A medical question...actually, a prescription drug question...

I, along with millions of Americans, have declined to buy Medicare part D, prescription drug coverage. We just cannot afford it.

After looking over the Generic Drugs available at Target, Wal-Mart, K-mart, I hope that if I ever need anything, it will be on someones generic list.

By offering drug coverage in the manner it is set up through Medicare, the government is asking us to guess whether we will need it or not. We also need to guess if we would fall into the "donut-hole" range where we have to pay for the drugs needed and still pay for the policy or if we need to buy another supplement to cover everything in the middle. It is too confusing and is a silly way to do things. I hope the Government restructures the drug plan up

Are there any medical professionals reading that could put in their ideas about the Generics and Part D?

drugs at Costco, because thier prices are for 90-100 days.

whether or not it's being paid for through part D.

The "donut hole" affects people who require very expensive medicines year round, and is especially cruel to transplant recipients and cancer patients, who often can't afford that extra several thousands of dollars a year for their lifesaving medication.

This was a bill by and for Big Pill and Big Insurance. This was not anything that was supposed to help seniors or anyone else.

The best thing you can do is keep writing letters to your Congressmen to change this horrible bill, to allow bidding among manufacturers and to eliminate the cruel and unnecessary "donut hole" that is killing some of our seniors with limited funds.

Medicare Part D is the worst of all possible worlds: overcomplicated, hideously expensive, and provided the maximum cruelty to the sickest patients. Fight it with everything you've got.

Although it means a trip to a big box store to get the rx, perhaps it's worth it.

I know they do it to keep real health care reform from moving forward, but I'll be damned if I die waiting for the rest of the country to get on the same page.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=546834

the Target or K-mart list or vice-versa. It is worth it. My other half takes Lisinopril, from Wal-mart for blood pressure. The simvastatin he needs for high cholesterol is only on the K-Mart list and there is no K-mart near us. I am told that all 3 change and add to the list all the time. Well worth printing out all of them and bring the lists with you to the doctor.

Some doctors will prescribe the newest thing when there is often something on the generic list that will work nearly as well, or at least that we can afford. I've gotten to taking the Walmart generic list to the doctor with me, get me well with what's on the list.

The pharmacists there are the most helpful people in town in spite of what many on DU think of the chain.

Mine just gave me a blood pressure med that isn't on the generic list. Next time I'm taking the Walmart list to her and making her give me one of the meds on the list. Our Walmart will also give us a 3 month supply, even though I've read they only give 30 days at a time. We live 60 miles from Walmart, so I don't know if that's why they do it or not.

your Doc writes the prescription, ask them to write it for a 90 day supply then the Pharmacist will fill it that way.

So for those who think they can only get 30 days, I'm suggesting they ask their local Walmart if they will fill the $4.00 prescriptions for 90 days ($12). I figured it was obvious you would have to ask for a 90 day prescription to get 90 days of medicine.

what drugs you MIGHT need in the future when choosing one of these stupid plans. If they're going to keep seniors in the grips of the drug industry, they ought to at least make each and every plan cover all medications. How is a person who takes no medicines supposed to sign up for a plan? Maybe I'll need a high blood pressure drug, maybe I'll need an antibiotic, maybe I'll need cancer treatment, maybe I won't need anything - it's ludicrous.