Health News

From November 15th to the end of December is "open season" for American senior citizens to sign up for another year to benefit from the federal government program known as Medicare Part D designed to help eligible older Americans pay for prescription drugs.

The general advice is that unless you are already on an alternative scheme like a retiree prescription plan or covered by the all-in-one Medicare Advantage, you should sign up even if you don't currently take prescription drugs because you may need them and if you're not in the scheme when you do you will find yourself paying large penalties.

Medicare Part D started in January 2005 and was brought in to help senior citizens by providing a single source for prescription drug coverage. Before that most older Americans had to find coverage for their prescription drugs through a confusing array of private insurers.

With Medicare Part D the senior citizen pays a monthly premium to belong to a plan and then only pays a small part of the cost of the drug. In principle this sounds straightforward, but as Drugs.com, an online information service for consumers and health professionals, explains, there is a lot that can go wrong and it is important that you choose the right package for you when you sign up.

Although generally regarded as a benefit worth having, getting on the scheme and then navigating through the array of options to find a package that is not too expensive is not for the faint hearted.

Expert websites offer help and advice and also suggest that even if you are already enrolled and happy with your current package you should go through the process again and check what's on offer for 2009 because the drug prices will change and the ones you chose last year may not even be in the plans next year…