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Costs for prescription drugs for seniors using Medicare are going way up. Some studies say they've skyrocketed more than 300 percent.
People who are enrolled in the Medicare Part D program for prescription drugs have noticed their premiums have gone up. For some customers, like Marilyn Long, costs have stayed manageable
"I'm happy that I didn't have to take a big jump, like I've heard some others," she said.
But others, like Shirley Strout, plan to pay more than $100 a month soon. "Right now, I'm paying like $88 a month," she said.
Strout and Long still like the program despite the raise in premiums, but AARP officials say the rise in prescription costs may have caught a lot of seniors off guard.
AARP Utah State Director Rob Ence said, "I just think, unfortunately, the market under-priced some products that unfairly enticed people to join."
Ence says the price of prescriptions is rising at three times the rate of inflation, and, he adds, there is no justification for it.
"It's because there is not any pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to produce competitive drug prices," he said.
But Ence says even people who feel their premiums are becoming too expensive shouldn't drop out of the program without shopping around first, and you can do that on Medicare's Web site.
Utah Senior Health Insurance Information Program Manager Darren Hotton said, "You can enter your prescriptions online and it will provide the list of the least expensive plan to the most expensive plan."
Hotton says cheap prices drove a lot of people into the program when it started, but he says too many customers forget about their plans after they sign up.
"That's the problem with this drug program is that you have to be actively involved with your prescription or your health care. So, every year, they need to look at it and make a decision if they want to make a change," he said.
Patients have until Dec. 31 to make these changes.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
