AARP Bulletin - January 2012

Your Health ; In the News

91 Percentage of adults over 65 who have at least one chronic condition.

31, when more drugmak- ers will be able to market generic versions of Lipi- tor and competition will cut prices dramatically. Meanwhile, other block- buster drugs are due to come off patent in 2012, and experts think their makers will likely copy Pfizer’s strategy. ; Pfizer’s move brought a swift re- sponse from the Senate’s Finance Committee and Special Committee on Aging, which have asked the company for details of its deals with the benefit management companies that serve as middlemen between drugmakers and insurers. ; Such deals “may be abusing Medicare to boost their profits and denying generic alternatives to patients,” said Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. —Patricia Barry

Lipitor Maker Cuts Deals
; The Poll

Drug market analysts have long speculated on how Pfizer might try to maintain profits after Lipitor—the anticholesterol prescription drug that has earned up to $12 billion annually over 15 years—lost patent protection on Nov.

Exercising

30. Now they know. ; Pfizer has launched an unprecedented campaign to persuade patients to stay with its brand instead of switching to the new lower-cost generic, atorvastatin. In a controversial move, Pfizer has made deals to stop many insurance plans from covering the generic. Instead, these plans will cover only Lipitor and charge patients lower copays—which sounds like a great deal for many consumers. ; But for people in Medicare Part D plans especially, there’s a catch. These plans cover a person’s drug costs up to $2,930 in 2012—a limit based on the full price of each drug—and when it’s reached, the coverage gap known as the doughnut hole begins and the enrollee’s costs become much higher. So if a Part D plan decides to cover Lipitor but not the generic, enrollees will hit the gap faster, because only the higher brand price will count toward the limit. ; Such arrangements will continue until May

; What is your current level of physical activity?

Funeral
Homes: New
Party Site

Wh en Ho pe Wa lke r sent out her wedding invitations last summer, few blinked an eye at the unusual venue: the Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery in Memphis, Tenn. ; “When my mother learned

that the chapel was free [of charge], she said, ‘Go for it,’;” says Walker, 30. ; She isn’t the only one to choose a mortuary for a wedding, graduation or birthday party. The multi-use trend is a “ win-win for the funeral home and the people who choose to hold events,” says Jessica Koth of the 18,500-member National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) in

Brookfield, Wis. ; In 2007, hosting non-funeral events was practically unheard-of. But in a 2010 NFDA survey of funeral homes, 8.3 percent of respondents had added it to their services. ; “We know how to plan a major life event,” says James Olson, president of the Lippert-Ol-son Funeral Home in Sheboygan, Wis. “We usually do it in two days.” —Cathie Gandel