Lower Your Prescription Drug Costs with Medicare Part D
Medicare offers Part D prescription drug coverage to help manage the cost of medications. If you delay enrolling in a Part D plan when first eligible, you may incur a late enrollment penalty unless you have other creditable coverage.
There are two ways to get Part D coverage:
✓ Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (PDP):
This standalone plan adds prescription drug coverage to Original Medicare, some Medicare Cost Plans, and other Medicare health plans.
✓ Medicare Advantage Plan (MA-PD):
These plans offer both Medicare medical coverage (Parts A and B) and prescription drug coverage in a single plan.
What Drug Plans Cover:
Each Part D plan has its own formulary (list of covered drugs), and medications are grouped into different "tiers" with varying costs. Lower-tier drugs generally cost less, but if a higher-tier drug is medically necessary, you can request an exception to reduce your copayment.
Changes to Coverage:
Plans can adjust their formularies during the year, but they must notify you at least 60 days before making a change to the drugs you currently use.
There are two ways to get Part D coverage:
✓ Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (PDP):
This standalone plan adds prescription drug coverage to Original Medicare, some Medicare Cost Plans, and other Medicare health plans.
✓ Medicare Advantage Plan (MA-PD):
These plans offer both Medicare medical coverage (Parts A and B) and prescription drug coverage in a single plan.
What Drug Plans Cover:
Each Part D plan has its own formulary (list of covered drugs), and medications are grouped into different "tiers" with varying costs. Lower-tier drugs generally cost less, but if a higher-tier drug is medically necessary, you can request an exception to reduce your copayment.
Changes to Coverage:
Plans can adjust their formularies during the year, but they must notify you at least 60 days before making a change to the drugs you currently use.
