Medicare Part D plans provide insurance coverage for prescription drugs - and just like any other type of insurance - you pay a monthly premium to a private company (like Aetna or Humana or UnitedHealthcare) - and the insurance company provides you with coverage for a fixed list of prescription drugs at a cost that should be lower (or the same) as compared to what you pay at a the pharmacy.
Medicare Part D plans are federally funded and the federal government provides approval and oversight to the Medicare Part D plans through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Ways to get Medicare drug coverage.
A Medicare Part D prescription drug plan provides prescription drug
coverage through either stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plan
(
PDPs) or Medicare Advantage plans that include prescription drug
coverage (
MAPDs).
From the official source, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) defines a Medicare prescription drug plan as:
"A stand-alone drug plan [
PDP], offered by insurers and other private companies to people with Medicare who receive benefits through the Original Medicare Plan; through a Medicare Private Fee-for-Service Plan [
PFFS] that doesn’t offer prescription drug coverage; or who have a Medicare Cost Plan, or Medicare Medical Savings Account Plan [
MSA]. Medicare Advantage Plans may also offer qualified prescription drug coverage that must follow the same rules as Medicare Prescription Drug Plan [
MAPDs]." (source: Medicare.gov)
For a more in depth discussion of Medicare Part D plans, see:
Q1FAQ.com/563