Pharmacists ease seniors’ Medicare D confusion
“There’s a lot of smart people here but we couldn’t read the thing the government sent us,� said Elda Mae Lange, who takes 12 prescription drugs a day. “It made absolutely no sense.�
“It is not easy for anybody to understand,� said Barton. “It’s all about saving big business in the United States. Big pharmacy manufacturers and insurance companies are the biggest beneficiaries.�
“I researched a lot of the plans,� said Joens. “I offered free one-half hour appointments with the seniors. We went over the prescription drugs they were on. That was the biggest thing.�
Barton, too, has spent many hours helping seniors find the right plan. There’s a plan for people who have very few drugs that costs them virtually nothing.�
“We didn’t find it too difficult,� said John Mason, one of the many seniors who got help from Joens. “If they were not in the computer system we gave them a week’s worth of medication while we verified they were in the system.�
There have been no problems since mid-January. “We think they’re going to benefit from having a pharmacist right here in town.�
“I have a customer who pays $3,000 a month for medication,� said Joens.
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