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Contacting Medicare: a few tips

By STEVE NOHLGREN
Published November 13, 2005

Medicare has a toll-free hotline and a Web site to help people sort through the new Part D drug coverage. Both options can be frustrating as well as helpful. If you want Medicare to help you compare drug plans, here are a few suggestions.

BY TELEPHONE

Medicare has hired 8,000 people to answer questions about the drug benefit and they are still learning their jobs. So when you call, try these tips.

1) Have your Medicare card and a list of all your medications handy. You will be asked for this information.

2) Call toll-free 1-800-633-4227. A recording will offer you some phone-tree options. Choose "drug coverage."

3) After listing some pertinent dates, you will be asked to select either "enrollment" "information" or "publication." The fastest way to talk to a live person is to select "enrollment." After giving some of your personal information, select "agent" the next time you have an option. That should connect you to a live person.

4) If you pick the "information" option, you may find yourself in a loop of various recordings. When you are ready to talk to a live person, either return to the main menu and start over, or select the "status" option and follow that with the "agent" option.

5) Tell the agent you want a list of stand-alone drug plans and their costs to you, based on your particular medications. Make sure the agent types in your specific medications before comparing plan costs.

6) If the agent asks if you want to limit your premium and deductible cost, say "no." It may sound cheaper to pick plans with zero deductibles or a low premiums, but those plans may cost you more in the long run because they cover fewer drugs. Tell the agent to compare all plans without restricting the premiums or deductibles.

7) When the agent lists three or four plans that seem to be the cheapest, find out what each plan will cost. Ask if those plans place restrictions on your drugs. If they all do, ask the agent to look for a plan that places fewer restrictions, even if it costs you a little more.

8) Write down your top three or four plans and contact those companies for more detailed information.

9) Ask the agent to mail you a written brochure covering the information you discussed.

ONLINE

Be prepared to spend at least 30 minutes on this search.

1 Go to www.medicare.gov and click on "Compare Prescription Drug Plans."

2) About two-thirds of the way down the next page, click on the orange button next to "Find a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan."

3) Next page: Fill in your personal information and click on "search plans."

4) Next page: Fill in parts A, B and C and click on "continue."

5) Next page: Click on "choose a drug plan type."

6) Next page: Click on C "search for Medicare prescription drug plans."

7) Next page: Click on B "Enter my medications." (Do not click on C "limit your drug plans." If you do, it may exclude the best and cheapest plan for you.)

8) Next page: List your medications into A "find your drugs by name." When you are done, click on B "continue with selected drugs." Then click on C "choose my drug dosage" and use the drop down list next to each drug to enter your dosage. Then click on B "continue with selected drugs" then B "continue with plan list." (Skip the pharmacy option for now.)

9) The next page lists the cheapest five plans in order of cost. Go to a drop-down box at bottom right and select the "All" function. That will let you peruse all the plans more quickly.

10) To the right of each plan is a drop-down box. Go to the first plan and select "view cost details" in the drop-down box. Note that it tells you how to save money by using a 90-day mail-order pharmacy. Also, see if your drugs have asterisks next to them. That means that the plan somehow restricts their usage (more about that later).

11) Go back to the plan list and click on "lower my cost share" in the drop-down box. This lists possible substitute drugs and how they will lower your cost. If you click on the red link to each substitute drug, the computer will identify the substitutes so you can ask your doctor if you can safely switch to them.

12) Go back to the plan list and click on "# of pharmacies" next to the first plan. This shows the pharmacies that will accept this plan. The list is preset to show pharmacies within 2 miles of your ZIP code. A drop-down box lets you widen that distance and add more pharmacy options.

13) Repeat steps 10 through 12 with each plan that interests you. Then contact the plans for full details of costs and any restrictions on your drugs. You can find plan phone numbers by going to the plan list and clicking on the plan name.

14) For more information on drug restrictions, go back to Medicare's home page and click on "Formulary finder." Follow that thread to the "plan list." In the "Plans per page" box at bottom right, change the "5" to "All" and scroll down to the plans that interest you. (All stand-alone drug plans will have "PDP" in the third column. Click on those plans for more information on how they restrict access to your drugs.)

[Last modified November 18, 2005, 15:00:23]