Medicare D-Usage per the “Patient’s” Perspective, Coursework Example

Medicare D or Medicare part D is a program that was instituted by the United States of America federal government on January 1, 2006 to subsidize the cost of drugs for the beneficiaries. It is part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act 2003 (MMA, 2003). The program is meant to assist in paying for prescription drugs. For beneficiaries to benefit from this program, they have to enrol in any one of the part D plans available from the private companies. The Act establishes a standard part D drug benefit. All plans must offer plans that are as valuable as the standard benefit established by this Medicare program.

In the scenario highlighted above, the company accepts public aid; however it requires the resident to use their pharmacy and only their pharmacy. This company offers a huge benefit to the patients. The patients can enjoy free aid from the company since it does not make money from the facility. This benefit to the patient comes by way of free consultation and do not have to contribute a nominal fee for the maintenance of the facility. Patients also do not have to contribute towards paying for the hospital personnel. This eases the burden on the side of the customer.

The patient is able to access the facility that accepts beneficiaries in the Medicare D program without having to look for one that does accept. This helps the patient in accessing quality health services without having to go through the hassle of looking for a facility that offers the service and at the same time accepts beneficiaries in the Medicare D program. The patient is also able to access both the consultation and the pharmacy at the same place. This saves him or her from having to travel and hence saves on time.

With the Medicare D program, the patient has the freedom of choosing from a number of programs that suits him or her well (familydoctor.org). Depending on the plan that the patient chooses, the costs of prescription drugs he or she pays also varies. Some even qualify for extra help in paying their costs. With the facility that accepts beneficiaries in the plan, the residents or patients do not have to be worried.

The facility also accepts public aid which means that even patients who are not in the Medicare program are accepted. This is an advantage to the customer since they are guaranteed of getting served whether they are in the Medicare D or not. Hence from a customer’s perspective, the facility is of great help.

However, this public aid exposes the patient in that they might receive substandard services since the staffs are aware that they do not make money out of consultation fees. This is detrimental to the patient since if he or she were sick and requires medication, they may end up not getting the right medication since the consultation services are not competitive.

The free public aid could also entice customers to visit the company hence increasing their sales. Since the facility accepts public aid, many patients could be willing to go there and hence the facility makes more drugs sales since the patient is supposed to buy only from the facility’s pharmacy only.

Patients could be exploited by buying drugs that are over priced without noticing it. Since the Medicare D program will subsidize the prescription drugs (Familydoctor.org), the patient may feel that they are not paying a lot even if they are actually charged more.

Te facility is also profit assisted. This implies that the facility or company might be more interested in the return that they get and thus not delivering quality for value. The fact that they have a pharmacy means that this is where they can cash on from the patient. This is pertinent due to the restriction that the patient should only use their pharmacy.

The company does not make money on the room and board of the facility from public aid. This then would imply that the rooms of the facility would probably be neglected by the company. The facility would then be unsuitable for human occupation due to neglect which would be more hazardous to the health of the patient.

In an attempt to boost sales, the personnel would also end up prescribing drugs that are not really necessary. Since the only sources of collecting money at the facility is through sales of drugs, the facility personnel would end up resulting to unethical means of collecting cash such as prescribing drugs that are not really required.

In conclusion, the profit assisted living facility would be very helpful to a patient. It takes the service closer to the patient making the services readily available and helping to save time. It also helps the patient to save on cash since if the patient is a beneficiary of the Medicare part D, then the insurance companies would help in subsidizing his or her prescription drugs. However it could also be disadvantageous to the patient since there are chances of getting overcharged for the drugs. The patient would also receive substandard services from the facility.

References

MMA (2003). Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, Pub. L. 108-173 (Dec. 8, 2003),  42 U.S.C.A. § 1395w-101 et seq.

HHS.gov. Medicare. Retrieved 10 September 2009 from http://www.medicare.gov/pdphome.asp

FamilyDoctor.org (2009). Understanding the New Medicare Prescription Drugs Plan. Retrieved 10 September 2009 from http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/pat-advocacy/insurance/848.html

Medical News Today (2009). Medicare Part D Still Stumping Seniors. Retrieved 10 September 2009 from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161956.php