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: MEDICARE Find a Medicare plan
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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