Many people do not change their Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage plan each year, even when they may be able to save money on their prescription and medical costs. If you decide to stay with your current Medicare plan coverage, please remember that Medicare Part D prescription drug plan and Medicare Advantage plan costs and coverage details can change every year -- so be prepared for the changes to your current plan in 2012.
How could your Medicare Part D prescription drug plan change in 2012? You may see changes in:
- Monthly Medicare prescription drug plan premiums
- The amount of your plan’s initial deductible (that is, the amount you pay before coverage)
- Your plan’s Initial Coverage Limit (when you enter the Donut Hole or Coverage Gap)
- Your Donut Hole or Coverage Gap benefits (whether your plan pays anything in the Gap)
- Your plan’s drug cost-sharing design (co-payments and co-insurance)
- Medications covered on your plan’s formulary or drug list
- $0 premium Low-Income Subsidy status (plans may no longer qualify for the $0 premium)
- Your plan’s Medicare “Star” or quality rating
Bottom Line: If you do not enroll into a new Medicare Part D plan or Medicare Advantage plan, you will be automatically re-enrolled into your current Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage plan for 2012 and your 2012 Medicare plan may cost you more money and provide different coverage than in 2011. The good news is that you still have plenty of time to review your 2012 Medicare plan coverage options.
How to learn more about the changes in your 2012 Medicare plan?
Your Medicare plan provider is required to summarize any 2012 plan changes in your Annual Notice of Change letter (or ANOC) that you should have received in late-September. We heard from some people who had not received or recognized this ANOC letter and never learned about their 2012 Medicare plan changes. If you have not received a copy of your plan’s ANOC letter, please call your plan’s Member Services department and ask your plan to send another copy of your ANOC.
Please note that the information you receive in your ANOC letter may at first seem a little overwhelming. Your ANOC letter alone is probably around 10 pages long, plus in this same mailing is your Medicare plan’s 2012 Evidence of Coverage (or EOC) document, making your ANOC letter look as if it is well over 100 pages long. Some plans may even break the ANOC letter mailings into several pieces (for instance, the mailing might be marked “Part 1 of 2”). Together, the ANOC letter and the EOC document will provide you with a great deal of detailed information on your 2012 Medicare plan coverage.
Need a quicker way to see some of the changes in your Medicare Part D plan?
We have our
2011/2012 PDP-Compare tool online to help you see how your current 2011 stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plan coverage is changing in 2012. Our
PDP-Compare tool allows you to compare changes in
all stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plans (or PDPs) across the country. The 2011/2012 PDP-Compare shows monthly premium and plan design changes, as well as changes in your co-payments or co-insurance rates for different drug tiers. PDP-Compare will also show you the Medicare Part D plans that will be discontinued or added in 2012.
To get started, simply go to
PDP-Compare.com and click on your state.
A few tips for more advanced users of our PDP-Compare tool:
- If you wish to narrow the search by the name of your prescription drug plan, just choose the name of your Medicare Part D plan family (such as “AARP” for all “AARP MedicareRx” plans) and then click the “Click to Compare Annual Plan Changes” button.
- If you want to search for Medicare Part D plans with specific features, such as only those plans qualifying for the $0 premium full Low-Income Subsidy, you can select “Yes, show only plans that qualify for $0 premium” for the “Full Low-Income Subsidy?” question in the search-form. Click here for an example of the 2011 $0 Premium LIS plans in Texas. You can then see which of those plans still qualify in 2012. Additional examples of Part D plan changes are provided in the next section below.
- If you want a little more help, our PDP-Compare tutorial will show you a few screen shots and provide tips on how to see the changes in your current Medicare Part D plan.
Still not sure where to begin or you have a question?
Click here to let us know.