The Latest on Medicare Part D
Are you a Medicare beneficiary? Do you have parents who have prescription drug needs? Then you’ve probably heard of Medicare Part D, the new federal prescription drug plan that begins on January 1st.
The television show Nevada Newsmakers had a wonderful program today covering the complicated choices seniors face regarding the benefit and how to configure appropriate coverage. If you are a Medicare beneficiary with more than one prescription, or have a parent who will be facing these choices, I encourage you to watch the archived video online (56mb .zip file containing a .wmv. Other file sizes available at Nevada Newsmakers.)
In the face of these confusing choices seniors will have to make regarding this new program, Nevada will continue to help cover prescription drug costs for our seniors, particularly by bridging certain gaps in the Part D benefit through the Senior RX program.
As a member of the Nevada Commission on Aging, I’ve been monitoring these developments to better understand how they will affect us. Many of our friends and family will be impacted by the changes and will need assistance making the best choices for how to make the coverage work for them. I look forward to talking to folks in the coming months to hear about their experiences with the new benefit, and to hear what we need to do at the state level to assist.
For further information on what these changes mean to you and your family members, the state’s SHIP volunteers (State Health Insurance Advisory Program) are available to assist. Check out their website for more information.
We have a agendized for our December 6th commission meeting an update on how Senior Rx will coordinate with Medicare Part D. I’ll be sure to post an update following the meeting.