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Seniors Still Face High Costs When It Comes To Medicine
By Daymond Steer, The Cabinet.com
August
28, 2007
The high cost of prescription drugs is still the most pressing concern facing seniors, according to agencies that serve the region’s elderly.
Representatives from several senior service organizations met at The Mill Apartments on Bridge Street recently to talk about how to better care for the elderly.
Seniors are still confused by Medicare Part D, the federal drug discount program that went into effect in 2005, they said, and seniors often cannot afford prescriptions that aren’t covered.
“If you run out of your medication there’s nothing more serious,” said Ann Eichhorn of the Department of Health and Human Services.
But she didn’t need to convince 75-year-old Elizabeth McGovern, of Amherst, a Parkhurst Place resident who takes 10 medications a day.
McGovern says the cost of medication is eating into her savings and one day she’ll run out of money.
“When my savings run out, these agencies will be a lifeline for me,” said McGovern who needs medication for her heart and high blood pressure.
Medicare Part D replaced programs that some seniors already had in place and in some cases forced them to pay higher prices for their drugs.
Another problem is the infamous Medicare “doughnut hole.” This refers to the fact that Medicare assists with costs in the beginning, but leaves a hole in the middle before picking up coverage again after the individual pays a substantial out-of-pocket amount.
The standard coverage gap is between $2,401 and $5,451 in total drug costs, said Medicare expert Ruth Morgan of the Area Agency.
This means that once the individual and their insurance plan have spent a total of $2,400 on medications, the individual will have to pay for the prescriptions themselves until they have spent an additional $3,051 more. After this, their plan will begin covering the medications again, wrote Morgan by e-mail.
The group is scheduled to discuss the Medicare issue in more depth in September.
Organizations represented include The Area Agency, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, The Isle at Ledgewood, Nashua Crossing, St. Joseph Community Services, and Parkhurst Place.
Other concerns of senior citizens were transportation and isolation.
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