I have to work on this. My pharmacy has been dropped for next year from my current plan. And I really dislike the other two local pharmacies, so I'll have to find a plan that takes the one I like. PITA..

Both of our 2017 plans were going to cost much more for our meds in 2018.

We'll continue with our Plan F High Deductible supplementary carrier -- where we find out in *April* what the premiums will be! Cute.

Lisinopril should be an inexpensive drug? Can't you just not have plans at all and just pay for your drugs and come out ahead?

Lucille -- Medicaid *requires* you to take a Plan D or be penalized when you do take one. Yes, Lisinoril is not expensive -- about $25 for 30 of either 10 mg or 20 mg, but we have *other* meds where no plan would really hurt. (DH pays nothing for his Lisinopril under his plan.)

My Advair is almost $400/month retail. I'll pay about $1,000 for the year under the plan. Of course Medicare is giving the plan $4,000 towards my Advair -- your tax dollars, and mine -- and I'm kicking in $23/mo. in premiums.

mdln -- I've cost-checked, but Costco is not cheaper for our meds under our Part D plans. (Did you mean we'd save paying retail there? I kinda doubt it, but would be very happy to learn that!)

Yes, I have found some Rx's to be less expensive NOT using my insurance at Costco.

Lisinopril 40mg, 100 tablets, $12.61

Unfortunately, no great savings for Advair.

My husband gets his Lisinopril 10mg at Walmart pharmacy. He doesn't put it on his insurance. He pays cash and uses one of those RX discount cards that come free in the mail. The cost for 30 is 2.10.

Mdln, I spend a lot of time these days teaching my neighbors how to be criminals and order their advair and spireva from Canada. Three month supply for less than one month here and it is EXACTLY the same thing. Mostly their part D plans no longer cover either one.

I recently found out about the rx card discount from my doctor when I lost many of my medications in the flood and insurance would not allow me a replacement refill. I was amazed by the discounts available with the card. In fact she printed out the discount coupons for me to use at the pharmacy that would give me the best price. It was a great I was able to replace all of our meds for a substantial savings. And now I am checking to see what I can get cheaper than using my insurance.

This is the one she used

https://m.goodrx.com/

Here's the info for Advair there

https://m.goodrx.com/advair?q=advair&category=drug

My experience with Advair, after using it for a long time I totally lost my voice. I then found out that this is a fairly common problem with Advair long term use. We did not think I would ever get it back. I went to numerous specialists, tried everything. Finally after almost a year of barely having any voice it slowly started to return but not at all in my previous voice. It will probably never be the same or as strong. It goes away randomly and especially under stress. If I am sick especially when I have a cold or cough I lose it again. Had I known this was a good possibility of happening I would not have chosen to risk it. Look it up on Google. My primary care provider was not aware of the numerous cases until mine, she is now much more cautious about who she prescribed to and for how long. There are other similar types of drugs, the suggestion is to at least switch between them randomly and not stay on one for long periods of time. Suddenly not being able to speak at all is a wake up call!

You guys really do need a national health care plan, plus better extended benefits. We can get our prescriptions filled at any pharmacy we want. Mind you: as a drug store employee, my prescriptions are 100% covered when I buy them where I work, and 65% covered if I fill them anywhere else which is fine by me.

If I ever leave the store I work at, I'll get my prescriptions at Costco. They have the cheapest dispensing fee. Here, the money the store makes on prescription drugs comes from the dispensing fees. The store I work for charges the most, but you get what you pay for. Diabetes consultations, they check your bp. Follow up phone calls to make sure your meds are working, etc.. There really isn't a mark up on prescription drugs, just maybe a dollar per prescription. The dispensing fee is where the store makes the money.

I'm just continuing with the same coverage. Has been fine. Only going up $2-$3. No big deal to me despite the promises of 300%-2500% increases the Tweeter-in Chief promised in his scare game.

cynic -- I think the projected increases are in health insurance for people not covered by Medicare or by employers. If the Feds don't (won't) continue to kick in health care funding to states, some people will see higher premiums. If there are no federal funds towards Medicaid, people won't be able to get that coverage either.

Our Part D premiums didn't increase by much for 2018, but our meds were going to cost more if we stayed with our 2017 plans.

debby, with all due respect, no matter what the ultimate outcome is of the healthcare debates are in the US, now or in the future, I think it's very unlikely that anything would be adopted here resembling any of the various Canadian provincial plans (as I understand them in overview). What comes to mind immediately is the non-coverage or coverage limitations for certain essential services assumed to be included here in most plans and the typically long waits for numerous kinds of services. Either of these embedded in proposals would be conversation stoppers in any debate.

Keep in mind, y’all, that the out of pocket prices per drug will change depending what stage you’re at with your plan D insurer. I think we only paid the wonderful prices for a couple months after satisfying the deductible until we hit the coverage gap and prices went thru the roof.

It would be a lot easier to decide if I knew what--if any--drugs I might need in the coming year. I usually base my Part D choice on doxycycline because of my chronic Lyme disease, but I'm trying hard to avoid taking any more of it as long as I don't get reinfected.

I may end up going back to the Walmart/Humana plan, which was only $17 a month the last time I used it. It wasn't great for doxycycline--and probably isn't great for any other drugs--but it could be good for my budget.

Do you live near a Publix Grocery Store? They have free meds and Lisinopril is one of them.

http://www.publix.com/pharmacy-wellness/pharmacy/pharmacy-services/free-medication-program

With $400/month-retail Advair, even if I don't need any other prescription meds, I will hit the Gap by October. My predicted out-of-pocket for only Adviar totals $1000 for the year, including the Medicare-limited deductible and what I will pay while in the Gap. I will certainly have other meds -- like antibiotics -- and will hit the Gap even earlier.

The ACA mandated some help for Plan D subscribers. The percentage you pay while in the Gap has gone down a little each year.