Medicare, Part D and Secondary Coverage

Medicare patients need to make good choices when picking their secondary coverage.  Patients tend to think that “Part D” will take care of all of their drug costs.  Many rheumatic disease patients who take costly medications are unaware of the hidden costs through Medicare Part D.  Finding the right drug coverage can mean that a patient will not need to worry about the “donut hole”.  Consider buying your drug coverage separately from Medicare.  By having their secondary supplemental policy cover their drugs (but you have to be sure it covers the medications-not Part D Medicare), most patients are able to forgo the “donut hole” and to use drug company copay cards to help with the cost, potentially saving a lot of money and giving them more choices. Read more.