New plan could hike prescription costs for Massena retirees

MASSENA — A new health insurance policy could mean significantly higher prescription costs for town retirees on a Medicare supplement.

But the town is preparing to shoulder some of those additional costs, according to Councilman John F. Macaulay.

The Town Council is considering a new Medicare supplement policy that would save the town $101,341.80 each year. The town now pays $154,728 a year for its Medicare supplement program, provided by the New York State Teamsters Council Health and Hospital Fund. The new policy provided by AARP United Healthcare and delivered through Massena-based Willer Insurance Agency would cost the town about $53,387 annually.

The policy would offer no deductibles and no co-payments for retirees' medical visits, an improvement over the current plan. The drawback lies in prescription costs. The current out-of-pocket maximum cost for prescriptions under the Teamsters is $500. The out-of-pocket maximum from Willer Insurance is $4,550, according to agent Paul Willer.

But the town is ready to assist with additional prescription costs should it change plans, Mr. Macaulay told a group of town retirees at a Monday meeting.

The council plans to have retirees pay for the first $500 of their annual prescription co-payments, much as the Teamsters policy requires. But if the total prescription costs are between $500 and $2,000, the town plans to reimburse the retirees for any amount over the first $500. That means a retiree with $750 in prescription costs would be reimbursed $250 by the town.

If a retiree's prescription costs exceed $2,000, he could appeal to the town to have additional funds reimbursed for those prescriptions, Mr. Macaulay said. The appeals would be determined on a case-by-case basis.

The council likely will vote on adopting the policy in the near future, Mr. Macaulay said. The purpose of Monday's meeting was to inform retirees of the possible changes in store, both positive and negative, he said.