It’s that time of year again. As Americans prepare for the holiday season, they are also preparing to choose their health insurance plans. The open enrollment period begins Tuesday, November 1, 2016 and ends Tuesday, January 31, 2017. The Affordable Care Act requires every American to have health insurance, whether it's through your employer, Medicare, Medicaid, or by purchasing your own individual plan. It’s important you choose the plan that’s right for you – for your health and your wallet.
Take Command Health, a company that empowers individuals and small businesses to become savvy health insurance consumers, points out that studies show consumers choose the wrong plan up to 88% of the time based on their known needs, costing them more than $500 a year in unnecessary health expenses. These costs are magnified for businesses who choose a one-size-fits all plan for their employees or who choose to send employees to exchanges, where plan choices can be overwhelming. If you add it up, Americans waste about $75 billion a year because of poor plan choice.
Because healthcare is so confusing, complicated, and complex, Americans are wasting money on things they don't need. It's an all-too-common scenario.
That’s where RefillWise comes into play. With RefillWise for prescriptions, you may be able to sign up for a less expensive plan to cover other basic healthcare expenses.
Here's how it works. There are four basic health insurance plans: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. Each covers the same essential health benefits and each will be within a few hundred dollars of each other. The Affordable Care Act requires each tier to cover a certain percentage of your health care costs.
Bronze plans cover about 60 percent (so you will pay about 40 percent of costs). Bronze plans have lower monthly payments, but higher out-of-pocket costs such as copays and deductibles.
Silver plans cover about 70 percent (you will pay about 30 percent of costs), unless you're eligible for cost sharing reduction. With the silver plan, monthly payments cost less than a gold plan, but more than bronze. Your out-of-pocket costs will be less than a bronze plan, but more than a gold plan.
Gold plans cover about 80 percent (you will pay about 20 percent of costs). With gold plans you have higher monthly payments, but lower out-of-pocket costs.
Platinum plans cover about 90 percent (so you pay 10). With platinum plans, you have the highest monthly payments and lowest out-of-pocket costs.
As Take Command points out, what really drives costs, and therefore your plan choice, are the things you know about: things like prescriptions, doctors visits, therapy, medical equipment, etc. So, instead of signing up for a silver plan that could increase your monthly payments, you might choose to sign up for a bronze plan with low monthly payments. Then, your out-of-pocket costs may not be as high as what you'd otherwise pay because rather than filing on your insurance, you would use your RefillWise card to pick up some of your prescriptions. If you rarely need prescriptions or need coverage for just one medicine, it could save you money to buy a bronze plan, then supplement it with your RefillWise card.
After months of soul searching and job seeking, this month I joined a social enterprise called Luscinia Health as director of partnerships. Having worked previously for nonprofits supporting artists, entrepreneurs and the working poor, Luscinia Health’s signature program, RefillWise, appeals to me because it helps more than a million people living in the U.S. and Puerto Rico (including women, young professionals and families) to save money on their needed prescription medicines — and it’s free. Here are the top five reasons I’m thrilled to join this impact organization.
1. Helping people do their own thing
For communities to flourish, people should not have to choose between their health and their finances. By harnessing the collective buying power of more than a million members — including contractors, artists and entrepreneurs — RefillWise helps its cardholders get better prescription drug prices than many insurance companies. Whether using antidepressants, insulin or an asthma inhaler, affording maintenance medications is one less thing to worry about when striking out on your own.
2. Free to join, then instantly save and earn money
People don’t have to pay to get a discount card — they simply sign up at RefillWise.com or text JOIN to 22822. Cash savings and loyalty rewards are immediately available. But the more people enroll, the more we all reap the benefits of better prices on needed medicine — and the healthier all will be.
3. Independence from Big Pharma
Private ownership means RefillWise cannot be influenced, controlled or shut down by big drug manufacturers, nor can any of those corporations buy or sell users' personal information. This is critically important to our working poor clients — who may otherwise skip taking medication they need to pay other bills. The EpiPen is but one example of how costly thousands of prescription medicines may be. If more people can afford to manage their chronic illnesses, the better they and their families fare.
4. Pharmacy agnostic — shop at the trusted place most convenient to you
Your RefillWise card is good for savings at all major pharmacies in the U.S., and loyalty cash back rewards accumulate regardless of where prescriptions are filled. If your usual pharmacy or insurance plan doesn't offer medicine you need, you can use your RefillWise card at another pharmacy.
5. Social business
In addition to donating 15 percent of all profits to charities (including my former employers KERA and Communities Foundation of Texas), my teammates have already volunteered for some of my favorite local causes — whether feeding food insecure school-aged children via Hunger Busters, or enhancing facilities for therapeutic use by veterans and special needs children at Equest. The business was founded with a great mission to help and serve others. I’m especially excited to help neighbors, friends and nonprofit clients make the most their resources, while helping strengthen our community in the process.
Houston, Texas (PRWEB) October 04, 2016
RefillWise, a prescription drug savings company that allows users to receive up to 80 percent in savings and earn cash rewards at all major pharmacies nationwide, announces the launch of RefillWise by Text. The new proprietary text messaging feature is the first-of-its-kind in the industry and ensures that any individual with a mobile phone is able to access all of the free benefits that RefillWise provides. Individuals are now able to receive instant prescription savings, as well as accrue, track and redeem their RefillWise rewards from any mobile phone.
"While some of our customers are uninsured, many find that their insurance copays have increased or their medication is no longer covered – We've designed our product for them," said Paul Thomas, CEO, RefillWise. "While in line at the pharmacy, they're able to quickly access our discount card via a simple text, show it to their pharmacist and receive instant savings on their prescriptions."
The easy-to-use texting service offers an intuitive, conversational experience and simplifies the membership sign-up process into a single text message. Users never have to worry about remembering usernames or passwords. Simply text the word ‘JOIN’ to 22822 to receive instant prescription savings and to earn and redeem instant cash rewards.
"In less than five seconds, we’re empowering people with a valuable tool to help them avoid paying too much at the pharmacy counter," said Keith Jacobs, president, RefillWise. "We know everyone doesn’t have access to the latest smartphones and that downloading a mobile app can sometimes be a hassle, especially when they’re short on time."
Available for use at all major pharmacies, including CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, RefillWise’s prescription savings program can also be used in conjunction with stores’ existing loyalty programs, helping members maximize savings.
About RefillWise
RefillWise is a prescription drug savings and customer engagement company that gives its members valuable, easy-to-use tools to decrease the cost prescription drugs.
RefillWise is a subsidiary of Luscinia Health, a family-owned business with two decades of experience, and one of the nation’s first free prescription savings cards for consumers. To date, the company’s cards have been used by millions of people across the country, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in collective savings. Visit us at RefillWise.com and follow us at @refillwise.
This month, RefillWise launched a new way to get prescription discounts. Now you can access instant prescription savings by simply texting RefillWise.
Here’s how it works: Text “Join” to 22822.
You will receive your RefillWise membership card along with a note welcoming you to RefillWise.
You can text “menu” to RefillWise at any time to learn more about how to:
- Use your card
- Receive a copy of your card
- View your points and rewards
- View your total savings
- Contact support
For each prescription you pick up, you'll earn 500 points! After using your card on 10 prescriptions, you'll receive a gift card via text!
You can now immediately receive your RefillWise membership card and earn gift cards from your mobile device.
As the world around us becomes more entwined with technology, we’ve seen a steady transformation of many services, products, and important information to the online marketplace. Twenty years ago, most of us would order a pizza by looking up the number in a phone book, calling on a landline phone, and talking to a live person who would manually take the order. Nowadays, you can order a pizza in a matter of seconds and your order simply appears on a screen in front of the pizza assembly line. Pizza is only one of the countless examples, however. From the comfort of your home or office, you can now order food, apply for a mortgage, and research any topic under the sun — including how to manage your healthcare and the high costs that come with it.
Finding Google
Unfortunately, a large percentage of seniors is still slow to adopt to technology. A study by the Pew Research Center found that through 2014, 40% of Americans aged 65 and above still do not have access to the internet. While some of them have real limitations such as visual impairments, other restricting health conditions, or simply lack the ability to afford an internet connection, the same study found that 53% of those seniors without access to the internet simply believe that they are not missing out on any important information.
This statistic is particularly worrisome considering how complicated our healthcare system has become. Because they are far more likely to need treatment, medications, and other various health services, it is vital for seniors more than any other group to be able to access information and resources in order to obtain the appropriate care and, correspondingly, the best outcome.
Seniors are now faced with several difficult choices when they retire, including what kind of Medicare plans in which they should enroll, how much coverage they need, whether or not to purchase a supplemental plan, and how to afford any of these options in the first place. Without adequate information, seniors far too often have to decide between getting all of the healthcare that they legitimately need or being able to afford essentials like groceries. While the costs associated with healthcare continues to increase, the amount of information and resources available online also continues to increase, providing access to important weapons in the fight against these mounting costs to anyone with a little motivation and an internet connection.
If You Build It, They Will Come
There are already a number of great tools available online such as physician finders provided by insurance companies, independent organizations like 211.Org who can help identify assistance programs, and even free savings programs like our very own RefillWise that can save money on nearly every prescription at over 50,000 pharmacies around the country. Many of our leaders in the federal government, state governments, and even most major internet providers have recognized the importance of internet access and have begun offering various programs to provide internet services at sharply discounted rates, in many cases for as low as $5 or $10 a month.
Get Connected
Having access to the internet and being able to use it can not only save some frustration, but it could very likely help you save money, time, and have a positive effect on your overall health. As our country continues to shift to an online identity, it is essential that all of us — seniors included — do our part to remain proactive and stay informed about our own health. In 2016, it is nearly impossible to do so without at least a basic level of internet literacy and access. If you are a senior, we highly encourage you to check out these 5 useful links that are great examples of resources available today.
5 Useful Online Resources for Seniors
RefillWise.com — RefillWise is a free prescription discount card that can be used at any major chain pharmacy to save money on nearly any prescribed medication. Although it cannot be used in addition to insurance, it can especially help seniors who don't have a Part D plan, those who have something prescribed that is not covered by their Part D plan, and those who fall into the coverage gap.
How to Sign Up For Medicare - The Center for Medicare (& Medicaid) Services has a very comprehensive website with great links, info, and answers to commonly asked questions.
211.Org — 211 is a non-profit organization that helps to connect those in need of assistance with any programs that may benefit them, including seniors who are having trouble affording healthcare that they need.
MedLinePlus.gov — MedLine Plus is a wonderful website filled with general information and articles that address some very common issues that affect nearly all seniors, including tips on how to stay healthy as a senior.
MedicareRights.org — The folks at MedicareRights are an extremely helpful group of advocates working to make sure our seniors are getting the most out of Medicare. They also have a team of Medicare counselors who can help assist you if you have any questions about how Medicare works, where to find help, etc.
