The 2016 Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage
plan annual Open Enrollment Period (AEP) begins today and continues through December 7th. During the next seven weeks,
you will have the opportunity to add, change, or drop your Medicare Advantage
plan or Medicare Part D prescription drug plan.
If you are satisfied with your current 2015
Medicare Part D plan or Medicare Advantage plan coverage – and you understand
how your Medicare
plan is changing in 2016 - you do not need
to do anything and you will be automatically re-enrolled into your Medicare
plan along with any changes your plan may have made for 2016.
Caution: If your
current 2015 Medicare plan is being discontinued or
not offered in 2016, you may not have 2016
Medicare plan coverage – unless you enroll in a new plan. On the other
hand, some 2015 Medicare plans will be consolidated and 2015 plan members are
being automatically “cross-walked” or merged into a different 2016 Medicare plan
– with potentially different plan coverage. Be sure to review your plan’s
Annual Notice of Change letter to learn more about your 2016 Medicare plan
coverage. You can
click here to see our article for examples
of 2016 Medicare plan reassignments and mergers.
Compare 2016 Medicare plans by drug coverage and
costs.
We
have three different tools available to check coverage of your prescription
drugs:
-
We offer our 2016 Formulary Browser
that allows you to browse through all 2016 Medicare prescription drug plan
formularies or drug lists. You can click on the cost-sharing values of
any medication to see the costs difference between using a preferred network
pharmacy or a non-preferred network pharmacy.
- We also have our 2016 Drug Finder
online (Q1Rx.com) allowing you to quickly see how all
Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage plans in your area are covering a
particular prescription drug. Our Drug Finder details include average
negotiated retail drug prices and usage management restrictions (such as
Quantity Limits or Prior Authorization).
- Our 2016 Long-Term Care (LTC) Drug Finder (Q1Rx.com/LTC) is also online
and provides a simple way to compare drug usage management restrictions for the
top LTC medications for all Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) $0 premium Medicare Part D
plans along with Institutional Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans (SNPs). You can click here to see an example of our LTC Drug Finder in Pennsylvania.
Review all Medicare Part D prescription
drug plans in your area.
If you wish to see details of all
stand-alone 2016 Medicare Part D prescription drug plans offered in your State,
then you can use our
PDP-Finder. We provide a unique collection
of prescription drug plan details including information on: drug tier
co-payments, initial deductibles, monthly premiums, Part D plan IDs, Donut Hole
or gap coverage, formulary size, and Medicare plan quality star ratings.
Click on “Benefits & Contact Info” for more information about the Medicare
plan. To start, you can
click here for an example of our PDP-Finder showing all 2016 Florida Medicare Part D plans
with a $0 initial deductible.
Review all 2016 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. You can use our
2016
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. Click on the “Benefits & Contact Info” button
for more information about a specific Medicare Advantage plan. You can
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.
See how your 2015 Medicare Part D plan or Medicare
Advantage plan is changing in 2016.
Changes to your existing 2015 Medicare Advantage
plan or Medicare Part D prescription drug plan coverage were explained in your
Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) letter that you should have received from your
current Medicare plan. However, if you would like to quickly review how
any current Medicare plan is changing in 2016, please use our 2015/2016 Medicare
Part D plan comparison tool,
PDP-Compare or use our 2015/2016 Medicare Advantage plan comparison
tool,
MA-Compare. You will also see
the Medicare Part D plans or Medicare Advantage plans merged, discontinued, or
introduced in 2016. If you are unsure where to begin, you can
click here for an example of a 2015/2016 Texas Medicare Part D plan
comparison.
Review Medicare Part D plans qualifying
for the Low-Income Subsidy $0 Premium.
Our PDP-Finder also offers information for Medicare
beneficiaries qualifying for financial Extra-Help 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. Click the link for an
example of all 2016 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.
If you are ready to enroll in a new
2016 Medicare plan . . .
If you have already reviewed your 2016
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 existing 2015 plan when joining your new 2016
Medicare plan -- your newly chosen 2016 plan will automatically contact your
2015 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 2016 Medicare
Part D or Medicare Advantage plan. If you need assistance, please contact
a local advocate or call a Medicare representative at 1-800-Medicare
(1-800-633-4227) for assistance.