According to the Prima Council on Aging, there are no less than 58 Medicare Advantage Plans for the next year in the county. Major changes are foreseen, especially in the hospital co-pays field. Plans that before had a flat-amount co-pay for a stay in a medical facility are now requiring a daily co-pay.

"One plan last year was $200 for a hospital stay, now is $175 per day for five days," said Jim Murphy, corporate relations director for the Prima Council on Aging (PCOA)

In Florida the situation is similar. The elderly can opt between 53 stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plans for 2009, compared to the 58 that were offered for the current year.

This is the 4th year when the elderly are allowed to decide on a prescription drug plan starting January 1, 2006, when Medicare Part D went into effect. Before the implementation of this federal program, which subsidizes the costs of prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries in the U.S., not all older adults were offered a prescription drug benefit.

Most of such plans are adding or raising deductibles. Moreover, some of them are charging higher co-payments for brand-name drugs, particularly drugs not on their preferred list.

An analysis of Medicare data conducted by Avalere Health, a Washington advisory company, shows that the 10 Medicare Part D Stand-Alone Prescription Drug Plans with the largest enrollments will raise their premiums by an estimated 31 percent on average in the coming year, and some by even more than 60 percent.