How Switching Medicare Plans Could Save You $368—More or Less

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Could you use an extra 400 bucks?

That’s almost how much people with Medicare Part D overspent on drug coverage in 2009, according to a new study.

Perhaps it’s not surprising when you consider what we talked about last week—that switching plans is such a daunting prospect. But if saving money is important to you, switching might be worth the hassle. And now’s the time. Medicare open enrollment goes through December 7.

Capsules, the Kaiser Health News blog, reports that the overspending averaged out to $368 per beneficiary.

The tendency of beneficiaries to “overprotect themselves by purchasing plans with relatively generous features” was also one of the main drivers of excess spending. The authors wrote that some seniors looked past their medication needs to choose plans with low deductibles, and ended up with higher premiums.

The Medicare open enrollment article we linked to in last week’s post has tips for researching plans.