Thank you for reminding us of the open enrollment dates for Medicare. We don’t want to change anything and thank you for letting us know we don't have to do anything if we keep our same coverage. We weren't sure how that "Obamacare" plan would affect Medicare recipients.
Ardeth & John, Tulare

I think Medicare is wonderful, except for the drug supplement plans. They cover few or none of the Tier 5 drugs that many seniors need. I've been through every possible drug for a chronic condition and the only one that works is a Tier 5 biologic that used to cost $57,000 a year but is now down to about $11,000 a year. All of the supplemental Part D plans I've looked at don't contain my Tier 5 drug in their formulary. I've discovered that if the drug is not in the plan formulary the co-payments you make are not included in your total drug bills so I'll never hit catastrophic on my drug costs. Fortunately, I have found one group that will help me with the co-pay on this drug, bringing the cost down from $4400 every three months to $1219 every three months. For me, that's a stretch, but I have no choice except to do it or suffer. For other seniors, it might be a death sentence. I feel strongly that this situation impacts the work being done on discovery of new biologic drugs. If no one can afford the cost of the product those doing the research and those financing these discoveries will stop their research. This situation impacts everyone, not just seniors. Making these drugs affordable for everyone who needs them will keep these new discoveries coming to market. I think they are very important to mankind and we should be making every effort to make them available to people.
Mary, Alameda