Each plan year, Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage plans have the option of not renewing their Medicare contract and their plans can be discontinued across the country or in a specific service area.
This means that, if a 2014 Medicare plan providers do not offer any alternative plans for their existing members - then the 2014 members of the discontinued Medicare plan must find a new Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage plan - or be without 2015 Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage plan coverage.
The following chart shows examples of 2014 stand-alone
Medicare Part D prescription drug plans that will no longer be available in
2015, along with the number of people who will be affected:
Discontinued 2014 Stand-Alone Prescription Drug Plans
with Membership
|
Plan Name |
States |
Members Affected |
MedicareRx Rewards Standard (PDP) |
all states |
41,941 |
HealthMarkets Value Rx (PDP) |
all states |
21,775 |
BlueCross BlueShield Rx PDP (PDP) |
NY |
7,367 |
Blue MedicareRx Plus (PDP) |
ME NH |
6,275 |
EmblemHealth Medicare Prescription Drug
Plan (PDP) |
NY |
5,744 |
AmeriHealth Rx Option I (PDP) |
PA WV |
5,352 |
PICA Primero (PDP) |
PR |
4,665 |
SecureAdvantage Rx - Option 1 (PDP) |
OH PA WV |
4,649 |
AmeriHealth Rx Option II (PDP) |
PA WV |
3,984 |
Aetna CVS/pharmacy Prescription Drug Plan(PDP) |
ME NH |
2,724 |
Blue MedicareRx Standard (PDP) |
ME NH |
2,429 |
Triple-S FarmaMed Plus (PDP) |
PR |
1,854 |
SecureAdvantage Rx - Option II (PDP) |
OH PA WV |
1,501 |
MedicareRx Rewards Plus (PDP) |
FL NM |
1,468 |
What if your 2014 Medicare Part D plan or Medicare
Advantage plan is not offered in 2015?
If your Medicare Advantage plan or Medicare Part D plan is discontinued in 2015,
you may choose to join a new Medicare Advantage plan or Medicare Part D plan
during the annual Open Enrollment Period.
However, if you do not enroll in a new Medicare Advantage
plan or Medicare Part D plan by December 7th, you will be provided a Special
Enrollment Period to join a 2015 Medicare plan from December 8, 2014 through
February 28, 2015 (also called the Service Area Reduction Special Enrollment Period).
Remember, if your current Medicare plan is discontinued next year, your 2014 Medicare prescription drug coverage will
end on December 31, 2014.
If you wait
until January to enroll in a 2015 plan, your new prescription drug coverage
will take effect on February 1st, so you will have no prescription drug
coverage for the month of January, and it continues that if you wait until
February to enroll in a 2015 plan, your coverage will take effect on March 1st,
so you will have no prescription drug coverage for January or February, 2015.
Our
PDP-Compare and
MA-Compare tools show the 2014 stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plans (PDPs) and Medicare
Advantage plans (MAs or MAPDs) across the country that will be
merged,
discontinued, or
added in 2015.