Page 4 - Cover Letter and Cost Estimates for Ms. LaVerne Durham

Because the four Rx drugs you take are inexpensive generic drugs, it is unlikely that you would
reach the coverage gap known as the doughnut hole (at which point the co-payments for some
drugs might go down).

The least expensive stand-alone drug plan is a new plan – the Clear Spring Health Premier Rx
Plan. Its estimated costs for your drugs at either CVS or Walgreens are $86.80 for the last four
months of 2021, including premiums and co-payments. Thus, your annual costs would be about
three times that amount, or $260.40.

Coverage Summary

Based on the limited number of Advantage plans available to you and the fact that one of your
physicians is in Virginia, your only viable option would be to get a Medigap policy and a stand-
alone drug plan. Including your Part B premiums, your annual costs for Plan G and your Rx
drugs would be just under $4,000 this year, but that does not include coverage for dental,
routine vision, and hearing loss (Congress is now considering a bill to expand Medicare’s
coverage to include those three services).

With a comprehensive Medigap policy like Plan G, those will be your only costs for Medicare-
covered services. If you chose Plan N instead of Plan G, your Medigap premiums would be
about $350 less a year, but you would have co-payments of up to $20 for doctors’ office visits
and $50 for a visit to the emergency room. You could come out ahead if you didn’t see your
doctors that frequently, but you could not later upgrade to the more comprehensive Plan G
without answering questions about your health.

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)

I don’t know whether you already have SSDI or have applied for it, but if not, you might
consider it (17% of Medicare enrollees are younger than 65, which means they are have
qualified for SSDI). Anyway, some basic information is included in Appendix D.

LaVerne, after you’ve had a chance to review this, please let me know if you have questions.

Sincerely,

David Armes, CFP®

Attachments and Appendices
WDA:12115

4