Sam Burgess

Most people select a Part D Prescription drug plan and don’t ever change it.  This is a huge mistake. What few people realize and that the drug companies change their formularies (list of covered prescriptions) each year. A drug they may cover one year, they may not cover at all the next.  A drug that was considered a Tier 1 (lowest cost tier) may change to a Tier 3 the following year thereby increasing the cost of that prescription. Your drug plan premium may also increase each year, as well.  Obviously, this too will increase your cost. So even if your prescriptions do not change, your drug coverage needs to be looked at each year.  I work with many people on their Medicare in Florida and many of them save money by me evaluating their drug coverage and moving to a plan with the lowest overall cost. Overall cost is defined as the monthly premium for the drug plan + the cost of the prescriptions at the pharmacy.  Whichever plans comes in the lowest that woul...

Working with a broker will afford you the opportunity to make better decisions on your Medicare coverage. This is probably the most important thing to know about choosing the correct coverage for yourself. Most people work with an agent who is either employed by one company or an agent who only represents one or two companies. If this is who you have worked with either now or in the past, you are making a critical error. Whether you are shopping for a Medicare supplement coverage , Part D prescription drug coverage or a Medicare Advantage Plan, you need to know what all your options are from each company that offers this coverage in your area. In Florida where I am located there are approximately 15 to 20 companies that offers Medicare Supplement coverage, Plan A through N. In Florida, Medicare Supplement are standardized coverage, meaning based on plan letter, the coverage is the same from company to company. The only difference is the monthly premium. Unless you know what each com...