I wanted to purchase a few medications without using my Medicare Part D plan and my local pharmacy said that I had to use my Medicare Part D card when purchasing my prescriptions. The pharmacy said it was illegal not to use my Medicare Part D plan.
No. The Medicare Part D program is voluntary and, like any insurance-type program, you can choose to not use your prescription drug plan and pay your prescription costs out of your own pocket - although it is usually safer and more affordable to use your Medicare prescription drug plan.
As a note, there were certainly a number of key changes in the health care law (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, P.L. 111-148, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010; P.L. 111-152 - together known as the Affordable Care Act).
And we have heard from a number of people who were told that they were required to use their Medicare Part D plan when purchasing their medications.
So just to be sure that there was not something new that we missed, we telephoned Medicare and they confirmed that there is nothing in the Medicare guidelines requiring you to use your Medicare Part D plan when purchasing your prescriptions (although again, it usually is more economical to use your plan).
Perhaps your pharmacist or pharmacy was misinformed or there was some confusion regarding your coverage.
When in doubt, you can always ask your pharmacist to call Medicare at 1-800-633-4227 for more information.