It's open enrollment season for Medicare

Each year, from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, the 64 million Americans enrolled in Medicare can change their Medicare plans - including Medicare Advantage plans, prescription drug plans, and if qualified, elect a Medigap or Supplement plan without penalty. While doing so can save some seniors hundreds or even thousands of dollars, only 10 to 15 percent choose to do so each year.

In fact, in a program that helped University of Southern California retirees navigate finding the best Part D plan, participants saved on average $1,104 in 2015 and $1,066 in 2016.

Why don't people take advantage of this potential savings? It's daunting and often people don't make a change until there's suddenly an obvious and dramatic increase in costs.

Van Braxton, N.C. SHIIP director, stated, "(In 2017), SHIIP counseled more than 105,000 NC Medicare beneficiaries and helped them save $44.3 million dollars. SHIIP also served almost 21,000 Medicare beneficiaries with disabilities, and more than 29,000 with incomes below 150 percent of the poverty level."

Earlier, when I was a volunteer with SHIIP, a senior who I'll call Alice, told me that her drug costs for five prescriptions had skyrocketed over the past year by more than $300 per month. She said she had stopped taking everything.

Alice is not alone. A survey by the National Center for Health Statistics found that from 8 percent to 14 percent of patients don't take their medications due to expense.

Having seen some of the costs while helping people enter their drugs into their Medicare.gov record, I'm honestly surprised it's not higher --especially given that, according to a 2009 Alliance for Aging Research report, individuals 65 to 69 years old take nearly 14 prescriptions on average per year, while individuals aged 80 to 84 take an average of 18 prescriptions per year.

The interesting thing is that the costs for medications can fall all over the map and vary dramatically between drug plans. While a senior might assume that they can simply not afford their drugs, that might not be the case if they look to other plans.

Each year, insurance companies revise formularies, deductibles, co-pays and premiums. While a drug might be covered by a plan one year, it might not the following year. Likewise, an individual's medication list might also change drastically. Some particularly expensive drugs are not covered at all.

In the case of Alice, a polite but flustered 73-year-old grandmother who had worked many years, we did find a plan for a considerably lower annual cost. Her out-of-pocket cost for the premium, deductible and drugs would be around $2,200 annually; whereas on the older plan, she would pay almost $4,800.

Unfortunately, the $2,200, after she paid for her Part B and Supplement plan, was still beyond her reach. However, Alice learned she qualified for Extra Help, which is a federal subsidy that helps people on limited income pay for their Medicare Part D drug plan. She also received help paying for her Part B costs.

Once everything is entered, the site generates a list of plans, ordered by cost. You can choose which plans to compare side-to-side. If you are satisfied that you have found the best plan, you can enroll right from the site. The insurance company for your new plan then informs the company for the older plan of the change.

The change goes into effect on Jan. 1.

Don't delay. That Dec. 7 deadline will be here before you know it.