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1) Blue Medicare Lifetime HMO plan. This plan is a medium-sized HMO that has low fixed
costs. There are more than 2,500 providers in its network, which gives you a wide choice
of specialists if you should need to see a different doctor. This plan has a Medicare
quality rating of 3.5 stars, which is average.

One negative about this plan is its $6,500 annual out-of-pocket limit, which is very high
for an HMO. And as you know, in an HMO you will not be covered if you see a doctor
who is not in the plan’s network (emergencies are the exceptions).

2) AARP Medicare Complete Choice Plan 2 (Regional PPO plan). This plan covers the
entire state of Florida and therefore has a large network of more than 18,000 providers.
There’s no way to know, though, how many of those 18,000 providers are in Brevard
County.

This plan has an above-average quality rating of four stars, which means it receives a
quality bonus from Medicare. By law, quality bonuses must be re-invested in additional
benefits, and therefore Advantage plans that have ratings of four stars or higher are
likely to have extra benefits that lower-rated plans do not have.

In PPO plans such as this one, you will be covered when you see doctors who are not in
the plan’s network. But you will have higher co-payments and cost-sharing. In some
Advantage PPO plans you may have to pay up to 50% of the cost when you go to an out-
of-network doctor. This plan has a $6,700 out-of-pocket limit for network services, and a
$10,000 out-of-pocket limit for all services, including treatments by out-of-network
doctors. Those numbers are in line with most other Advantage Regional PPO plans.

Rx Drug Coverage

The prescription drug costs shown on page 3 assume that you will use the lowest-cost refill
schedule, whether it’s monthly refills (as you now get) or mail-order refills. Details of each drug
plan are shown on page 4 and in the Section D attachments. Costs shown are total costs --
premiums, deductibles, and co-payments.

You indicated that one of the drugs you take is Wellbutrin. The Medicare web site recommends
a lower-cost generic equivalent for Wellbutrin – Bupropion HCL – and it was used to estimate
your costs. If you want to continue taking the brand-name Wellbutrin, you will likely have to
pay full retail cost in whatever plan you enroll in.

As you’ll see on pages 3-4, you can trim your annual prescription drug costs by more than
$1,000 if you choose an Advantage plan. And in the AARP Medicare Complete Choice Plan 2,
your annual prescription drug costs are zero if you get mail-order refills. By comparison, the
lowest-cost stand-alone plan in Brevard County will cost you almost $1,300 a year. Because the
stand-alone plans in your county are so expensive for the specific drugs that you take, it is
something you should be aware of as you choose your coverage.

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