Prescription Drug Benefits or Part D

Medicare Part D – Prescription Drug Benefits – is one of the newer programs available with Medicare, having come out in 2006.  Part D covers some of your prescription medications, both brand name and generic.

There are a lot of choices when it comes to Part D.  You can buy a pan that simply covers drugs and nothing more.  You can select a Medicare Advantage plan that has drug benefits included.  You can keep a Medigap (supplemental) plan that covers prescriptions and will continue to cover prescriptions as long as you don’t enroll in Part D.  One other option that many people are not aware of is that they can keep the prescription drug benefits that they had through their employer instead of getting your drug benefits from Medicare.

The way that the Plan D benefits work is simple if we break it down.  There is a monthly premium to pay each month to be in the program.  Premiums vary depending on the plan you choose and the area you live in.

In addition to the monthly premiums, there is a $250 deductible, meaning that you will pay for the first $250 for medication.  Once you have reached that amount, your Medicare Prescription Drug Plan would take over and cover some of the costs.  It is important to note that once your plan has paid out approximately $2,300 in drug benefits, you have to pay the next $2,850 out of your pocket.  After that, once you have spent a total of $3,600 in out of pocket expenses, the plan takes over and will pay 95% for the rest of the year.

It is essential that you determine what your drug costs currently are on an annual basis to make an informed decision as to whether or not Medicare Part D drug coverage is a wise choice for you.  For instance, let’s say that your current medications total $200 per month.  Multiply that $200 by 12 months and you will have paid out $2400 during the year.  Since Medicare Part D premiums will average somewhere around $40 per month, if you choose to take Part D, you will pay out about $480 plus the $250 deductible, equaling $730, and then your Part D would cover most of the prescriptions for the rest of the year.  You can figure out what the plan could do for you, just use the same formula.

Good information can be found to help you make comparisons and decisions by checking the internet at www.medicinenet.com, www.AARP.com, www.ssa.gov or going to Google and typing in Medicare Part D.  There is a great deal of information that should help you to decide whether Medicare Part D is right for you and how it would work in your situation.