1. Medicare pays private insurance companies $95 billion each year in subsidies for Prescription Drug Plans (PDP) in addition to what enrollees pay in plan premiums, deductibles and co-pays for your medications.
2. There is no annual limit on your out-of-pocket prescription drug expenses that are sold by private insurers.
3. Private insurers control their drug expenses by restricting your access to medications that your doctor prescribes through: their drug formularies that exclude specific drugs, require prior authorization, limit quantities, require you to take lower cost drugs before higher cost drugs are approved and by establishing their own drug price tiers, annual deductibles and the amount that you are required to pay for prescriptions.
4. There are significant differences among Medicare Part D plans including: the drugs they include, what Tiers they assign to their included drugs, and the premiums, deductibles, co-pays and coinsurance that subscribers are required to pay.
5. Although Medicare Part D plans are not allowed to deny coverage or charge higher premiums to people with pre-existing conditions, their prescription drug policies provide a clear message of who they want, and don’t want as subscribers.
6. The cost of medications in the US to treat millions of Americans with life-threating diseases such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Hepatitis B, inflammatory diseases, respiratory diseases, various cancers, organ transplants are the highest in the world.
7. Big Pharma and the insurance industry have been very successful in controlling Congress and the Executive branch with the millions that they pay each year in political campaign contributions and lobbying.
8. In return, Big Pharma and the insurance industry has insiders working in key executive positions in government, such as the White House advisors, Congressional committees staff, Departments of Health and Human Services (Alex Azar), Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (Seema Verma) and the Food & Drug Administration (Scott Gottlieb) where they use their industry special interest in writing federal legislation, establishing policies, regulations, administrative practices and weakening regulatory compliance and sanctions for violations.
9. This situation results in higher taxes, huge goverment debt and the highest prescription drug costs in the world for life-threatening conditions that many Americans can’t afford.

A review of four major Medicare Advantage plan insurers in Upstate New York including for-profits: Aetna, United HealthCare and WellCare and regional non-profits: MVP and Excellus Blue Cross revealed the following observations.

• All insurers target enrolling healthy seniors and provide incentives with low or no monthly premiums along with gym memberships.
• All insurers have developed financial disincentives for individuals that are prescribed: “non-preferred” brand-name and generic medications, specific medications that they have excluded, requiring deductibles up to $380yr., medications that require co-pays up to $100 mo. and co-insurance charges of up to 33%.

In summary, you may have insurance for your prescription drugs in your private Medicare Part D Plan, but you may not have coverage or the ability to pay for your critically needed medications for life-sustaining treatment.

As result,  it is very important that you that you educate yourself and confirm that the Medicare drug plans that you considering meets your needs and budget during this Medicare open enrollment period that ends, December 7th.