Medicare
Part D Prescription Plan Announced
By Charles Donovan
On
September 30th, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid(CMS) announced
the details of Medicare Part D Precription Plan. Many people who
suffer from chronic depression are disabled and depend upon Medicare
for healthcare. This looks like an excellent progam for the disabled.
It will be very helpful in covering antidepressants and antipsychotic
drugs, which are very expensive.
Mark
McClellan, the Administer of CMS, announced that organizations offering
Medicare prescription drug coverage “will cover the vast majority
of products commonly used.” He added that plans are covering “88%
of drugs used by seniors or those on disability”. More extensive
information on formularies will be released during the first week
of October.
McClellan
urged beneficiaries to concentrate on comparing plans based on their
own preferences about premiums, deductibles and other plan design
features - and not to focus on the "standard" benefit
required by the Medicare Modernization Act. That is because competition
among plan sponsors has yielded an abundance of plans available
to most seniors, many of which "go beyond" the standard
minimum.
For
example, potential enrollees in every state will be offered at least
one plan with an annual deductible less than the $250 level in the
standard benefit, and in many cases they can select a plan with
no deductible. Many plans have flat drug copays rather than a percentage
coinsurance. In addition, MA-PDs in all but nine states are offering
some drug coverage through the Medicare drug benefit's coverage
gap, which otherwise would require beneficiaries to pay for drugs
themselves after reaching a certain level of drug costs.
I
know that this information is critical to many of you. Obviously,
those of you on Medicare will be receiving detailed information
in the coming weeks. I hope that this quick reference to the overall
details of the plan is helpful.
For
those who suffer from chronic or recurrent depression that does
not respond to antidepresants, the U.S. Food Drug Administration(FDA)just
approved the first ever long term treatment option for depression:
vagus nerve stimulation. You can learn more about this medical breakthrough
procedure at http://www.VagusNerveStimulator.com
There
is a free newsletter to keep you up-to-date on the latest developments
about this unique and effective treatment.
Charles
Donovan is founder of the http://www.VagusNerveStimulator.com
web site and Bulletin. His book:
Out
of the Black Hole: The Patient's Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation
and Depression
was
exhibited at the 2005 American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting
in Atlanta( 20,000 psychiatrists). He was implanted with the device
in the FDA investigation trial on April 4, 2001, The ninety-minute
out patient procedure completely changed his life after 20 years
of depression and countless antidepressant/antidepressant combinations,
including ECT.
