Welcome to Medicare School Daily, where we help you understand Medicare, save money,
avoid mistakes, and above all, get the most out of your Medicare benefits.
Hardly a day goes by where people do not ask me, Marvin, do I really have to have a prescription
drug plan?
They'll say something like, well, you know, I don't even take medications or my medications
are all generic and they're very cheap.
Do I really have to have a drug plan?
And the answer to that question:
Yes, you do.
In fact, there's actually four reasons why everyone should have a prescription drug plan
when they go on Medicare.
Number one is because things change.
You may be healthy today and that could drastically change in three months or six months.
You have no idea what the future holds.
As a matter of fact, as I am doing this video today, our whole country is in lockdown.
We're all under quarantine.
The same thing can happen if your health changes.
There's gonna be a great impact,
and part of that could be you need expensive medications.
So that's the second reason we get a drug plan, because there are some medications that
very cheap;
There's some that are very expensive.
As a matter of fact, I know of two ladies right now that are being treated for cancer
that are taking a self-administered chemotherapy pills.
Those medications cost $7,000 every single month,
but they have a drug plan.
So is it costing them that?
Absolutely not.
They're paying a fraction of that $7,000 because they have a prescription drug
plan. If you didn't
have a prescription drug plan and you needed a $7,000 a month medication,
you'd be out of pocket for that full cost.
And so, that's why you get one. Your health can change, and medications are very expensive.
In fact, they tell us now that statistically the average person will spend more money on
medications than anything else within their health care.
So that's the second reason.
The third reason we would tell you really do need a drug plan is because penalties are
assessed
if you do not get a drug plan at 65 or when you retire and go on Medicare. Those penalties
are one percent per month for every month you go without a drug plan.
So every year we go without a drug plan,
we're going to have a 12 percent penalty that is added to our prescription drug plan.
And that penalty is for life.
That particular penalty never goes away.
So if they go without for two years, that's a 24 percent penalty added to the drug plan.
Three years would be a 36 percent penalty added to the drug plan, and they're added
for life.
And so the penalties are very, very excessive.
All right?
So that's the third reason.
And the last reason, probably the most important one, is this:
we have limited times that we can actually pick up a drug plan.
Many people think that they can go without a drug plan and then let's say they get sick
and they need expensive medication.
They can just call Medicare up and get enrolled in a drug plan.
And that is absolutely not the case.
Medicare says you can pick up a drug plan, but you can pick up a drug plan only at certain
times of the year.
So this is a timeframe for prescription drug plans.
All prescription drug plans are written for one calendar year.
So that means we start a drug plan January one.
And let's say we hit January one and we're not on a drug plan and we get diagnosed with
something real serious in February or March or April.
Can you pick up a drug plan?
The answer is no, you can't.
Why?
Because you're in what is called this lock-in period.
Whatever plan you have, that's what you have to keep.
And if you don't have a plan, you cannot come in during this lock-in period.
And so later in the year, October 15th, through December 7th, we come to Medicare's annual
open enrollment period.
So this is when you can add a drug plan or change a drug plan.
So if I don't have one here, I'm still without.
And now I can add that drug plan right here, but I'm still not covered on the new plan
until January one.
So you could easily conceivably go without a drug plan for 11, almost 12 months.
And that means you're going to have to be out-of-pocket on your medications.
So you just can't pick up a drug plan anytime that you want.
So these are the reasons we're telling you, please, when you go on Medicare at 65 or you're
retired and
go on Medicare,
get a prescription drug plan.
Thanks so much for watching.