It is actually a violation of CMS (the center for Medicare and Medicade) for an agent to ever state that any Medicare Drug Plan is the best. The best is a word that means different things to different people. And a plan that is a good choice for you could be a poor choice for your spouse.
The only proper way to select your RX plan is to go on Medicare's website and type in all your current medications. This will give you a list of all the plans that cover your meds. It will also tell you the deductibles, co-pays and premiums for each plan.
Your Medicare Supplement agent should do this for you each year. Or you can pretty easily do it yourself if you prefer.
The "best" Medicare drug plan is the one that fits your needs and budget. Sometimes paying more will result in lower total annual costs, sometimes not.
I have a husband and wife as clients. Husband takes about a dozen drugs, some quite expensive. The wife takes 4 drugs and none of them are terribly pricey but they are not $4 generics either.
As it turns out the "best" plan for her runs about $80 per month while his plan (coincidentally with the same carrier) is about $50 per month.
If she chose a lower priced plan her total annual costs would rise by several hundred dollars.
If he opted for the more expensive plan like she has, his total annual outlay would also increase.
The formulary is the driving factor in both these situations.
There is no best plan, but there are best plans for your situation. The best plan for you takes in to account your medicines, dosages, frequencies, and your preferred pharmacy. Using the Part D plan selector is a great way to compare your Part D options. Visit www.medicare.gov. Remember to give the .gov site and not the .com site. The .com site is not affiliated with CMS (the government entity who runs Medicare).
.JPG){kind=avatar}
The only proper way to select your RX plan is to go on Medicare's website and type in all your current medications. This will give you a list of all the plans that cover your meds. It will also tell you the deductibles, co-pays and premiums for each plan.
Your Medicare Supplement agent should do this for you each year. Or you can pretty easily do it yourself if you prefer.
I have a husband and wife as clients. Husband takes about a dozen drugs, some quite expensive. The wife takes 4 drugs and none of them are terribly pricey but they are not $4 generics either.
As it turns out the "best" plan for her runs about $80 per month while his plan (coincidentally with the same carrier) is about $50 per month.
If she chose a lower priced plan her total annual costs would rise by several hundred dollars.
If he opted for the more expensive plan like she has, his total annual outlay would also increase.
The formulary is the driving factor in both these situations.