Statement By R. M. Hayes, President, Medicare Rights Center, On Choice Of Prescription Drug And Medicare Health Plans For 2009

from Medical News Today: 


Once again, all across the country, people with Medicare will face for 2009 a bewildering choice of nearly 50 prescription drug plans and over 40 Medicare health plans, including HMOs, PPOs, and private fee-for-service plans of every variety. It is a Wild West marketplace and older Americans are ripe for exploitation.

Bait-and-switch tactics are in full play. In 2009, the average one-year premium increase for over 60 percent of people with Medicare - those enrolled in the ten largest drug plans - will exceed 30 percent. Two of the nation's largest plans, both sponsored by Humana, are increasing premiums by over 60 percent over 2008. Humana's standard drug plan, the second largest in the country, is increasing its premium by 330 percent since it launched its "low-premium" plan in 2006. 


Norman DeLisle, MDRC
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