The 2021 Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage plan annual Open Enrollment Period
(
AEP) begins today, October 15th, and continues through December 7th.
During the next seven weeks, you will have the opportunity to add, change, or
drop your 2021 Medicare Advantage plan or Medicare Part D prescription drug plan.
Staying with your current 2020 plan into 2021?
If you are satisfied with your current 2020 Medicare Part D plan or
Medicare Advantage plan coverage – and you understand how your Medicare
plan is
changing in 2021 –
you do not need to do anything
– and you will be automatically re-enrolled into your Medicare plan
along with any changes your plan is making for 2021.
Be sure to review
your plan’s Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) letter to learn more about
your 2021 Medicare plan coverage.
As a reminder, if your
current 2020 Medicare plan is being discontinued or not offered in 2021,
you may not have 2021 Medicare plan coverage – unless you enroll in a
new plan. On the other hand, some 2020 Medicare plans will be
consolidated and 2020 plan members are being automatically “crosswalked”
or merged into a different 2021 Medicare plan – with potentially
different plan coverage.
You can use our 2020/2021 Medicare plan comparison tools (
PDP-Compare or
MA-Compare) to see:
- Plan benefit changes from 2020 to 2021
- Which 2020 plans are being discontinued in 2021
- Which plan members will be “crosswalked” in 2021, and
- New plans being introduced in 2021
To get you started, you can
click here for an example of a 2020/2021 Texas Medicare Part D plan comparison (and then choose your own state or ZIP code).
Reviewing all 2021 Medicare Part D prescription drug plans in your area.
If
you wish to see an overview of all stand-alone 2021 Medicare Part D
prescription drug plans (PDPs) offered in your state, then you can use
our
PDP-Finder.
We provide a unique collection of prescription drug plan details
including: drug tier co-payments, initial deductibles, monthly premiums,
Part D plan IDs, additional Donut Hole or Gap coverage, formulary size,
and Medicare plan quality star ratings.
You can click on the plan name or “
Benefits & Contact Info” for more information about the specific Medicare PDP. To start, you can
click here for an example of PDP-Finder showing all 2021 California Medicare Part D plans with a $0 initial deductible.
Reviewing all 2021 Medicare Advantage plans in your area.
Medicare
Advantage plans combine your Medicare hospitalization coverage
(Medicare Part A), out-patient coverage (Medicare Part B) - and may
provide your Medicare prescription drug coverage (Medicare Part D),
dental, vision, and fitness center coverage. In some areas, Medicare
Advantage plans with prescription drug coverage are offered with a $0
monthly premium and a $0 initial deductible – and a low out-of-pocket
spending limit (
MOOP).
You can use the 2021
MA-Finder
for searching and comparing all Medicare Advantage plans across the
country by plan features. Since Medicare Advantage plans are offered on
a
county-by-county basis, begin by entering your ZIP code and search. You can click on the “
Benefits & Contact Info” button for more information about a specific Medicare Advantage plan.
Click here for an example of $0 premium
Medicare Advantage plans that include prescription drug coverage
(MAPDs) in New York, NY – just change the ZIP code to see the plans in
your area.
Reviewing Medicare Part D plans qualifying for the Low-Income Subsidy $0 Premium.
PDP-Finder
also offers information for Medicare beneficiaries qualifying for
financial Extra-Help (Low-Income Subsidy) and may be particularly
helpful to advocates and nursing homes.
If you are just seeking
Medicare Part D plans that have monthly premiums completely covered by
your state’s Low-Income Subsidy, you can narrow your plan search by
choosing “Yes, show only plans that qualify for the $0 Premium” option
on PDP-Finder. Click the link for an
example of all 2021 Part D plans in California qualifying for the LIS $0 premium.
In
both our Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage Plan Finders, you can
also choose the “LIS Subsidy Amount” and the monthly Medicare plan
premiums will be adjusted based on your selected level of Extra Help.
Review 2021 Medicare plans by drug coverage and costs.
We have three different tools available to check coverage of your prescription drugs:
- The 2021 Formulary Browser
allows you to browse through all 2021 Medicare prescription drug plan
formularies or drug lists. You can click on the cost-sharing values of
any medication to see the cost difference between using a preferred
network pharmacy or a standard network pharmacy.
- The 2021 Drug Finder (Q1Rx.com)
provides a quick way to see how all Medicare Part D or Medicare
Advantage plans in your area are covering a particular prescription
drug. Drug Finder details include drug tier, cost-sharing, average
negotiated retail drug prices, and usage management restrictions (such
as Quantity Limits or Prior Authorization requirements).
- The 2021 Long-Term Care (LTC) Drug Finder (Q1Medicare.com/LTC)
is also online and provides a simple way to compare drug usage
management restrictions for the top LTC medications found on Low-Income
Subsidy (LIS) $0 premium Medicare Part D plans along with Institutional
Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans (I-SNPs). You can click here to see an example for Pennsylvania.
If you are ready to enroll in a new 2021 Medicare plan . . .
If
you have already reviewed your 2021 Medicare plan options and are ready
to enroll in a new Medicare plan, you can call 1-800-MEDICARE
(1-800-633-4227) and enroll directly through a Medicare representative.
The Medicare representative can process your enrollment into any
Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage plan directly over the telephone
and the process only takes a few minutes. Be sure to record and keep
your enrollment confirmation code in a safe place.
If you decide to change Medicare plans, you
do not need to disenroll
from your current 2020 plan when joining your new 2021 Medicare plan --
your newly chosen 2021 plan will automatically contact your 2020 plan
and handle the enrollment change.
Finally, remember there is no need to rush into a decision.
You
have plenty of time to choose a 2021 Medicare Part D or Medicare
Advantage plan. If you need assistance, please contact a local
insurance agent, advocate,
SHIP volunteer, or call a Medicare representative at 1-800-Medicare (1-800-633-4227).
Questions?
If you have any general questions about Medicare Part D plans or Medicare Advantage
plans, please let us know. You can
click here
for our online Help Desk to submit a question.