Seniors Scramble As Medicare Deadline Nears

CBS2CHICAGO ^ | 7 MAY 2006 | AP

[Spunky]

Just checking to find out if you were able to get your Dad signed up and if you were able to work your way through the Medicare.gov site to find out the best plan for him?

[syriacus]

officials claim the average enrollee will save about $1,100 a year.

My mother will save $250 per month, or $3000 per year.

I wish I would have checked the medicare.gov webpages sooner.

1. When I followed the steps on the medicare site, I found they were very helpful to my chosing a plan for my mother.
2. My mother would have already saved $1000, if I hadn't listened to the rumors that I would be overwhelmed at the choice of plans.

I had collected booklets from the various plans, and unsucessfully tried to compare them on my own. The medicare website helped a great deal and even helped me determine how much my mother would save on each plan.

A woman on our local TV station said that she got the same type of help by speaking on the phone to someone at medicare.

[syriacus]

The real cost/benefit of the program won't be evident for a couple of years. The premise is that if seniors get the medication they need, they'll make less use of emergency medical services, and cost the tax payers less in the long run.

My mother cannot fathom the amount of money she will be saving.

And my daughter heard that it was better to sign up for almost any of the medicare-approved programs, than to miss the deadline, since enrollees can switch to another program at the end of the year.

It's good for folks who miss the deadline to remember that, in all likelihood, they will still end up saving a lot of money, even if they do have to pay the small penalty.

[syriacus]

Acording to my agent, unless one is already paying 800.00 a year in prescriptions, no plan is of any benefit.

People might want to enroll in the program, in case they need more prescriptions in the future.

[HIDEK6]

By the way, how come they want to stop medicines from coming across the border, but it's OK for millions of Mexicans to come in????

Note thread hijacked at post 25.

You're slipping, people!

[syriacus]

Some seniors are now saving hundreds of dollars a month on medications, while others, Cusick said, are paying more into the plan than they are getting out -

Some plans only cost $100-200/year.