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Medicare patients who begin enrolling today in prescription-drug plans for 2008 may face hefty premium increases.

Nationally, the top 10 plans, which cover roughly 70 percent of Medicare patients, are raising their premiums an average of 21 percent, according to Avalere Health, a Washington-based strategic-advisory firm in the health care field.

Under the Medicare Part D program, seniors and other Medicare patients pick a private prescription-drug plan from among a group of plans approved by Medicare. They must do so by Dec. 31.

A spot check of plans available in North Carolina found trends similar to the national one.

For example, Cigna’s Medicare Rx Plan One is going  from $27.10 per month in 2007 to $31.70 in 2008, a 17 percent increase. Its Medicare Rx Plan Two is going from $36 per month in 2007 to $38.10 in 2008, a 5.8 percent increase. And its Medicare Rx Plan Three is increasing from $47.40 in 2007 to $65.50 in 2008, a 38 percent increase.

"Medicare required plans to use their previous experience for determining rates in 2008," Cigna spokeswoman Lindsay Shearer said.

"Our Part D premiums went up in some areas and down in some areas depending on the experience."

Three of United HealthCare’s plans that are being marketed with the American Association of Retired Persons are offering premium increases of 18 percent, 32 percent and 31 percent, respectively. Plan spokesmen did not return a call seeking comment.

The two plans of WellCare, marketed with the drugstore chain Walgreens, offer premium increases of 27 percent and 47 percent, respectively.

"A beneficiary has to look at a number of factors, monthly premium being just one of them," WellCare spokesman John Aberg said. "The premium might be higher in one plan, but overall costs, thinking about deductibles and copayments, may be lower, so the beneficiary would have to apply it to their situation when they look at a variety of plans."

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina’s two plans offer increases of 16 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

Blue Cross’ increases are "based on claims experience in the past and projecting forward," company spokesman Lew Borman said.

The program is entering only its third year, and insurers are still trying to establish what rates are appropriate, Avalere Health spokeswoman Lindsey Spindle said.

"What the plans all have to do is really think about how they maintain customer loyalty, but they also have to remain competitively priced and start to achieve profitability," Spindle said. "These are three different things any health plan has to balance. That’s what we see in some of these changes."

Not all plans are raising their prices, however. Some are lowering their prices, or trying to keep them low, to attract low-income patients whose drug costs are partially paid by the government.

Comparing different plans to one another can be difficult because of differences in such factors as deductible amounts and whether certain drugs are covered.

Online help in comparing and choosing plans is available at both the federal government’s Medicare.gov Web site and the N.C. Department of Insurance Web site.

In North Carolina, people without Internet access can call (800) 443-9354 during business hours on weekdays to get help choosing a plan.

Contact Lex Alexander at 373-7088 or lalexander@news-record.com