Oct 15, 2018
by Judy Packer-Tursman
Similar to Medicare
Advantage (MA) plans, Medicare Part D stand-alone Prescription Drug Plans
(PDPs) largely intend to hold steady on 2019 premium rates while increasing
plan choices and benefits, as they try to attract and retain seniors in a
crowded, competitive marketplace this fall. The Medicare annual open enrollment
season will run from Oct. 15 until Dec. 7.
Shelly Brandel, a
principal and consulting actuary in the Milwaukee office of Milliman, Inc.,
cites annual growth year over year of about 15% on the PDP side nationally —
from 782 plans this year to 901 plans being offered for 2019. That’s according
to her firm’s analysis of CMS’s recently released landscape file, representing
the total number of plans in the 50 states and District of Columbia.
Nationwide, the number
of PDP plan options will increase to 1,369 in 2019, up from 1,185 current
offerings, CMS’s landscape files show. MA plan choices will increase to roughly
3,700 for next year, up from about 3,100 this year — giving at least 10 MA plan
options to nine in 10 beneficiaries, the agency says.
As for cost
parameters, the average premium for a basic Medicare PDP in 2019 is projected to
decrease by $1.09, or 3.2% year over year, to about $32.50 per month, CMS says.
Monthly MA premiums, on average, are expected to fall by 6% year over year to
$28; almost half of enrollees in their current MA plan will have a zero
premium.
In April, CMS aimed to
increase competition by removing the requirement that certain Part D plans must
“meaningfully differ” from each other, thus making more plan options available.
As a result, Brandel
says, CMS’s landscape files show more carriers are offering a third PDP for
next year. Previously, the number of PDPs had been declining somewhat, mainly
from merger and acquisition activity, she notes.
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