Medicare open enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7. For many people, it is one of the few times in the year when a single decision shapes the next twelve months of costs. It also tends to be one of the decisions people put off the longest.
What we’ve seen is that the hard part usually isn’t choosing a plan. It’s the step before that: pulling together an accurate list of every medication, at the right dose, so that plans can be compared fairly.
Here is one small thing that makes that step easier.
Ask the pharmacy for a printout
Before comparing plans, ask the pharmacy for a printed list of every prescription filled this year, with the doses. Most pharmacies can produce it with one request at the counter or one phone call. If prescriptions are filled in more than one place, including a mail-order pharmacy, it helps to ask each one.
Why it matters every fall
Drug plans change from year to year, even when the plan name stays the same. A medication covered at one price this year may land in a different tier, come with a different cost, or not be covered at all in January. Plans send an Annual Notice of Change each fall explaining what’s different, and it often arrives looking like ordinary mail. Comparing plans against an accurate list is how those changes come to light before they show up at the pharmacy counter.
Why a printout beats memory
A list written from memory at the kitchen table tends to miss things. A medication taken only in winter. A dose that changed in the spring. Something a specialist prescribed and that was filled once. The pharmacy’s record holds all of it, with exact names and strengths, which is precisely what the comparison needs.
It also makes helping easier. The Medicare Plan Finder asks for each drug, its dose, and how often it’s filled. A plan representative will ask for the same. And when an adult child or a trusted friend is helping with the comparison, a single sheet of paper means no one has to go through the medicine cabinet or ask the same questions twice.
Where to bring it
Keep the printout with the Annual Notice of Change, or wherever the Medicare paperwork lives, and bring it to any conversation about plans: an appointment with a free SHINE counselor (Massachusetts’ Medicare counseling program), a consultation with an independent Medicare counseling professional for more personalized, hands-on support, a call with a plan representative, or an afternoon at the computer with a family member.
One piece of paper
It’s a small step, and it won’t make the decision for anyone. But it tends to turn a comparison that feels like guesswork into one that is mostly reading down a column. And in a month with so much else asking for attention, that’s worth one trip to the counter.
Jeremy Zizmor is the founder of Assurance Family Partners, a company whose mission is to assist and empower individuals and families who need help managing their personal day-to-day finances. He is responsible for running all facets of the business.
