In general Kiplinger is well regarded for giving good consumer advice. I have no idea if that reputation is justified but it is not a fair analysis of various Medicare columns I have seen attributed to Kiplingers. In my opinion Kiplingers gives terrible Medicare advice in the United States. An October 1, 2015 column on its website (link intentionaly not provided) -- the obligatory "it's open enrollment time" column from all left-wing media outlets -- makes my point.

Kiplingers writes that Part D plans are:
"also adding expensive drug-pricing tiers, charging extra if you don't go to approved pharmacies, imposing new restrictions on drugs..."
Of course tiers and formularies have been around the insurance industry for years and have nothing to do with Medicare. And step therapy is considered a "best practice" by the medical community for everything and has nothing specific to do with drug inurance. But what kind of "consumer advice" organization would twist the fact that a plan gives you a discount if you use a preferred pharmacy into "charging extra." It is an absurd view from a consumer point of view.
(Kiplinger's description of how Part D plans work is also wrong. Very few plans have a set $320 annual deductible; that's just the maxium they can have. And of course Kiplinger never mentions that less than 5% of Medicare beneficiaries are ever affected by the donut hole; even the scare-mongering Obama government is making that point for the first time this year.)
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