On the Porch
Onisha Ellis
A popular Christmas song declares “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”
For seniors and especially those new to Medicare Open Enrollment which begins October 15 and runs through December 7th it can definitely be the most confusing time of the year.
I remember when my husband turned 65, I was so confused. I spent hours making lists and comparing. This past year I discovered the You Tube channel, Medicare School. and it has been a good resource for me and best of all, their videos tend to be short, especially updates. Full disclosure, they are independent insurance brokers, but the information videos aren’t sales pitches.
Here is a word of warning for those new to Medicare this year. You must sign up for a prescription plan. This can be included in a Medicare Advantage plan or If you go the Medigap/supplement route you need to choose a Plan D drug plan. My friend refused to choose a plan, claiming he only took one medication and it was cheap. I warned him it was mandatory and he now has to pay a monthly penalty fee along with the plan premium.
Medicare dot gov is a good tool for choosing a drug plan. If you take several medications it can be tedious typing them in, but it is worth the effort as the website will show a cost comparison between drug plans and your selected pharmacies.
Finally, my favorite tool, Good RX. It is a legitimate savings program and not limited to Medicare. I regularly compare the cost of a medication with insurance and with Good RX. Just this week our daughter went to pick up a prescription and ithe insurance copay was $30.00 and the Good RX cost was $15.00.
When Good RX first became available, some pharmacies were not participating but now most are happy to take it. Some even offer to check the Good RX price for me.
To use Good RX there are two choices. One, you can go the the website GoodRx.com enter your prescription, your location and you will see a list of local pharmacies and their price. Here is a link to the common drug, Lipitor. When you choose the deal you will be given options to print, email, or text it to phone.
The second option is to download the app. When I choose a deal I show it to the pharmacy and I am charged the Good RX price.
There are other discount cards out there but I have found Good RX to be consistently cheaper.
I hope this post will be helpful. I encourage you to give Good RX a try. It saves us a lot of money.
I forgot to mention that the Medicare School also has a Facebook page.
After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience. Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites, Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix
In addition to blogging, I’m a general “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books
My 2024 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.
Old Things R New 