

Bio

03.23.2006
Medicare Madness (6 comments )

Does anyone understand the Medicare drug prescription plan? Or should I say plans? Because if I'm correct there seems to be a D and a B version and possibly even more variations of the alphabet. If so please let me know as soon as possible. Because I had a brief and horrifying encounter with it and I am ready to flee to France or at the very least Canada, whose governments actually take care of their elderly citizens.

That or just give up drugs altogether.

I say this and I wasn't even trying to negotiate this system for my mother-in-law or some other older family member. But it could just be my Attention Deficit Disorder acting up or an early case of dementia because the President, as you know, keeps insisting the new law is WORKIN' JUST FIIINE! and that IT IS A VERY GOOD DEAL FOR U!

Oh, really? He might want to have a chat with the befuddled middle-aged man who was at my neighborhood pharmacy last night. I was picking up a prescription for the 15-year-old and the man was in front of me with his 78-year-old father talking to my pharmacist. The son had a New York accent and I'd never seen him before. While they were sorting things out Dad stood there patiently with his hands clasped in front of him trying to follow along. He didn't say a word. Usually I'm in a rush to get out of there--all those people hacking and sneezing--but I was so appalled and fascinated by the conversation I was rooted to the spot.

Apparently Dad had not been sick a day in his life. Until now. And that was part of the problem. He wasn't in The System. And under Medicare's new and hopelessly Byzantine rules they might not be able to enroll him until...July! The other problem they were grappling with was price. Depending on where he bought them, Dad's prescriptions could cost anywhere from $300 to $500 a month. The son naturally asked, What about getting drugs from Canada?

more....

And then there's one suggestion in the comments (prices are higher in my zip code).

....


The best Part D drug program we've found is with Humana. They have three different plans people can enroll in: 1) Standard - premium is $5.41 per month; 2) Enhanced - premium is $11.25 per month; and 3) Complete - premium is $50.91 per month.

You would want the Standard plan if the person takes no medications or just a few, the Enhanced for five or so, and the Complete if the person takes numerous medications.

Go to their website (www.humana-medicare.com) - look on the left side of the page and type in the zip code of the area where you live, then click on "calculate rx costs". Input the drugs they take and it'll give you an idea of what plan a person should go with. If things change (more rx's, etc.), the person has the option to change their plan.

Bottom line, get them enrolled prior to May 15th or they'll face a penalty. This is true even if a person doesn't take any rx's - bottom line is getting enrolled and not getting penalized if they enroll after the 15th of May.

Info at the site seems confusing to me; or is it that I just don't want to think about this anymore??