If you or someone you know is on Medicare and
has drug coverage with Medicare Part D, it is imperative to verify the best
plan for you next year. The only time to do so is between Oct 15 and
Dec 7. Failing to do so could cost you more than a thousand dollars of
unnecessary drug costs next year.
Most people over 65 take prescription drugs.
Medicare part D was authorized by Congress under the Medicare Prescription
Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. However, when the
law was designed, it allowed for companies to change their plans every
year.
Since these plans are provided by “for profit”
insurance companies, they do change their plan offerings each year with the
goal of making more money. This is why it is important to be certain that you
re-shop your plan every year to get the best/lowest overall cost option for
you.
The reason you need to re-check the best plan
every year are twofold. There are changes you have made in the past year that
could impact the best part D plan for next year, including changes in your
location, pharmacy and the drugs you take. But there are far more changes that
the plans make that can impact the best plan for following year, including
changes in monthly premium, what drugs are offered in the different plans,
changing of the plans’ tier levels for the drugs you take, deductible amount,
copay amounts, plan terminations, new plan providers, changes to the donut hole
and beyond.
Example of Plan Differences with I Person
Below is an example of how plan coverage and
costs can vary for one client who takes four different drugs. Your experience
may be greatly different based on your location and the medications you take.
·
Deductibles ranged
from $0 to $435 a year
·
Premiums range from a
low of $12.80 to a high of $118.40 a month.
·
Premium and drugs
costs for the year were a low of $512.80 to a high of $1741.12.
·
The costs for
mail-order options ranged from $615.64 to $1855.08
The preferred way to verify the best plan for
you is directly with Medicare. Your two best options are either logging on to
the Medicare site at: www.medicare.gov. or
calling Medicare directly at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), but you
could be on hold a while.
In some areas, Medicare has partnered with
organizations to provide unbiased help when seniors with selecting a plan. In
California, the Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP) helps
thousands during the open-enrollment period to select the best plan at no cost.
Insurance agents sell these Part D plans for a
commission. Many can be helpful, but you may not end up with the best plan for
you because most agents are appointed to sell only 1, 2 or 3 of the 12
different companies offering Part D coverages. Less honest agents make more
money by selling more costly plans than less costly plans, which may not be in
your interest.
If you go online to search for a Part D Plan,
the majority of offerings on the first page of Google are for-profit companies
trying to sell you a plan. You are safest to use the Medicare.gov site.
Understanding how Medicare Part D works can be
difficult. As a result, many people do not understand the importance of
verifying the best plan every year. To help people be informed,
Medicare provides a short video on understanding
Part D.
You may not need to go through this shopping
process if you are covered by an employer or union group health plan, a
Medicare Advantage plan or are low-income and on a special program.
The financial impact of not shopping for the
best plan can cost seniors over a thousand dollars of unnecessary costs
(premiums, deductibles, copays or the cost drugs that are not on your plan but
that are covered by others). Do yourself a big favor and determine the best
plan for 2020 NOW.
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