Choosing Medicare plans
Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2021 6:30 pm
I know that we have an older crowd here. Many whom are of Medicare age and who are on Medicare.
Being that I've yet to take any drugs on a regular basis I have always chosen the least expensive plan. Since I've been on Medicare starting April 2016 that has always proven to be the correct choice as my one-time prescriptions for anything have been few.
Having had the chicken pox as a child makes me a candidate for contracting shingles, something I'd prefer not to get.
When I got my flu shot in September I asked the pharmacist what it would cost for the shingles vaccine. He told me it would be two shots - $180 each - $360 total.
I was thinking that he'd used my drug card and that was the price for me having no coverage for it. That was two months ago so I'm not totally remembering all my thinking back then.
Like everyone else I have until a week from tonight - December 7, 2021 - to make choices.
I called my existing drug plan and asked what this would cost:
Shingrix Suspension Reconstituted 50 MCG/0.5ML Intramuscular
I think the representative told me two things. First she said it's be a $1 per shot then she said it'd be $165 for a 30 day supply and 90 days for a 90 day supply.
I told her that did not make sense to me since it's only two shots. Logically you'd get your first shot for the $165 and then second shot would be within the 90 days of the first (how much later do you get the shot?). Therefore, why wasn't the cost just $330? She could not explain.
Then I called the Stop & Shop pharmacy where I'd been in October and asked what my current costs would be to get those shots today. I was told they could not tell me because that depended upon what drug plan I chose.
I'm trying to find a drug plan that will cost less than $360 annually additional from the least expensive plan (going by my October information) and which will fully pay for the two vaccine shots. But when I go to the drug plans they want to know how often you take the drug. This is basically a two-off thing and no kind of regular thing. Has anyone else ever tried to research something like this?
In sum I really do not know how much it would really cost me paying it 100% on my own and I don't know how to navigate each drug plan's questions so to a. find out if the shots are covered or b. if covered, what they will cost me.
So color me quite confused about this whole thing!
Being that I've yet to take any drugs on a regular basis I have always chosen the least expensive plan. Since I've been on Medicare starting April 2016 that has always proven to be the correct choice as my one-time prescriptions for anything have been few.
Having had the chicken pox as a child makes me a candidate for contracting shingles, something I'd prefer not to get.
When I got my flu shot in September I asked the pharmacist what it would cost for the shingles vaccine. He told me it would be two shots - $180 each - $360 total.
I was thinking that he'd used my drug card and that was the price for me having no coverage for it. That was two months ago so I'm not totally remembering all my thinking back then.
Like everyone else I have until a week from tonight - December 7, 2021 - to make choices.
I called my existing drug plan and asked what this would cost:
Shingrix Suspension Reconstituted 50 MCG/0.5ML Intramuscular
I think the representative told me two things. First she said it's be a $1 per shot then she said it'd be $165 for a 30 day supply and 90 days for a 90 day supply.
I told her that did not make sense to me since it's only two shots. Logically you'd get your first shot for the $165 and then second shot would be within the 90 days of the first (how much later do you get the shot?). Therefore, why wasn't the cost just $330? She could not explain.
Then I called the Stop & Shop pharmacy where I'd been in October and asked what my current costs would be to get those shots today. I was told they could not tell me because that depended upon what drug plan I chose.
I'm trying to find a drug plan that will cost less than $360 annually additional from the least expensive plan (going by my October information) and which will fully pay for the two vaccine shots. But when I go to the drug plans they want to know how often you take the drug. This is basically a two-off thing and no kind of regular thing. Has anyone else ever tried to research something like this?
In sum I really do not know how much it would really cost me paying it 100% on my own and I don't know how to navigate each drug plan's questions so to a. find out if the shots are covered or b. if covered, what they will cost me.
So color me quite confused about this whole thing!