Walgreens to help seniors navigate Medicare
DEERFIELD, Ill. — With this year’s Medicare Annual Election Period overlapping with the unrelated open enrollment for the new federal and state insurance marketplaces, there’s a growing need to help Medicare beneficiaries understand their healthcare coverage options when Medicare open enrollment begins on Oct. 15, Walgreens noted Monday.
“Many Medicare beneficiaries don’t fully understand certain aspects of their health plan, including cost savings options, and some also become non-adherent to medication therapies as a way to try to reduce costs,” stated Suzanne Hansen, Walgreens group VP pharmacy operations. “The Medicare environment can be challenging to navigate, and we anticipate an even greater need to help educate our customers this year, given the changes that are taking place across the health care landscape.”
Cost savings remains top of mind for many Medicare beneficiaries, as more than one-third of those surveyed (37%) are concerned about prescription drug costs, and 1-in-5 say they’ve made such sacrifices as delaying filling a prescription or skipping doses to help manage medication costs.
Walgreens' pharmacists will serve as an accessible resource for Medicare Part D information, offering free, personalized plan comparison reports to help beneficiaries evaluate the plans that may best meet their prescription drug needs.
Walgreens' prescription plan comparison report details each plan’s estimated annual costs, including monthly premiums, brand and generic co-pays and drugs covered through the coverage gap. Walgreens' pharmacists will review the report to help Medicare beneficiaries understand their coverage options, as well as the latest information on Medicare, whether they’re selecting a plan for the first time or evaluating if their current plan is still the best option.
Plan reviews will be available on a walk-in basis or by scheduling an appointment at www.walgreens.com/medicare.
Walgreens is a part of Medicare preferred pharmacy networks with four national Part D plan sponsors — Coventry Health Care, Humana, UnitedHealthcare and WellCare. The preferred networks are designed to offer Medicare beneficiaries additional options to save on their prescription drugs.