PRESCRIPTION DRUG PLA
All people with Medicare will be able to enroll in plans that cover
prescription drugs. Plans might vary, but in general, this is how they will
work:
• You
will choose a prescription drug plan and pay a premium of about $35 a month.
• You
will pay the first $250 (called a "deductible").
• Medicare
then will pay 75% of costs between $250 and $2,250 in drug spending. You will
pay only 25% of these costs.
• You will pay 100% of the drug costs above $2,250 until you reach $3,600 in out-of-pocket spending.
• Medicare
will pay about 95% of the costs after you have spent $3,600. Some prescription
drug plans may have additional options to help you pay the out-of-pocket costs.
Extra Help Will be Available for people with low incomes and limited assets. Most significantly, people with Medicare in the greatest need, who have incomes below a certain limit won't have to pay the premiums or deductible for prescription drugs. The income limits will be set in 2005. If you qualify, you will only pay a small co-payment for each prescription you need. Other people with low incomes and limited assets will get help paying the premiums and deductible. The amount they pay for each prescription will be limited.
Medicare Advantage plan choices will be expanded to include regional preferred provider organization plans (PPOs). Regional PPOs will help more people with Medicare have multiple choices for Medicare health coverage, no matter where they live. PPOs can help you save money by choosing from doctors and providers on a plan's "preferred" list, but usually don't require you to get a referral. PPOs are among the most common and popular plans right now for working Americans.
All of these options are
voluntary. You can choose to remain in the traditional Medicare plan you have
today.