Client Name
Client
Address
Dear
Client,
We’ve
received numerous inquiries from clients about the new federal Medicare
Prescription Drug Program also known as Medicare Part D. After spending hours
studying the new program and attending education seminars explaining the
features of the program, Financial Service Group is now available to assist you
with deciding which Medicare drug plan is most appropriate for you.
Enclosed
with this letter is a guide that explains the fundamentals of Part D, Introduction to Part D: Medicare’s New
Prescription Drug Coverage. You may have already received this guide or
other similar pieces of information from the more than 40 plans available. The
purpose for this letter is not to explain the intricacies of the plan but to
describe how Financial Service Group can assist you in deciding which plan is
most appropriate for you.
The first
step is to determine whether the current prescription drug coverage you have is
equal to or better than the new plan. Your current provider should have mailed
to you a letter indicating whether their plan provided “creditable coverage”
back in November 2005.
The next
step is to identify your current drug prescriptions. I have included a
questionnaire which you can use to list the drugs you are currently taking.
This will assist in narrowing the list of plans appropriate for you. Each plan
has its own list of covered drugs which can differ across plans.
Medicare
has provided a useful online tool at www.Medicare.gov
to assist individuals in selecting the plan most appropriate to them. We’re
available to walk you through this process and narrow the list of more than 40
plans to one or two you can choose.
Fortunately,
if the plan you first select does not meet your expectations, you have the
ability to change plans each year to another plan. This is valuable because the
plan providers can change the drugs they cover as well as their costs each
year.
It is
important that you take some action or at least verify your current drug
coverage is considered “creditable”. If you fail to act, then future premiums
increase by 1% for each month you wait to sign up for coverage. For instance,
if you do not act by May 15th and wait two years to sign up for the
Prescription Drug Program, your premiums will be 24% higher for as long as
you’re in the program. This can easily be avoided by acting before May 15th.
The lowest cost provider for prescription drug plans is
This is
also a good time to review your other health care coverage, especially if you
use a Medicare supplement policy or Medicare Advantage plan. Medicare Advantage
plans have recently been improved through additional funding by the federal
government. Several studies have indicated individuals can save 50% or more on
health care expenses by using a Medicare Advantage plan.
Please
contact Sarah at my office to arrange a meeting with me to review your options
for the new Prescription Drug Program if you would like assistance to select a
plan. This meeting can be coordinated with your income tax preparation if we
are also providing that service to you.
Sincerely,
Justus
Morgan