Aetna Part D with Instamed payment

[Sue J]

In 2021 and now also in 2022 we have Aetna for our Part D plans. On the Aetna website there is a link to pay with Instamed. I set up Instamed to pay the bill by autopayment. Aetna is supposed to post their bill on the 7th and then Instamed says they will pay the balance on the 9th or 10th with my designated payment method.

Sounds nice, doesn't it? This has never worked right. Aetna does not post their bill on the 7th. They post it later in the month even though it's dated the 7th. So on the 9th or 10th when Instamed pays the balance, there is no balance. I've looked all over the Instamed site and can't find how to change the payment date.

Anyone else dealing with this? I've been going into Instamed late in the month and paying the bill manually. Sometimes it's as late as the 20th before Aetna shows a balance.

 

[Dash man]

I use InstaMed with our Aetna Part D plans. I’m set up with autopay by credit card and it works fine. I don’t get a statement, but I can log on to see the payments have been made.

 

[Marita40]

I have Part D at Aetna but I haven’t set up autopay. I’ve just been paying manually. Actually it is so cheap I’d like to pay for the entire year just to get it done. I was going to call them this week and ask how to do that.

 

[Sarah S]

Marita you can just go ahead and pay for the rest of the year with your next bill. I started Aetna when I began medicare last summer and I did that. Then in December it said I could choose an amount when I went to pay for January. I paid for the year. Be aware they don’t send statements or anything again until you owe something. I know you can also send a physical check. I don’t know if you can pay ahead if you pay in person at cvs

 

[Happyras]

We have Aetna part D, premium is low, but the IRMAA part D premium is over $170pp/mo.
I would never set up Instamed. The insurance is junk and we rarely use it. It is always cheaper to use Good RX discount at the pharmacy. Yesterday our Aetna insurance wanted us to pay $110 for a generic antiboitic, $180 for Ezetimibe, and $80 for Catia XR....if it was auto billed, we would be in a mess correcting the charges. When we got to the QFC Pharmacy I changed it all to Good RX and paid $40 total. Aetna had a $480pp deductible to pay which we would never meet in one year unless we used their pricing. What is going on? I feel between the government tax on Part D IRMAA and Aetna's deductible we are really being taken. Without it, we would be far better off.

 

[audreyh1]

We have a credit card charged automatically by Aetna.

 

[Dash man]

We have Aetna part D, premium is low, but the IRMAA part D premium is over $170pp/mo.
I would never set up Instamed. The insurance is junk and we rarely use it. It is always cheaper to use Good RX discount at the pharmacy. Yesterday our Aetna insurance wanted us to pay $110 for a generic antiboitic, $180 for Ezetimibe, and $80 for Catia XR....if it was auto billed, we would be in a mess correcting the charges. When we got to the QFC Pharmacy I changed it all to Good RX and paid $40 total. Aetna had a $480pp deductible to pay which we would never meet in one year unless we used their pricing. What is going on? I feel between the government tax on Part D IRMAA and Aetna's deductible we are really being taken. Without it, we would be far better off.

InstaMed is only a payment vehicle for the Aetna Part D premiums, not for IRMAA (~$70pp top tiers) or for payment of charges for specific prescriptions.
I agree comparison with GoodRx and SingleCare are often worthwhile, but I do get five prescriptions with zero copay with my Aetna Part D plan.

 

[Venturer]

InstaMed is only a payment vehicle for the Aetna Part D premiums, not for IRMAA (~$70pp top tiers) or for payment of charges for specific prescriptions.
I agree comparison with GoodRx and SingleCare are often worthwhile, but I do get five prescriptions with zero copay with my Aetna Part D plan.

That was the case for my DW and I as well last year. We both had 2 prescriptions that we refilled on Friday were $3. each, not a lot but still more than previously, My inhaler has been $24. with Good RX and now is $45. thru them. That is still less than Aetna so it is what it is.

 

[Sue J]

My issue is just with the Aetna Part D premium payment.

Is there a way to pay this to Aetna without using Instamed?

I use this page - https://www.aetnamedicare.com/en/for-members/pay-medicare-premium.html and when you click Pay Premium it goes to Instamed. I see other physical methods down below, but I want to use a debit card to meet transaction requirements. Instamed would make the payment just fine if there was a balance on the 9th or 10th. But there isn't because Aetna posts so late.

 

[Marita40]

Sue--the reason I mentioned calling is that I am pretty new to Aetna/Instamed and have found their website very confusing. For example, I don't see any area that would allow me to pay the entire year, just by month. When I first joined in September, it took 4 phone calls and two months for me to even get welcome information from them. The good news, if there is any, is that I have not experienced long wait times on the phone as with some other companies.
Aetna Part D is $6.80/month for me. I take only one prescription, an eyedrop, and it is fully covered. However, I only selected this plan because I don't take any other prescriptions. It doesn't cover much.

 

[Venturer]

Our Aetna D plan is automatically deducted from our SS every month. We have changed our provider once since we started but when we did SS automatically got it changed over to the new company and deducted the right amount. When we did that ours went down from $12.?? down to $7.?? then this year down to $6.80.

 

[Dash man]

Our Aetna D plan is automatically deducted from our SS every month. We have changed our provider once since we started but when we did SS automatically got it changed over to the new company and deducted the right amount. When we did that ours went down from $12.?? down to $7.?? then this year down to $6.80.

I though only the Medicare Part B, and IRMAA for Parts B and D were deducted from Social Security.
The actual insurance premium is paid through the insurer, such as Aetna’s InstaMed website.

 

[Sue J]

We have a credit card charged automatically by Aetna.

Do you do this without using Instamed? How?

DH and I both have this Part D plan with Aetna. I want to use the debit card for a checking account that needs a number of transactions a month. I can pay the bill through Instamed manually every month. That's what I've been doing because their autopayment does not happen as described in my first post.

Me, personally, I don't care if bills get paid automatically or manually. I'm on top of these things, it's in my nature. But I want to have things running automatically for DH in case one day I'm .... not here.

 

[Happyras]

I though only the Medicare Part B, and IRMAA for Parts B and D were deducted from Social Security.
The actual insurance premium is paid through the insurer, such as Aetna’s InstaMed website.

Nope, I was wrong and now you are too. Our Aetna Part D is deducted along with the IRMAA by SSA. I was confused and thought this Instamed was an auto pay for prescriptions before you pick them up. There I was wrong. I am not certain why most people do not have the premium paid through SSA? I believe you can log into your SSA account and make that election.

 

[Dash man]

Nope, I was wrong and now you are too. Our Aetna Part D is deducted along with the IRMAA by SSA. I was confused and thought this Instamed was an auto pay for prescriptions before you pick them up. There I was wrong. I am not certain why most people do not have the premium paid through SSA? I believe you can log into your SSA account and make that election.

I’d rather get the points on my credit card. [emoji851]

 

[Happyras]

I am making a new years resolution to do the math and drop part D all together, the penalty may not be so bad. We are paying an additional $342.60/mo for IRMAA plus $15.40/mo premium and mostly use GoodRx, Losartin is the only $3 drug on Aetna which is not much more using GoodRX. So we are paying $4,296/yr for coverage we do not use, and the penatly for not taking part D is only 1% of the normal payment per month deferred. If we did that for 10 years then took part D, our premiums would only double (120% more) and we may pay much less on the IRMAA loop by then. Anyone else do this math?
Sorry to steal the thread....oops

 

[Dash man]

I am making a new years resolution to do the math and drop part D all together, the penalty may not be so bad. We are paying an additional $342.60/mo for IRMAA plus $15.40/mo premium and mostly use GoodRx, Losartin is the only $3 drug on Aetna which is not much more using GoodRX. So we are paying $4,296/yr for coverage we do not use, and the penatly for not taking part D is only 1% of the normal payment per month deferred. If we did that for 10 years then took part D, our premiums would only double (120% more) and we may pay much less on the IRMAA loop by then. Anyone else do this math?
Sorry to steal the thread....oops

So many problems with this. First, the top tier for Part D IRMAA is only $77.90/month per person. Secondly, that penalty will affect the increases due to inflation too. Third, if you get caught requiring an expensive drug while uninsured, you can’t just choose to get back on a Part D plan at anytime. There are some chemotherapy medications you take at home using your prescription plan. Don’t get caught only considering short term savings.

 

[Sue J]

Nope, I was wrong and now you are too. Our Aetna Part D is deducted along with the IRMAA by SSA. I was confused and thought this Instamed was an auto pay for prescriptions before you pick them up. There I was wrong. I am not certain why most people do not have the premium paid through SSA? I believe you can log into your SSA account and make that election.

DH doesn’t get Social Security.

I just want the automatic payment for the premium to happen like it’s supposed to, after the bill posts. On both DHs account and mine the bill posts after Instamed looks to pay the balance on the 9th or the 10th.

Just looking on how to fix this. I’ll have to call Instamed next week.

I was hoping to avoid calling as so many entities are having customer service issues lately. I spent too much time this last week on the phone with Spectrum dealing with upgrading our internet - long story, now resolved!

I know many members here are enrolled in the inexpensive Aetna Silverscript plan. If you use Instamed what date does the bill post? What date is your auto payment?

 

[Happyras]

So many problems with this. First, the top tier for Part D IRMAA is only $77.90/month per person.

Correct, I grabbed the wrong line on the SSA letter sorry. Too quick to post. The monthly IRMAA for the two of us is only $142.60/month or $1711/yr. Still a lot of tax!

If we are on chemo drugs at home there is a lot more to worry about than cost, my friends dying of cancer currently do not have drugs at home, but do get treatments out patient basis, which may be part D, do you know if that is covered under part B? My wife just got out of the hospital after being admitted to ER. I believe all is covered under part A due to the hospital over-nights.

Her IV drug used at the hospital, in pill form, was $110 using Aetna, for home use. GoodRX was $12.45........

 

[Dash man]

Correct, I grabbed the wrong line on the SSA letter sorry. Too quick to post. The monthly IRMAA for the two of us is only $142.60/month or $1711/yr. Still a lot of tax!



If we are on chemo drugs at home there is a lot more to worry about than cost, my friends dying of cancer currently do not have drugs at home, but do get treatments out patient basis, which may be part D, do you know if that is covered under part B? My wife just got out of the hospital after being admitted to ER. I believe all is covered under part A due to the hospital over-nights.



Her IV drug used at the hospital, in pill form, was $110 using Aetna, for home use. GoodRX was $12.45........

Outpatient chemo drugs are covered under Part B.

 

[audreyh1]

My issue is just with the Aetna Part D premium payment.

Is there a way to pay this to Aetna without using Instamed?

I use this page - https://www.aetnamedicare.com/en/for-members/pay-medicare-premium.html and when you click Pay Premium it goes to Instamed. I see other physical methods down below, but I want to use a debit card to meet transaction requirements. Instamed would make the payment just fine if there was a balance on the 9th or 10th. But there isn't because Aetna posts so late.

Do you do this without using Instamed? How?

DH and I both have this Part D plan with Aetna. I want to use the debit card for a checking account that needs a number of transactions a month. I can pay the bill through Instamed manually every month. That's what I've been doing because their autopayment does not happen as described in my first post.

Me, personally, I don't care if bills get paid automatically or manually. I'm on top of these things, it's in my nature. But I want to have things running automatically for DH in case one day I'm .... not here.

Never heard of Instamed.

DH arranged with Aetna to pay his part D monthly premium via credit card when he signed up with them online.