Health Harbor

What is the Medicare Part D Donut Hole in 2011?

What is the Medicare Part D Donut Hole in 2011?

The Medicare Part D Donut Hole starts at $2,840 and goes to $4,550 in 2011. This is the range where the enrollee is responsible for the entire cost of drugs, whereas Medicare pays a portion of the drug cost before and most of the drug cost after that amount. The Medicare donut hole is also known as the Part D coverage gap, and has been a criticism of Medicare Part D's benefit design since its creation.

Health Reform provides some relief in the donut hole beginning in 2011, and is scheduled to phase the donut hole out by 2020. While benificiaries are in the donut hole range in 2011, they are entitled to a 50% discount on brand name drugs and a 7% discount on generic drugs. The discount does not get calculated into the pace toward exiting the donut hole -- they get full credit for what the entire cost of the drug would have been.

Ask HealthHarbor: Did I just lose my Flexible Saving Account dollars?

Q: With the holidays and a crazy year-end, I completely forgot about $300 that was left in my FSA through my employer. Did I just kiss this money goodbye, or can I somehow use it?

A: While your Flexible Savings Account cutoff for incurring the medical care was likely 12/31 (you may want to check on this through your HR -- 12/31 is the most common but not a hard and fast rule), you will likely have three to four more months to send in the documentation and get reimbursed for 2009 expenses. Think back to your 2009 and determine if there are things that you could get reimbursed for -- deductibles, prescriptions, therapy, over-the-counter medical supplies and the like. Chances are you'll be able to come up with $300 of unreimbursed medical expenses. If, however, you can't, you are right -- you would lose the dollars. That is the difference between a Flexible Savings Account and a Health Savings Account (HSA). In an HSA, you would roll the dollars over to the new year.

Health Insurance Facts

The most common questions we receive are ones regarding basic health insurance facts. Health insurance is one of the more complicated personal finance or family budget topics that most people have to learn about and deal with. Not only is it complicated, but asking a question about health insurance facts could have many different angles: Did you mean how does insurance work when you need to file a claim? Or what kinds of medical services does it cover? Were you talking about the process of getting health insurance through your employer? Or does your employer not offer it (or you are retired or unemployed) and you are asking about buying health insurance on the open market?

How much is health insurance?

How much is health insurance?

It is a question for which the answer changes every year. According to a recent national human resources survey, insurance premiums increased again this year, and deductibles increased substantially. That means that people who are trying to determine the cost of health insurance, and how much will need to come out of their pocket in terms of premiums and deductibles, have a new answer every year. Here, we will deconstruct the components of health insurance costs and provide some tips for how you can keep them in check.

Health Insurance and Medical Bill Planning When You are Expecting