Are You a Caregiver? Learn How to Compare Medicare Part D Plans

{This is one of two sponsored posts for Walgreens. Thanks to Walgreens for trusting Sunshine and Sippy Cups to tell the story of caregiving and  comparing Medicare Part D plans. Compensation was received, but opinions shared are 100% mine – as always.}

My family is filled with love and laughter, silly jokes and sarcasm, happiness and hugs. It’s also filled with an assortment of unfortunate health problems. My dad has suffered from Chron’s Disease since I was a kid. It’s led to so many surgeries and procedures and complications over the years. My youngest brother was born with Aortic Stenosis, and had open heart surgery at 16 to have the valve replaced. My mom is pretty healthy – she was always the caregiver. She took care of my grandpa when he had lung cancer, my grandma when she suffered from alzheimer’s, and many of my great aunts and uncles during their nursing home years. I learned so much from watching her do all of that – how important it is to have an advocate when you’re in the hospital or a nursing facility, how hard it can be to navigate all of the paperwork and procedures, and how expensive it can be as those bills all add up. And, one big challenge that many people deal with as they age is figuring out how to get the most from their health plan, and learning to save more on prescriptions by understanding their Medicare Part D plans. But I have a resource that can seriously help you – check it out:

Learn How to Compare Medicare Part D Plans: A Must for Caregivers

As mothers, this is a really important thing to learn more about. When we think about health care and taking care of people in our family – the first thoughts are usually of our children and partner. But, even though it’s really hard to think about sometimes, our parents are getting older. And caregiving responsibilities in families usually fall to women – meaning us. Did you know:

• The majority of caregivers are female (65%), and more than 80% are caring for a relative or friend who is age 50 or older. 
• According to the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, in 2012 there were over 31.5 million people enrolled in Medicare Part D, and the findings of a new Walgreens survey showed that more than one-third of Medicare Part D beneficiaries (37 percent) surveyed have daily concerns about their prescription drug costs. One in five say they’ve even had to make sacrifices, such as delaying filling a prescription or skipping doses, to help manage medication costs.
• Using a preferred network pharmacy, if one is offered by the Part D plan, can potentially save beneficiaries hundreds of dollars each year on prescription co-pay costs.  Yet, only 21 percent of respondents switched to a pharmacy within their plan’s preferred network as a way to save, and one-fourth (24 percent) are unaware of whether their plan offers a preferred pharmacy option.
• Walgreens, which is in the network of hundreds of Medicare prescription drug plans and participates in the preferred networks of four national Part D sponsors, offers savings of up to 75 percent on prescription co-pays over select pharmacies for a number of plans in which it is a preferred pharmacy.

Isn’t it crazy that there are so many people enrolled in Medicare Part D {the Medicare prescription benefit plan} that are confused on how it works, are still struggling to pay for the medications they need, and don’t even know about all of the options to help them save more? If you’re a caregiver – or think you may be in the future, it’s definitely a must to check out the easy 3-steps that can lead to big savings on prescriptions.

3-Steps to Save up to 75% on Prescription Drugs

Walgreens new initiative called, “You’re Worth Savings” is here to educate Medicare beneficiaries, and those who care for them, about new cost saving opportunities and how to get the most from their health plan. They have three easy steps that can help Medicare Part D beneficiaries save as much as 75 percent on prescription drug costs:

• 1. Review your Medicare Part D plan
• 2. Talk to a Walgreens pharmacist about cost concerns and ways you might be able to save
• 3. Compare co-pay and other costs against your current plan and pharmacy

I already love Walgreens pharmacy, and we fill the majority of our families prescriptions there. They have great hours, and the pharmacists are so incredibly helpful and full of tips to help us. They actually helped us to save a ton on Abby’s seizure medicines too – I didn’t realize that there were several generic drugs we could switch to. They let us know about the other options, called and got new prescriptions from her doctors, and saved us almost $50 bucks a month. So I totally recommend visiting them to get educated on how to compare medicare part d plans too. Either for your own knowledge, or to help a friend of family member. Prescriptions add up quickly, and in today’s reality of tight budgets, every penny counts.

Learn more about medicare part d costs and how to save at Walgreens.com

And let’s chat: Are you a caregiver? Have you felt confused trying to navigate health plans and prescriptions plans too? Share your thoughts and stories with me below. I’ll be doing a follow up post to this next week, and would love to answer any questions or help with challenges that you guys have faced or are dealing with.