Does Your Medicare Drug Plan Still Work for You? Open Enrollment Has Arrived!

Will your Medicare prescription drug plan work for you in 2025?

Find out by getting a free benefits checkup during Open Enrollment, a period between October 15 and December 7 in which Part D/Medicare Advantage beneficiaries can sign up for, change, or drop their plan.

We can help: Certified and unbiased volunteer counselors from AgeWays Nonprofit Senior Services’ Michigan Medicare Assistance Program (MMAP) will be on hand to help you review your plan and if need be, help you to enroll in a plan that could save you money and better serve your health needs.

AgeWays will be offering these free benefit reviews via phone and Zoom and also at in-person Medicare Assistance events scheduled at community venues around Macomb and Oakland counties:

2024 MMAP OEP Events calendar FINAL

Too many seniors don’t review their plan

From year to year, Medicare Advantage plans can change their premiums, cost-sharing requirements, provider networks, or prior authorization requirements.

Yet, millions of people with these plans don’t review them each year.

A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that over 40% of Medicare Advantage beneficiaries – about 30 million people — did not review their plan during Open Enrollment in 2022. That means they may have lost out on savings and may have even lost the health care provider they trusted. Minorities and Medicare enrollees ages 85 and older were less likely to review their plans to see if they made financial and medical sense.

Big changes coming to drug costs

This year it is more important than ever to take a deeper look at your Plan D or Medicare Advantage plan.

Because of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Medicare beneficiaries will see a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cost cap for prescription drugs. Once that cap is met, they won’t have to pay any extra on co-pays or coinsurance. Under the new law, they can also spread the cost over the course of a year until the $2,000 is paid off.

Most insurers, however, will likely raise premiums in order to compensate for the reduction in drug prices.

And at least two major health insurers are pulling out of the Medicare Advantage market.

Humana is ending Medicare Advantage for some half-million customers, mainly in the southeastern U.S., citing the new, higher cost of providing health care. CVS Health Aetna is also preparing to pull out of some markets.

“Because of this, it’s more important than ever this year that people review their plans,” says Shari Smith, manager of MMAP. “Those who have a Medicare Advantage plan through Humana should make sure to read the notice of creditable drug coverage they received in the mail by October 15. Otherwise, they might find themselves without a prescription drug plan come January.

“We are encouraging everyone to review their plans carefully this year.  Our counselors are available to assist with this.”