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Medication News & Update

Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage will start January 1 , 2006.  All Medicare patietns are eligible regardless of income. The government won't directly pay for your prescriptions. You will get drug coverage from a private prescription drug plan or a Medicare Advantage Rx drug plan.  marketing for these plans is expected to start in October 2005.  The average most of you will poay is about $37.00 a month in year 2006 plus a $ 250.oo deductible amount and some percentage of the drug cost. Senior citizens must enroll to get coverage. If you turn 65 years of age after the initial enrollment period you will have 7 months to sign up and can sign up as early as 3 months before your 65th birthdate.

Daibetes News - there are currently two drugs on the market which fall into a class known as thiazolidinediones or "glitazones". These two drugs are Actos and Avandia. It appears that there may be some advantage to using Actos over Avandia from the standpoint of cholesterol issue benefits. Both drugs lower blood sugar to the same degree but early data is suggesting that Actos may also lower triglyceride levels and increase the good cholesterol (HDL) levels better than Avandia does.  Avandia may actually increase triglyceride levels.