People frequently ask me, “Which Medicare Part D prescription drug plan is right for me?”
The honest answer is, it depends.
When I think about Part D Drug plans, I think of it as a game of cups. There’s no bad cup, there’s no good cup, but there is a cup with a winning red ball.
There’s no bad plan, there’s no good plan, but there is a plan that covers your medications and pharmacy at the lowest cost.
Therefore, when you first join Medicare, you need to find the lowest costing plan that covers your medications.
The best plan for you depends on many things, including the medications you take, the tier your medication falls into, the premiums and copays, and your preferred pharmacy.
While you need to pick a plan when you first join Original Medicare, there is one unique aspect to Part D plans. You can change Part D plans every year, no matter your health conditions.
Every year by October 1st, insurance companies release the upcoming year plan details. You can select a new plan during Medicare’s Open Enrollment, which lasts from October 15th to December 7th. The plan you pick will be effective January 1st.
Significant changes happen each year, so you must review your plan and pick the best plan for the new year.
People waste hundreds of dollars each year by not reviewing the new Part D drug plan, so it’s critical to pick the right plan each year for your situation.
Mary is an excellent example of how she’s saved money by finding the best plan every year.
Mary joined the Medicare in 2013, and at that point, we found that SilverScript Part D plan was the best fit for her. Mary was on a few medications, and one of those medications was an inhaler, and the SilverScript plan covered her medicines at the lowest cost.
But the next year, SilverScript made significant changes to the plan for the upcoming year. We discovered that if Mary stayed on that plan for the next year, it would cost her a couple of extra thousand dollars to get the same medications.
After some research, we found out that she would save $3,632 in the upcoming year by switching from SilverScripts into an Aetna plan during Medicare’s Open Enrollment.
Then the year after that, Aetna removed her inhaler from their formulary, and our research showed she would save $2,130 by switching to Express Scripts.
When it comes to Part D drug plans, the price of the medications jumps all over the place. In Mary’s case, her inhaler was driving it, but it happens in nearly all medications. The changes that we’ve made from Mary have saved her $5,762.
Whether you are joining Medicare for the first time or reviewing your plan during Open Enrollment, it’s critical to find the right plan for you. Also, please be aware that most couples are on different plans since most couples have different medications.
To easily make the right Medicare decision you can CLICK HERE to sign up for our Medicare Enrollment Concierge.
