group project for HN or if anyone wants to run with it
bbg: I don't think I'll run with this; it looks to be a mess.But after a good 25 minutes of research, including a perusal of an AARP guide to the process, whose URL is at the bottom of this post (or Google "drug names medicare plans"), the relevant variables seem to be these:1.  geographical location (zip code)2.  each drug in the person's drug list   a.  dosage -- frequency and amount

   b.  generic available?

   c.  lower cost brand-name drug of same therapeutic value available?

3.  the pharmacy of choice   a.  local pharmacy

   b.  mail-order pharmacy

4.  Payments   a.  annual deductible

   b.  monthly drug premium

   c.  how much your drug copays cost at four different levels of coverage:

      i.  before deductible is met

      ii.  after deductible is met, but before limit of $2700 is reached (beginning of doughnut hole)

      iii.  in doughnut hole, when recipient pays 100% of costs

      iv.  after catastrophic stage is reached ($4350, end of doughnut hole), and government/plan again helps out.

5.  The plans   a.  plan ratings (how good customer service is, based on customer feedback, etc.)

   b.  tiers, ranging from lowest copay (1) to highest copay (4 or 5).  Each drug falls into a particular tier; some drugs may have alternatives in cheaper tiers.  Some plans don't use tiers.

   c.  restrictions on certain drugs

I would be willing to bet that someone who actually understands this process would want to qualify or correct some or all of what I've written.From what I can tell, the question is often not 'does plan a cover drug z', but rather 'given that I'm taking drugs w, x, y and z, will my costs be lowest with plan a, b or c.'  This is precisely the sort of computation that software should help out with, but, as I said above, it looks messy.  Also, if you dispense inaccurate information, you could really be inflicting harm on someone.http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&...