Enrollees in Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans will pay 14.2% more this year than they did in 2009, says a new analysis by Avalere Health L.L.C., Washington, D.C.
Members of the private Medicare supplemental prescription plans will pay on average $39.61 per month in 2010, compared to $34.69 last year, Avalere found. In contrast, the average monthly MA-PD premium increased by only 5.2% in 2009 from the year before.
Avalere found there are 2,430 MA-PD plans in 2010, of which 1,705 were also available in 2009. Doing the same analysis for last plan year, Avalere found 2,748 MA-PD plans, of which 2,277 had also been available in 2008.
Its appears it pays for seniors to shop around for prescription coverage, the findings suggest. If a beneficiary had remained in the same MA-PD plan between 2009 and 2010, their premium would have increased on average 22%, Avalere found
"Premiums are going up, not just in the individual markets, but also for Medicare Advantage products," said Lindsey Spindle, a vice president at Avalere. "They fit into a broader trend of increased financial pressure on the insured through rising copays and increased premiums."
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