IMAGE
Friday, June 2, 2023

Insulin Prices Capped by Eli Lilly

After a six year legal battle, drug maker Eli Lilly has agreed to a settlement valued at up to $500 million.  Relatively recently, Congress has taken a keen interest in some of the practices of both manufacturers of prescription drugs, and so called pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).  Eli Lilly is one of the nation’s oldest manufacturers of prescription drugs, and is largely identified by its introduction of Prozac to market in 1988.  Here are the details of the settlement, which benefits virtually anyone who was prescribed insulin made by Eli Lilly from January 1, 2009 to the date of the settlements final approval –

IMAGE
Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Post-Retirement Healthcare Budgeting

A question I firmly believe is not asked and answered enough these days is – “how much should I budget for healthcare post-retirement (age 65), assuming I leave my employer (or other) plan and elect Medicare”?  This includes expenses related to medical/dental/vision, care and insurance premiums, and assumes Medicare (and its various parts/pieces) is in place to protect against catastrophic type loss.  Well, the answer might surprise a few folks, and is definitely something to consider if retirement is on the horizon!

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Medicare Part D Notices

Each year, Medicare Part D requires group health plan sponsors to disclose to individuals who are eligible for Medicare Part D AND to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) whether their health plan’s prescription drug coverage is creditable. Plan sponsors must provide the annual disclosure notice to Medicare-eligible individuals before Oct. 15, 2016—theLEARN MORE

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Medicare Part D Notice Requirement

Each year, Medicare Part D requires group health plan sponsors to disclose to individuals who are eligible for Medicare Part D to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) whether their health plan’s prescription drug coverage is creditable. Plan sponsors must provide the annual disclosure notice to Medicare-eligible individuals before Oct. 15, 2016,the start date of the annual enrollment period for Medicare Part D.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Medicare Part D Disclosure Notices – DEADLINE LOOMING!

It seems as though the entire employee benefits/human resource universe has been transfixed on the upcoming, October 1 deadline for the ACA Marketplace Notice requirement (now deemed optional). In fact, this very blog site thoroughly addressed the Marketplace Notice requirement a mere two weeks ago, and provided guidance and compliance assistance! Meanwhile, another notice requirement, the 8th anniversary no less, looms…
The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) created a voluntary prescription drug program, called Medicare Part D, for Medicare eligible individuals.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Medicare versus Obamacare versus Other Insurance…Know Your Options!

A recent news article (Waters, Jennifer. “Don’t Confuse Medicare with Obamacare.” Wall Street Journal 7 Sept. 2013) cautioned readers not to confuse the annual Medicare open enrollment period (aka open season) with the upcoming Affordable Care Act Marketplace enrollment period. Since the two programs will have overlapping enrollment periods during the last quarter of the year, there is bound to be confusion, if not opportunistic hustlers looking to exploit unsuspecting enrollees. As Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services indicated in the article, We want to reassure Medicare beneficiaries that they are already covered, that their benefits aren’t changing and that the Marketplace doesn’t require them to do anything different. Specifically, they do not…