There's a 90% chance you're paying too much for prescriptions
Every prescription drug plan available has a different monthly premium, different drug formulary, deductible, and various co-payments associated with different prescriptions. Therefore, choosing the perfect plan based upon your unique list of prescriptions is not easy. Most people give up and purchase a prescription drug plan from the same insurance company from whom they purchased their Medicare Supplement Plan or just keep what they had. This is the easy solution, but can be very costly. For example, in 2020 Humana had a price increase on one of their plans that was $29.90 with a $415 deductible and raised it to $64.50 and a $435 deductible. You think they contacted their customers and asked them if they wanted something less expensive? NO they didn't! Had the consumer had an agent/broker who was looking out for them then, would have found out and been able to switch plans.
The Quick Fix
Visit medicare.gov, where you can use their Plan Finder tool to compare all prescription drug plans based upon the medications you are actually taking. Sounds easy right? Well, not so fast… while you don’t need to be a computer scientist to figure it out, knowing how to use the tool and having a good understanding of how these insurance plans work is important. Medicare did a great job of simplifying a search process that is incredibly daunting, but using the tool effectively is like self diagnosing your ailments using WebMD (you might have it right, but probably not).
The Quicker Fix
Have your insurance broker who helps you with your Medicare plans create a prescription drug plan comparison report for you, using Medicare’s Plan Finder. Your insurance broker will know exactly how these plans work, and can do the work for you for free! They can present you with a detailed report showing the three most affordable plan options based upon your unique prescriptions. If your broker doesn’t know how to use the Plan Finder tool, or refuses to help, it might be time to find a more knowledgeable insurance professional.
If you have questions about prescription drug plans (also known as Medicare Part D) contact me and I'd be happy to help.