Medicare Part D Prescription Plans

[marko]

Yes, you need to carry part D. But since you can change annually,.....

Slightly off thread question: This is my first year with Medicare. As this is renewal time, if one plans to stay with current plan(s), do you need to do anything to renew or is renewal automatic?

Back to the thread:
I have Humana/Walmart D. $17 a month. Works just fine.
I don't go to Walmart even though there's one a mile away. I like my previous pharmacist at a personal level and pay the extra $3-4 a month to deal with him.

 

[REWahoo]

Slightly off thread question: This is my first year with Medicare. As this is renewal time, if one plans to stay with current plan(s), do you need to do anything to renew or is renewal automatic?

Automatic. Do nothing and you'll stay with the same plan(s).

 

[Chuckanut]

I ended up calling my plan and asking about the huge monthly increase (This is on top of a $35/month increase for the current year. Thus, my premiums have gone up over $1000 in a little over a year.

I think I am experiencing what the insurance companies call 'adverse selection'. My current plan has a LOT of flexibility in it. While seeing a doctor in their network is still the cheapest way to go, if I want to see a doctor in another state they will still pay most of the cost, just not as much.

It appears that many of the very ill people who need a lot of specialized care are choosing this plan since it will pay if they want to see a doctor at the Mayo Clinic or some other notable medical center that specializes in their illness. Thus, the costs are being run up and the insurance has few ways to exercise control over the increase.

So... it's time for me to give up this luxury car of a plan and find a nice, well equipped Toyota Camry of a plan.

Back to Part D (the topic), I will probably go with a cheap plan since I take no drugs on an ongoing basis, at least not yet.

 

[omni550]

I ended up calling my plan and asking about the huge monthly increase (This is on top of a $35/month increase for the current year. Thus, my premiums have gone up over $1000 in a little over a year.

I think I am experiencing what the insurance companies call 'adverse selection'. My current plan has a LOT of flexibility in it. While seeing a doctor in their network is still the cheapest way to go, if I want to see a doctor in another state they will still pay most of the cost, just not as much.

It appears that many of the very ill people who need a lot of specialized care are choosing this plan since it will pay if they want to see a doctor at the Mayo Clinic or some other notable medical center that specializes in their illness. Thus, the costs are being run up and the insurance has few ways to exercise control over the increase.

So... it's time for me to give up this luxury car of a plan and find a nice, well equipped Toyota Camry of a plan.

Back to Part D (the topic), I will probably go with a cheap plan since I take no drugs on an ongoing basis, at least not yet.

Now I'm curious, do you mind sharing which plan is "your luxury car of a plan"?

omni

 

[harllee]

Chuckanut, do you have traditional Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan? I have traditional Medicare and a Mutual of Omaha "G" supplement (and of course a Part D plan) and my supplement has gone up very little.

 

[Sue J]

I'm only 62 so I won't be dealing with this until 2020.

If you are on Medicare can you not use the insurance still use GoodRx or a pharmacy's low cost generics program instead of your Part D or your Medicare Advantage plan? We currently do this if the price is lower than using our insurance.

Or does your birthdate alert them that you are 65 and they have to use your Medicare?

 

[MichaelB]

I'm only 62 so I won't be dealing with this until 2020.

If you are on Medicare can you still use GoodRx or a pharmacy's low cost generics program instead of your Part D or your Medicare Advantage plan? We currently do this if the price is lower than using our insurance.

This is what DW does. She has one prescription and the GoodRX price is always less than the insurance rate.

 

[harllee]

My husband is in Medicare and takes several expensive prescriptions. For one the Good Rx price is less and he uses that. For the others either the Good RX price is more than his Part D price or they are not listed on Good RX at all. So the answer is yes, you can use Good Rx if you are on Medicare and it helps on some prescriptions but not on all of them.

 

[Chuckanut]

Chuckanut, do you have traditional Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan? I have traditional Medicare and a Mutual of Omaha "G" supplement (and of course a Part D plan) and my supplement has gone up very little.

No, it's not like the traditional Medicare supplement plan

Interestingly, the Medicare supplement version of this plan is increasing almost $22 a month more than the increase for the non Medicare version used by people under 65. We old folks must really be running up the costs.

 

[audreyh1]

I'm only 62 so I won't be dealing with this until 2020.

If you are on Medicare can you not use the insurance still use GoodRx or a pharmacy's low cost generics program instead of your Part D or your Medicare Advantage plan? We currently do this if the price is lower than using our insurance.

Or does your birthdate alert them that you are 65 and they have to use your Medicare?

Once you reach 65 there are permanent financial penalties for signing up for Part D late.

 

[Sue J]

Once you reach 65 there are permanent financial penalties for signing up for Part D late.

Oh, I know about the late penalties. I will sign up 3 months before my birthday. My question is if you have to use your Medicare drug plan or can you still buy Rxs outside of your plan.

That question was answered.

 

[harllee]

No, you do not have to use your Medicare Part D plan. For the the one prescription that my husband uses for which Good Rx is cheaper, he just tells the pharmacy he wants to use Good Rx instead. But Good Rx is not cheaper on other prescriptions he uses and for those he uses his Part D.

One disadvantage of using Good Rx is that those prescriptions do not count against your Part D deductible. Same for prescriptions you might get filled from Canada pharmacies, those do not go against your deductible.

 

[Ian S]

Thanks. I will probably pass on this one since the low cost advantage won't really be available to me for practical purposes.

Any other Medicare Part D Rx plans people might like to recommend? I don't take any drugs on a regular basis, so I am open to any plan with descent service that will reasonably cover whatever might happen in 2018.

I've been on the Walmart plan but have never used the Walmart pharmacy as the difference between it and another preferred pharmacy is not very significant for generics. I take two cheap maintenance generics and use the plan's mail order pharmacy which is most convenient. For 2018 though, prodded by this thread, I've found a cheaper plan that I will likely go with.