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Wal-mart started it, and several other companies will be following. According to the following information from Wal-Mart, almost all plans can use the $4.00 medicaitons. I’d check with your local pharmacy and perhaps your health plan - especially if you are in a closed system such as Kaiser or Group Health.

Anyway…here is the list for you to see if you could benefit and lower your medicaiton costs.

Generic Drug List from Wal-Mart

The elderly will face another double-digit rise in their Medicare premiums next year, resulting in monthly payments of nearly $100.The monthly premiums for supplementary medical insurance will rise from $88.50 to at least $98.40, the Bush administration projected Tuesday. That’s an 11.2 percent increase, and it’s possible the amount will be slightly higher.

The projections assume that Congress will reduce Medicare payment rates for physicians by about 4.7 percent next year. Many analysts don’t believe such a cut will occur, and that means the cost of the insurance would go higher than current projections.

Mark McClellan, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the higher premiums are being generated through an increase in the volume of care provided Medicare patients. Doctors make greater use of imaging, physical therapy, lab tests and physician-administered drugs.

Physicians say that the increased volume usually equates to better care and healthier patients, but a fact sheet released by CMS on Tuesday said “use of these services varies substantially across practices and geographic areas, with no clear impacts on health.”

“We can’t keep pumping more money into a payment system that is not sustainable,” McClellan said.

continue reading –> Elderly to see Hike in Medicare Premimums

If you are on medicare and struggling with the new medication program, you may be interested in this:

WASHINGTON - Private insurers offering prescription drug coverage through Medicare should supply senior citizens with an additional 60-day supply of medicine for emergency cases, the Bush administration says.

The move will give beneficiaries more time to find alternative treatments when their plan won’t cover a prescription, or more time to file an appeal. Pharmacists had warned that the previous 30-day limit could pose significant problems for poor senior citizens and disabled patients.The new prescription drug program under Medicare began Jan. 1. In a review of the first month, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt acknowledged there were problems with the startup. “I make no excuses,” he said. “We own the problems.”

You can read the entire article here.