Private Website Releases Online Tool Showing Changes
in Medicare Part D Plans for 2009
PD-Compare only such tool freely available to the
public, says Medicare-PartD.com
Nov. 13, 2008 – Medicare’s Open Enrollment period
opens on November 15 and millions of senior citizens are concerned about
changes their current Part D drug plan and will be seeking better
options. A helpful tool may be “PD-Compare,” an online service from
Medicare-PartD.com that helps seniors visualize plan changes in features
such as monthly premiums, donut coverage, co-payments, and deductibles.
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Medicare Part D prescription drug plan costs and
coverage can change every year and 2009 appears to be an example of just
how much they can change.
Changes include higher monthly premiums,
changes in the amount of initial deductibles, increases in the
prescription drug co-payments, changes in prescription medication
coverage and even possible re-assignment to another Medicare Part D
plan.
The 2009 update to the
PDP-Compare tool includes updates in changes in co-payments per drug
tier.
PDP-Compare shows side-by-side changes in every
stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plan (PDP) across the
United States and is available free to all site visitors, according to
an announcement today by
Medicare-PartD.com, one of the largest private internet sources of
Medicare Part D prescription drug information.
PDP-Compare shows users current and future monthly
premiums, as well as changes in co-payments or co-insurance rates.
Medicare Part D plans will also be shown in the output that did not
exist in 2008 or are discontinued in 2009.
“Although Medicare beneficiaries should have
learned about Medicare drug plan changes through their Annual Notice of
Change letters, we have found that many people are still not fully aware
that their prescription drug coverage and plan costs are changing”,
notes Dr. Susan Johnson, technical director of the Medicare-PartD.com
site.
“We
designed PDP-Compare especially for Medicare beneficiaries and Medicare
support groups who are seeking a broad overview of how current 2008 Part
D prescription drug plans change in 2009. Our PDP-Compare tool is the
easiest way for people to quickly find Part D plan IDs, co-payment or
cost sharing information, donut hole coverage, and
plans qualifying for a state’s $0 premium low-income subsidy.”
To see changes in 2008 Part D plans, Medicare-PartD.com
users select their state and click on “search” for a complete list of
2008 Part D plans along with 2009 plan changes.
Users can leave the
other search fields blank or enter a portion of a Part D plan name (for
instance, users can enter “Well” to see a comparison of “WellCare”
prescription drug plans in the chosen state) and click on the “Search”
button.
Users can also search for specific Medicare Part D
plan features,
such as Type of Gap Coverage, by selecting from drop-down boxes.
Understanding the annual changes in Part D plans is
important, the company says, because if a Medicare beneficiary does not
choose a new Part D prescription drug plan, the beneficiary will be, in
most cases, automatically re-enrolled in the same Part D plan for the
next year.
As a reminder, this year’s Medicare Part D annual
enrollment period begins on Saturday, November 15 and continues for
6-weeks through December 31, 2008. Medicare beneficiaries cannot change
Medicare Part D plans during 2009, except in special circumstances so
beneficiaries are cautioned to take their time selecting a Part D plan
and to seek assistance if they are unsure of the selection process.
The 2009 PDP-Compare tool can be found directly at
PDP-Compare.com/2009 and joins the other online tools, resources,
the monthly Medicare Part D Newsletter, and tutorials designed to
help Medicare beneficiaries, advocates, advisors, and insurance agents
navigate the Medicare prescription drug program.
About the website
www.Medicare-PartD.com
Medicare-PartD.com is one of the nation's largest private internet
sources of Medicare Part D prescription drug information. The
Medicare-PartD.com website is jointly operated by National Insurance
Markets, Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA) and Q1Group, LLC (Saint Augustine, FL).
>> Click to
PDP-Compare
Click impage below
for a larger view of a sample from the Website that shows changes in a
Humana Plan
