I just spend 5 hours helping her with her insurance. Basically what happened is she neglected to get a prescription drug plan with her insurance. She didn't find out until she went to have her prescriptions filled. So, she came to my house, very upset and I set to work to try to figure out what we could do.
Now, it's not something that many of us think about, because we aren't enrolling in Medicare, but if you are ever helping someone enroll in a Medicare supplement plan, or a med-advantage plan, you have a small window of opportunity You have until 10/15-12/7 of every year to change your plan, or enroll. My grandmother changed carriers with her supplemental plan and didn't think to ask about a drug plan. She thought it was all included. Who wouldn't.
After hours on the phone this is what I learned. We really are out of luck. There is no way we can get a new Rx plan for her. Not until 10/15 of this year, AND then if she gets an Rx plan she will be penalized for not having one last year and her rates will be higher!
Now, don't worry about Grandma, I called her pharmacy and if she gets all generic medications she will spend about $150 every 3 months on her prescriptions.
This is what I learned....
1. You have to help yourself, the insurance companies are really nice, but they assume you know what you are getting. They don't up sell you. Make sure you have a Medicare part A, B, and D plan.
2. You only can enroll/change/tweak your plan 10/15 - 12/7
3. If you can have all generic medications, its most likely cheaper, depending on the amount of medications you take to just no have Rx coverage.
4. Help your loved ones with their coverage. It was confusing for me, I can't imagine my 80 year old grandmother doing it by herself. No wonder we had problems!
Medicare is confusing.
