An Odd Part D Situation

[marko]

Has anybody run into this? I just got a letter from AARP Medicare Rx United Health for my brother.
" ...We're writing to inform you that you will no longer be enrolled in AARP Medicare Rx Basic as of January 1, 2025. .....Medicare will automatically switch you to another drug plan starting January 1, 2025...your new plan will cost you less than AARP Medicare Rx Basic..."

They claim that Medicare sent me a letter in October but I'm positive I never received it. I called Medicare (open 24/7!!) and they said that he's going to Wellcare but couldn't tell me why they made the change.

I'm not overly concerned about going to a new, less expensive option, but I'm more concerned that they seem to have just arbitrarily taken this action.

Have I been asleep at the switch? What is this? What if I don't mind paying more?

 

[Sarah S]

Is he dual eligible? I believe if he is and doesn’t actively choose a plan each year they can do this. You can probably still elect something else if you want as enrollment hasn’t closed

 

[Sunset]

No idea why they did this, but you should go on the mediare.gov site and input his drugs (if not done already) and check the plans, just to be sure Wellcare covers his drugs at the best price..

 

[marko]

Is he dual eligible? I believe if he is and doesn’t actively choose a plan each year they can do this. You can probably still elect something else if you want as enrollment hasn’t closed

No. I actively choose his plan each year. Wellcare does cover his meds so there's no problem there.

 

[MBSC]

The AARP 'Basic' Part D plan is being discontinued at the end of 2024. In my state, we're going from 21 PDPs in 2024 to 13 in 2025. There was consolidation mostly due to the Inflation Reduction Act.

As others have stated, don't assume the cross-walked plan is the best.

 

[marko]

The AARP 'Basic' Part D plan is being discontinued at the end of 2024. In my state, we're going from 21 PDPs in 2024 to 13 in 2025. There was consolidation mostly due to the Inflation Reduction Act.

As others have stated, don't assume the cross-walked plan is the best.

Ah! I think that explains it. I'm fine with Wellcare as they do cover his Rx via Amazon Pharmacy.

Thank you so much!

 

[marko]

No idea why they did this, but you should go on the mediare.gov site and input his drugs (if not done already) and check the plans, just to be sure Wellcare covers his drugs at the best price..

I did. He uses Amazon Pharmacy as they provide "Pillpack" which is an indispensable service. They're also easy to work with and talk to a live person . Less concerned about cost than convenience.

 

[LizaBBBB]

Has anybody run into this? I just got a letter from AARP Medicare Rx United Health for my brother.
" ...We're writing to inform you that you will no longer be enrolled in AARP Medicare Rx Basic as of January 1, 2025. .....Medicare will automatically switch you to another drug plan starting January 1, 2025...your new plan will cost you less than AARP Medicare Rx Basic..."

They claim that Medicare sent me a letter in October but I'm positive I never received it. I called Medicare (open 24/7!!) and they said that he's going to Wellcare but couldn't tell me why they made the change.

I'm not overly concerned about going to a new, less expensive option, but I'm more concerned that they seem to have just arbitrarily taken this action.

Have I been asleep at the switch? What is this? What if I don't mind paying more?

Aetna terminated the Part D plan I was in, and put me in another Aetna Part D plan (Medicare did not do that, so i find Medicare doing it quite odd for your brother). I didn't want theAetna Part D plan, so i cfound another that met my needs better. A lot of Part D plans have flown the coop. They also had cut formularies and done a lot of uptiering. I evbelieve thisa was mostly due to the donut hole being eliminarted.

 

[LizaBBBB]

Is he dual eligible? I believe if he is and doesn’t actively choose a plan each year they can do this. You can probably still elect something else if you want as enrollment hasn’t closed

Hmm. That's interesting. i didn't know Medicare did that for dual eligible enrollees. Bt yers, I'msure you can shop, as long as done by 12.7.

 

[2retireearly]

if you look at your account on Medicare vov, you will find the letter they sent. most plan Ds are going way up in premiums, due to the 2025 cap of $2k out of pocket. my Aetna went from $5 something a month to $28. so I changed plans for 2025 and went to Wellcare, where the premium for my tier of (2) cheap drugs is now $0. most people are needing to evaluate their current part Da and change to a new one, if that fits their needs better.