What Aetna Medicare Part D Plans Are Offered in 2021?

·        Aetna is a health insurance company that sells three distinct Medicare Part D prescription drug plans.

·        All of Aetna’s plans have $0 copays for generic drugs.

·        The monthly premium, copays, and deductibles you may have with each plan will vary based on where you live.

Aetna is one of the largest health insurance companies in the United States. In addition to Aetna’s Medicare Advantage and Medicare supplement plans, they also sell three standalone Medicare Part D plans.

Each Part D plan provides a different level of drug coverage. Copays also differ. The Part D plans Aetna offers vary in each ZIP code throughout the country

In this article we’ll go over Aetna’s Part D plan options for 2021.

What are the Aetna Part D plan options? 

Aetna’s three Part D plans are:

·        SilverScript Smart Rx

·        SilverScript Choice

·        SilverScript Plus

The plans available in your area of residence, as well as the costs you’ll pay for prescriptions, may vary.

Aetna’s three Part D plans each have a different formulary. A formulary is a list of covered prescription drugs. Formularies place medications into tiers, or levels. The medications offered in each tier have different costs. Typically, drugs on lower tiers cost less than those on higher tiers.

Here’s a typical example of how the tier levels break down in some Medicare Part D drug plans:

·        Tier 1: generic medications

·        Tier 2: brand-name and generic medications

·        Tier 3: nonpreferred brand-name medications

·        Tier 4: higher-cost prescription drugs and some specialty medications

·        Tier 5: highest-cost specialty medications

Next, we’ll look more closely at each of Aetna’s Part D plans.

SilverScript Smart Rx

This is Aetna’s most budget-friendly prescription drug plan. It provides coverage for a wide range of tier 1 generic drugs with a $0 copay. The monthly premium is $7.15 on average in most ZIP codes where it is offered.

SilverScript Choice

This plan covers a wide range of tier 1 generic and tier 2 brand-name medications. It has a $0 copay for tier 1 drugs. Copays for tier 2 drugs and higher vary by medication and location.

SilverScript Plus

This plan is Aetna’s most inclusive and most expensive offering. It has a $0 deductible for all tiers, including specialty drugs. The copay for tier 1 drugs is $0, and the copay for tier 2 drugs is $2 or less.

SilverScript Plus also includes extras, such as discounts on supplements and vitamins.

This plan also provides gap coverage, making it a good choice for people who need one or more expensive medications. The coverage gap (donut hole) refers to a temporary limit in a drug plan’s coverage. In 2021, this period begins once you and your plan have spent a total of $4,130 on covered medications during the year.

How much do the Part D plans from Aetna cost? 

Aetna’s Part D plans have costs including deductibles, monthly premiums, and drug copays. These costs vary from plan to plan and from location to location.

In the table below, we show some of the costs you can expect to pay for the SilverScript Smart Rx (most budget-friendly) plan in a few cities across the country:

	Brooklyn, NY	Los Angeles, CA	Minneapolis, MN	Chicago, IL	Santa Fe, NM
Monthly premium	$7.30	$7.20	$7.30	$7.30	$6.20
Annual deductible: tier 1	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Annual deductible: tiers 2–5	$445	$445	$445	$445	$445
Copay: tier 1	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Copay: tier 2	$19	$19	$19	$19	$19
Copay: tier 3	$46	$46	$46	$46	$46
Copay: tier 4	49% of cost	48% of cost	46% of cost	49% of cost	49% of cost
Copay: tier 5	25% of cost	25% of cost	25% of cost	25% of cost	25% of cost

By entering your ZIP code into Medicare’s plan finder tool, you can compare the various plans available in your area.

https://www.healthline.com/health/medicare/aetna-medicare-part-d#cost