Sunday, August 16, 2020

Special Delivery






A recent study led by Stacie Dusetzina, PhD, published in Health Affairs, found that Medicare Part D (Rx) plans encouraged the use of generic medications over the name brand drug.  The senior citizen pays significantly less for the generic equivalent.  And the best deals are available on the most commonly prescribed generics, often referred to as Tier 1 or Preferred Generics.  Medicare Part D policies incentivize, damn near beg, seniors to use the mail delivery option.  Many policies not only forego the deductible on Tier 1 medications, they will even send a 90 day supply directly to your home at no cost.  It is hard to turn down free.  A lot of my clients take advantage of this benefit.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is very proud of their ability to serve our veterans’ pharmaceutical needs.  The link to their site notes that in 2016 the V.A. processed 470,000 prescriptions daily.  It is impressive that 330,000 veterans received a package of prescriptions in the mail EVERY SINGLE WORK DAY.  That was four years ago.  Mailing medications saves the V.A. money, saves our veterans money, and it is convenient.

The elderly and disabled may not have easy access to a drugstore or V.A. facility.  The mailbox is only steps away.

We depend on our mail system for the delivery of medications, letters, packages, and yes, for ballots.  Anything or anyone who slows the delivery of the mail will negatively impact all of these needed services.

DAVE


Picture – A Different Medical Device – David L Cunix

1 comment:

  1. According to USA Today August 20
    An audit issued in September 2019 by the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General said mail handling and delivery costs increased by roughly $5 billion or 13% over five years when adjusted for inflation. Total mail volume carried dropped by 5.7%, the audit said.

    I might add that the USPS has had declining volume and increase costs for years. All the current problems are not new.

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