ePillz.com - Medicare Stops ED Drugs Coverage

Medicare Stops ED Drugs Coverage

October 14, 2006 - U.S. Department of Health & Human Services -

Erectile Dysfunction drugs, such as Viagra, Levitra and Cialis will not be covered by most of the Medicare prescription-drug plans next year. The official U.S. Government site for people with Medicare (www.medicare.gov) has already released information on the changes in the existing insurance plans, as well as on some new options for Medicare beneficiaries, for the year 2007.

Medicare decided to stop covering anti-impotence medications, trying to optimize the use of health care financial resources. As it is said, there are new priorities of health insurance for the next year, and erectile dysfunction treatments are considered to be of minor importance in comparison to other health concerns requiring medical treatment.

In fact, Medicare made the same changes in approach to ED treatments, as another medical insurance plan Medicaid did last year. So, the decision of Medicare will hardly be welcomed by the makers of Viagra, Levitra and Cialis and people, suffering from erectile dysfunction, whose number is about 30 millions in the USA.

In year 2007 people with Medicare plans will be able to receive compensation for their expenses at buying neither brand nor generic erectile dysfunction prescription drugs, unless they are prescribed for the treatment of other diseases, for example, pulmonary hypertension.

Pfizer Inc., the manufacturer of Viagra, has been advertising the Medicare Plan D as one of the options to save on Viagra in 2006. However, this option will not be available next year. The Medicare enrollment process for the year 2007 will start on November 15, but the available prescription plans will not include Viagra as well as other ED treatments into the list of drugs, covered by the insurance.

However, there are still several opportunities for patients to save money on Viagra. For example, Viagra Value Card. Once a person receives the Value Card from Pfizer, he will be able to get every 7th Viagra prescription free of charge. More detailed information on Value Card program can be accessed at the Viagra official web-site.

For the time being, it is only Pfizer that offers programs to reduce total cost of Viagra treatment. The manufacturers of Levitra and Cialis offer only free trial samples of their pills with the first prescription.

About Medicare Medicare is a federal health insurance plan. Every American, aged 65 and older, may participate in the program. Medicare offers multiple insurance plans, differing in monthly cost, list of covered drugs, etc.

It is said that over 80% of Medicare beneficiaries are satisfied with their current coverage and drug plans. However, there will be much more new plans to choose for year 2007. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that 83% of all the existing Medicare beneficiaries will have access to plans with premiums lower than they pay this year. Moreover, beneficiaries will also be able to switch to other plans with premiums of less than $20 a month. Another important change of the Medicare 2007 is that the list of covered drugs will be increased by approximately 13%.

Nick

External resources
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/0/6CA4D9DBEB90EC7C86257...
http://www.medicare.gov
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2006pres/20060929.html