How Can I Save on my Medical and Drug Costs?

Seniors always are aware of the need to save money on medical care costs and the expense of paying for regular prescriptions. One of the questions you may ask yourself is, how can I save money on my medical and drug costs?

Extra Help Program

One of the programs that many seniors are not aware of is the Extra Help program that is available through Social Security. The Extra Help program can help you cover the cost of Medicare drug coverage and other medical costs associated with your health care needs.

You will need to apply for the Extra Help program every year. It is available only to seniors who have limited income sources and limited sources for financial assistance.

Sources for Assistance

There are many different types of assistance available to help you save money. Each state has programs available for financial assistance for health care costs, provided you meet income and other requirements. For example, some states have programs for specific illnesses. Contact your state Medicare assistance department to find out about specific programs in your state.

Pharmaceutical companies also have assistance programs available for low income customers. You can go to pharmaceutical web sites to find out if they have a program available to help you with getting medications you need. In most cases, you will need to complete an application and have your doctor complete it and submit it for you.

Many local organizations also have financial assistance programs available to help seniors with the costs associated with their health care needs. Contact your local county health department to find out what programs are available in your area and what the requirements are for these programs.

PACE

Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) is a program that provides assistance to help seniors stay in their homes instead of being places in elder care or nursing home facilities. This program will help you cover the cost of medications, doctor visits, in-home care, transportation, hospital stays and other expenses associated with your healthcare needs.

Medicaid

Medicaid is another program that is available for low income individuals. It can help seniors a great deal by providing not only lower medical care costs, but also by providing things like transportation assistance and personal care assistance.

If your income is higher than the income limitations to qualify for Medicaid, there are programs that are available if you qualify as “medically needy.” This program will allow you to deduct or subtract medical expenses from you qualifying income in order to become eligible for Medicaid.

Extra Help/Low Income Subsidy

Social security has a program available for individuals with exceedingly low income to help with prescription costs. This program has income qualifications and provides assistance by lowering medication costs to $2.50 per generic prescription and $6.50 for name brand prescriptions. Additional assistance can take the form of providing assistance in paying for Medicare drug programs.

Pharmacy Programs

Many pharmacies now offer programs that will provide you with lowered medication costs. It is important to price compare programs and look for the costs of your specific medications. It is a good idea to evaluate your prescription needs annually when you are also signing up for your Medicare coverage during open enrollment at the end of the year.

For generic drugs, pharmacies such as Walmart and Target offer much lower flat rates for a 30-day supply of medication. It may also save you money to use several different pharmacies for your medications.

Also consider signing up for and using a mail order medication program. In many cases, you can save a significant amount of money and get a 90-day supply of your medications.

Talk to Your Doctor

You should also talk to your doctor about your medication needs and the cost of medications. Your doctor can prescribe lower cost generic medications in order to save you money. In many cases, doctors also will be aware of prescription and other medical expense coverage limitations on specific plans if they are part of a managed care network.

There are many ways to save money when it comes to your medical care and medication needs. However, it is important that you be your own advocate and regularly evaluate your medical expenses and options for assistance. An annual evaluation of your needs can be performed during annual Medicare open enrollment at the end of the year. Most programs require you to apply annually in order to determine qualification.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 27th, 2011 at 1:03 pm and is filed under Medicare Questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.