03 Aug Understanding Medicare Part D – Prescription Drug Coverage

Medicare is a government health insurance program for eligible individuals. To be eligible you must be: 65+ years old; have collected SSDI benefits for more than 24 months; or have been diagnosed with end stage renal disease (ESRD) or ALS. There are currently about 56 million Americans enrolled in Medicare.

Medicare coverage is broken up into “parts:”

• Part A: Hospital Insurance – includes hospital care, skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, hospice, and home health services.
• Part B: Medical Insurance – includes services from doctors, preventive care, outpatient care, lab tests, mental health care, ambulance services, and durable medical equipment.
• Part D: Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) – different plans to choose from depending on where you live, with different premiums and formularies.
• Part C: Advantage Plans. Part C is an alternative to Parts A & B and it includes the benefits and services covered under Parts A & B, and usually Part D. You can select a PPO or HMO plan that is run by a Medicare approved private insurance company.

For more information about Medicare, read our Quick Guide to Medicare , or watch our webinar on “ Making Sense of the Medicare Maze .”

Medicare Part D is optional, but if you are taking prescription medication and do not have Part D, you may have to pay for medications out-of-pocket. If you decide later that you want Part D, but didn’t sign up when you were first eligible, you pay have to pay a late enrollment penalty .

How much you pay for Medicare Part D and out-of-pocket prescription drug costs depends on a number of factors, like which Part D plan you choose, how many prescriptions you take and how often, whether your pharmacy is in your plan’s network, whether your prescription drugs are on your Medicare Part D plan’s formulary, and more. To find which Medicare Part D plans are available where you live, click here .

Part D premiums generally range from $10-$100 per month (depending on the plans available in your area and on the specific plan you choose). The maximum deductible—the amount you must pay out-of-pocket before Medicare will contribute to your prescription costs—in 2017 is $400. After paying your deductible, then Medicare will pay 75% of your prescription drug costs and you will pay 25%, up to a total of $3,700.

What many refer to as the “donut hole” in Medicare Part D coverage is a gap in coverage when you have spent a certain total amount on covered prescriptions. In 2017, once you and your plan have spent $3,700 on covered drugs, you're in the coverage gap. This amount may change each year. Also, people with Medicare who get Extra Help paying Part D costs won’t enter the coverage gap. For more information and examples of the coverage gap, visit Medicare .

Even with Part D coverage, prescription drugs can be expensive. Depending on your income level, you may qualify for financial assistance to help pay for your prescriptions drugs. A Low-Income Subsidy provides Medicare beneficiaries with assistance in paying their Part D monthly premium, annual deductible, coinsurance, and copayments. Some people may be eligible for Extra Help, a program aimed for those who do not automatically qualify for a Low-Income Subsidy. You may be entitled to Extra Help if you are entitled to Medicare and get full coverage from a state Medicaid program, you are enrolled in a Medicare Savings Program, or you get SSI disability benefits. The Medicare Savings Program pays for the Medicare Part A and the Medicare Part B premiums. It also pays Medicare cost-sharing expenses, including deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments.

For more information on how to reduce your prescription drug costs, visit the following link . Examples include switching to lower-cost medication if approved by your health care team, or switching to mail-order programs from your plan.

You can also visit CancerFinances.org to find other financial assistance resources.

For help with Medicare and making plan choices, you can visit Medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE. You can also speak to a local counselor through the State Health Insurance Assistance Program. Click here , then pick your state from the drop down menu on the right, under “Find someone to talk to,” and it will provide the local contact information.