The poor Elvis pun aside, this is a week that many of us have been waiting for with great anticipation,  the week that the Medicare Part D Provider selection begins.  If you are like me and have parents over 65 years of age, (sorry mom),  you have been inundated with calls from them about the blizzard of mail, the news reports, and the detailed information sent from Medicare that they have started to receive in the mail, on the web and through their television screens. In some states, you may be able to choose from over 35 or more plans and coverages. I don’t know about you, but I get brain freeze standing at the local Cold Stone Creamery counter choosing between ice cream toppings.

A short primer on Medicare Part D: For the first time, Medicare will offer prescription coverage and, more importantly, it will be administered entirely by private sector for-profit entities. These private entities, known as Prescription Drug Plans (PDP), will provide pharmacy benefits based on statutory and regulatory requirements. All plans are approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) which has oversite responsibility for Medicare Part D. 

There are some dates with which you will need to become familiar, signup starts November fifteenth, the plans go into effect on January first and if you delay signing up until after May fifteenth, payment penalties will begin.

There are also new phrases with which you will need to become familiar, one of the most interesting to consider is that when you incur more than $2,250 in prescription drug expenditures, you will find a coverage gap, known as the "doughnut hole," with coverage resuming once expenditures exceed $5,100.   Dunk that in your coffee.

But, there is hope.  The first thing you need to do is slow down, don’t rush into any decisions.  Unless Congress delays the programs, the plans do not go into effect until the first of the year.  The second thing to do is to realize that there is help, Medicare.Gov has launched a  “Formulary Finder" and a “Plan Finder", which are designed to help you decide which program would work best for your specific needs, or you can call them at 1-800-MEDICARE.    Also, The National Council on Aging’s  web based service, BenefitsCheckUpRx for People with Medicare, (http://www.benefitscheckup.org/) which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Administration on Aging, has just been enhanced to help anyone with Medicare--regardless of income--decide if signing up for a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan is the right choice for them.

Another reason to take a deep breath, no matter what decision you make, you can change  programs after a year, which is better than most cell phone services.

I do know two things for certain; I know what the conversation will be at your Thanksgiving table this year and, I know that you will need to greatly increase your usual supply of antacids.