Consumer Reports investigation details Medicare cost confusion

"We found that what a consumer could pay for their medications could vary by hundreds of dollars," said Consumer Reports Investigative Reporter Lisa Gill.

The variations exist even in the same city.

The Consumer Reports investigation looked at six cities, including Raleigh. They checked prices at two pharmacies for generic versions of five common drugs.

They found a person enrolled in a low-cost $100 deductible Medicare Part D plan would pay $892 per year.

A person at the same pharmacy with the same prescriptions with a higher deductible plan would pay $511.

Consumer Reports found stark price differences in all six cities.

"Worse, even small mistakes during the sign-up process could cost a consumer thousands of dollars," Gill said.

In 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services gave insurers more flexibility when designing prescription drug plans.

"The medicare.gov plan finder tool is very difficult, not only to use, but also to compare plans against one another," Gill said. "Increasingly, more and more seniors we see are needing to choose between prescription drugs or their other payments for just surviving."

Consumer Reports' analysis also found prescription prices differ dramatically between drugstores.

In Denver, the total cost of five generic drugs at Walgreens was $1,687 through a Silver Script plan. Four miles away, at an independent pharmacy, the same five drugs with the same plan cost $688.

"We've got to be putting patients first, and that means putting an end to the greedy practices of insurance companies that are leaving patients without the insurance they thought they had," said U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.