The 2024 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 Medicare Advantage plan or Medicare Part D prescription drug plan.
Staying with your current 2023 plan into 2024?
If you are satisfied with your current 2023 Medicare Part D plan or
Medicare Advantage plan coverage – and you understand how your Medicare plan is
changing in 2024 –
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 2024. Be sure to
review
your plan’s Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) letter to learn more about your 2024
Medicare plan coverage.
Reminders:
-- All 2024 Medicare drug plans will continue to cover insulin at a $35 or less copay.
All 2024 stand-alone Medicare Part
D prescription drug plans and Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage
(MAPDs) will offer all insulin found on the plan’s formulary for a copay of
$35 (or less) through all phases of Part D coverage (with insulin costs
possibility reduced further in the Catastrophic Coverage phase).
-- All 2024 Medicare drug plans will continue to offer Part D vaccines at a $0 copay.
All 2024 stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plans and Medicare
Advantage plans with drug coverage (MAPDs) will offer $0 cost sharing for
vaccines that are recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices (
ACIP),
such as the Shingles and Pneumonia vaccines.
-- Merged plans
Some
2023 Medicare plans will be consolidated and 2023 plan members are being
automatically moved or “
crosswalked” into a different 2024 Medicare plan – with
potentially different and more expensive plan coverage.
-- Discontinued plans
Some 2023 Medicare plans will
be discontinued or not offered in 2024. And members of these 2023 plans will not have 2024 Medicare plan
coverage – unless they enroll in a different 2024 plan.
You can use our 2023/2024 Medicare plan comparison tools (
PDP-Compare or
MA-Compare) to see:
– Which 2023 Medicare plans will “move” plan
members to other 2024 plans,
– changes in Medicare plan benefits and
costs from 2023 to 2024,
– which 2023 Medicare plans are being discontinued
in 2024, and
– the new Medicare plans being
introduced in 2024.
To get you started, you can
click here for an example of the 2023/2024 Texas Medicare Part D plan
comparison
(and then choose your own state or ZIP code).
Reviewing all 2024 Medicare Part D prescription drug plans in your area.
If you wish to see an overview of all stand-alone 2024 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
copayments, 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 2024 California
Medicare Part D plans with a $0 initial deductible.
Reviewing all 2024 Medicare Advantage plans in your area.
Medicare Advantage plans combine your Medicare Part A in-patient coverage (hospitalization),
Medicare Part B out-patient coverage (doctor visits) - and may provide your Medicare
Part D prescription drug coverage. A
Medicare Advantage plan may also provide additional healthcare benefits such
as: limited dental, vision, hearing aid, and fitness center coverage. In some areas, Medicare Advantage plans will
also offer non-health benefits such as limited transportation and meal service.
Medicare Advantage plans with prescription drug coverage are offered in many
areas with a $0 monthly premium and a $0 initial drug deductible – and a low
out-of-pocket spending limit (
MOOP) –
plus
some $0
premium 2024 Medicare Advantage plans also include a Medicare Part B premium
Giveback feature, returning a portion of your Part B premium
each month.
You can use the 2024
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 plan name or 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 and
MA-Finder also offer information for Medicare beneficiaries
qualifying for financial Extra-Help (Low-Income Subsidy) and may be
particularly helpful to advocates and nursing homes. In both Finder tools, you can 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 just seeking stand-alone 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
Click the link for an example of all 2024 Part D plans
in California qualifying for the LIS $0 premium.
Review 2024 Medicare plans by drug coverage and costs.
We have three different tools available to check coverage of your
prescription drugs:
(1) The
2024 Formulary Browser allows you to browse through all 2024 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.
(2) The 2024 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).
(3) The 2024 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.
*Again, pay special attention to the cost of insulin covered by a 2024
Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage (MAPD) plan – covered insulin will not
have a monthly copay over $35 – no matter what is shown on online.