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Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, has been monitoring the total cost of buying five common drugs in five large states since the Part D drug program began in 2006. In looking at the data from New York state (a report on all five states will be issued later), there are some dramatic improvements, soured by some huge price jumps. “The new data shows that shopping during the open enrollment period, which starts November 15 and goes through the end of the year, can save you up to $2,019 on a package of five common drugs,” said Bill Vaughan, Health Policy Analyst for Consumers Union. “Each person’s potential savings will vary by where they live and their medication history, but everyone should check out the new prices. Some plans that were good in the past have become pricey bad deals. Plans that were so-so before are now big savers.” In New York state, among 43 plans with comparable data between 2009 and 2010, 28 will go down in total cost (premiums, deductibles, co-pays) and 15 will go up, according to the data on the Medicare.gov website. “The good news is most Part D plans in New York will go down in total cost. One plan reports that the total cost for the package of five drugs will decline $1000 from the August 2009 price to the 2010 yearly price, though it is still not the lowest cost plan for the package,” reported Vaughan. “Many other plans, including several of the popular AARP plans, will go down by about $400 or more. “The bad news is that several plans jumped dramatically in total cost. Humana Enhanced will jump $1,514--from $3,803 in August 2009 to $5,317 in 2010, according to the CMS website,” said Vaughan. “The data shows how important it is to shop—the other Humana plan known as ‘Standard’ will go down in cost for the same package of drugs from $3,915 to $3,827. Same company, same drugs, same below average quality, but two different plans vary in cost about $1500.” Consumers Union found that of the 10 lowest total cost New York plans for the package of five drugs in August 2009, only 4 of those will still be among the top 10 lowest cost plans in January 2010. “Don’t count on a plan that is good one year being good in the next year,” warned Vaughan. “If a Medicare beneficiary is not comfortable using the CMS website to shop, the best Thanksgiving or Christmas present a computer-literate grandchild could give would be to help them shop for a better deal. In New York State, it could mean hundreds and even thousands of dollars in savings,” said Vaughan. The five drugs in the package are Altace 10mg (for high blood pressure), Celebrex 200mg (for arthritis type pain), Lipitor 10mg (for high cholesterol), nifedipine 30 mg ER (for high blood pressure/angina), and Zoloft 100 mg (for depression/anxiety). The New York zip code was 00501. The package of 5 drugs was selected to monitor price change; it is not a combination that an individual is likely to be prescribed. In addition, since we started monitoring costs, several generic versions of brand-name drugs have become available, and a careful shopper could achieve lower costs for these particular drugs. To maintain cost comparability over time, we have not substituted the available generics, though as a policy we recommend talking to your doctor about substituting generics. Subscribe to our FREE Ezine and be eligible for Health News, discounted products/services and coupons related to your Health. We publish 24/7. HealthNewsDigest.com We videotape Press Conferences, produce SMT's, VNR's, B-rolls, PSA's, - all with distribution: HealthyTelevisionProductions Top of Page 
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