Seniors faced with too many choices, advisor says

Intermountain Catholic

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Jack Foreman, a Certified Senior Advisor, cautions seniors and their families about making decisions about insurance and prescription drug plan without getting all the information. IC photo by Barbara S. Lee

SALT LAKE CITY — The state of Utah and the country as a whole may be bursting their buttons with pride at the number of people they have signed up for Medicare Part D (drug) plans, but Certified Senior Advisor Jack M. Foreman, who turns 65 himself early next month, said his concern is that there is still too much confusion out there and way too many choices from which people must choose the best benefit package for themselves or the seniors they love.

In a July 21 interview with the Intermountain Catholic, Foreman, of Senior Care Solutions, presented a single list of available Utah stand-alone prescription drug plans, beneficiary drug premium programs that cover prescription drugs only and do not cover medical of hospital benefits. The list includes 18 separate organization and 44 individual plans. It doesn’t reflect information for PACE (Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly) organizations, employer sponsored plans, or plans that were not approved by Oct. 10, 2005.

The list is intimidating.

"As a certified senior advisor, I have undertaken a course of study of 24 topics of concerns to seniors, issue from Medicare and financial planning to housing and insurance. In my conversations with clients, I understand where they’re coming from. I hear things, I listen to their concerns, and I make referrals and help seniors and their families network with available services and programs. What many of our clients are talking about right now are the drug cards, the confusion, and the overwhelming number of choices they have to make."

The campaign to sign up seniors for drug benefit programs, Foreman said, didn’t take into consideration that 10 percent of people over 65 have no need for drug benefits at all, and about 11.3 percent of seniors have only from $3,000 to $5,000 in prescription costs per year. Yet, seniors are being told that if they don’t sign up for a plan by a certain deadline, they are facing a penalty, and that penalty concerns them."

In these days when corporations are ending benefits and pension plans are being sacrificed, Foreman said, he is concerned corporations and the government are shifting the burden from themselves to the seniors and their families.

Foreman has been in the insurance business for 25 years, 13 of them as an independent agent.

"About one-third of seniors in this country are so healthy that if they join a plan, they may never get out of the deductible stage.

"Part of the problem is the enormous number of drug advertisements we’re seeing on television and in magazines today," he said. "Some ads imply that people may need drugs they simply can do without."

In the past couple of years, seniors have faced changes in Medicare coverage, drug coverage, and changes in other benefits.

"First, we’re all human," Foreman said. "We don’t like change, and it’s confusing."

As second concern, he said, is that many seniors don’t know what to look for when buying insurance."

Foreman refers to an article in the Jan. 30, 2006, issue of BusinessWeek magazine by Howard Gleckman, that points out that some insurance plans may be "(Offering) dirt-cheap drug plans to grab million of seniors. Then (using) the benefit as a stepping stone to a potentially richer market – Medicare managed-care plans, which cover doctor and hospital bills as well as drugs."

"I am urging our clients to look inside each drug plan or insurance policy offered, examine the benefits offered, and determine if the plans and policies are appropriate for them."

But sometimes, he said, clients get into the paperwork and get frustrated.

"Too often, people just look at the sizzle of the price tag, and grab the least expensive plan, when it might not be the right plan for them at all."

Foreman said today, benefits are being "sliced every which way," which is frightening for seniors and their families.