Advice Needed On What Prefcription Drug Plan I should Get

Self ^ | 12/30/23 | OveVike

[OneVike]

I need some advice.

I am 67 years old and in a little over a Month I will be having my right shoulder replaced. I am actively enrolled in Medical-Care for health care, but not in any prescription policies. However, I need to figure out which prescription policy would be best for me before I have the surgery.

As of right now I have no current prescriptions for anything. Until I began having shoulder problems I have not even seen a general practitioner for over 10 years. Other than my shoulder problem I am healthy as an ox, or at least as healthy as an aging ox. The last time I got sick was with COVID in early 2020, and that lasted maybe two weeks and I have not been sick since.

NO, I have not been vaccinated since I was in the army almost 50 years ago., and I would rather die than allow any doctor inject any modern vaccination into my system.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what prescription plan would be best for me? Because after my surgery I know I will have to have at least pain medication if not antibiotics or anti rejection drugs.

I am guessing on what I will be told to take after the surgery, since I am clueless.

[steve86]

“For prescriptions, we used Good Rx and Good Rx Gold and they were better than what Medicare had to offer.”

I used Good RX occasionally pre-Medicare but actually am happy with Part D (Cigna - $66/month) the last three years. There’s just never any problems and I take a big handful of Rx maintenance medications. Plus there’s some piece of mind should I need a more expensive drug at some point.

[steve86]

Peace of mind lol

[steve86]

🤣

[Babba Gi]

Usually all you need is hydrocodone for pain.. Narcotics are cheap, even without Rx coverage it will be $15 at most per Rx. If you already have Medicare you can’t enroll in a drug plan until open-enrollment next October. Unless you have complications or other illnesses post op is just two weeks of narcotics and a stool softener.

[OneVike]

Great advice.

[sasquatch]

I have not gone through the replies. Ask your doc what he’s going to prescribe. Check the cost out of pocket and compare with supplemental plans. Decide. I’ll bet cash will win.

[OneVike]

Thanks

[OneVike]

You know, the more I think about it, the more I would agree. Cash out of pocked for a few months is better than an ongoing $60 prescription drug policy for drugs I will never need, because I am so healthy.

Good advice

[plain talk]

Not much to offer since your situation and outlook is considerably different than mine. Lots of input on this thread.

Also consider your doctor’s advice. They encounter a lot of situations and know quite a bit.

I wish you well my FRiend.

[sasquatch]

Got family and friends all over Idaho and Montana.
Stuck in Kalifornia. Be well.

[ladyjane]

If so, I would recommend getting Part D. Aetna (owned by CVS) is good.

If he's 'healthy as an ox' and not taking drugs now, why would he sign up for Part D (or any insurance)? Part D depends on his income and the monthly cost could be high.

Also CVS has the worst prices!! They say they honor the discount coupons, but they jack up the price and they're in bed with the insurance companies for kickbacks. Google CVS, Aetna, litigation, investigation and see that they charge over twice what other places charge.

I was lucky, I went to get a drug for some hand surgery. CVS wouldn't honor the price of the Good RX coupon so I went to my local grocery chain. Less than half of what CVS wanted and much less than the GoodRX coupon.

[faucetman]

Medicare, you may have heard of it,,, or maybe NOT!

Medicare, it pays for healthcare as well as “Prefcription” drugs.

[glorgau]

> Stay with Medicare and get a supplemental plan rather than a Medicare Advantage Plan.

Yep, the rub with the Advantage plans is that the insurance company has to approve whatever and it is not in their self interest to help out. They’re going to do the bare minimum they can get away with.

[Organic Panic]

GoodRX coupons don’t need a plan and have been cheaper than any plan .

[OneVike]

Yes, that whole enrollment period sounds like a scam. Who the hell knows ahead of time they are going to need drugs for a medical problems that might show up in the next 12 Months.

I know I am getting older, but I have always bet on my ability to stay healthy and not do stupid things as I get older instead of acting like I am 20 still while eating anything I could when I was younger.

So like most insurance, I could be paying for something I hardly ever use, but the provider giving me the drug coverage is making a killing of a health guy who takes mostly ibuprofen with ice packs on while I sitting on the couch watching television before bed.

I often times think of my great, great, great grandfather who fought in the civil war, lived to be 105 when he fell off his horse on the way to church and died in 1945.

He never saw a doctor and seldom needed one because after the Civil War he decided to stop doing stupid things.

[OneVike]

Yes, I have a few friends who uses GoodRX

[OneVike]

I have medicare and have been told that while it pays for everything administered in the hospital, once you are discharged then you have to pay for drugs out of pocket. Thus the need for a drug policy, but after reading all the comments, I am leaning towards not paying for a drug policy and if I have to purchase pain medication out of pocket for a few Months than so be it. That way I will not being paying monthly premiums for a drug insurance I would seldom use.

[MayflowerMadam]

“You can’t get a supplement plan if you have one of several preexisting conditions.”

It depends on the company. I had breast cancer in 2014. In 2018, when AFLAC stopped writing in TN, we worked with an agent at AMAC who did the research for us and found that Mutual Of Omaha would accept me. It’s been fine so far. No exclusions.

[MayflowerMadam]

“I will be needing something stronger than ibuprofen and Tylenol.”

You might not. After a total hip replacement they prescribed a bottle of one of the oxi drugs. I was fine with ES Tylenol and never took the Rx.