Medicare Part D Plans and Drug Price Changes
Medicare Part D Plans and Drug Price Changes
— Receive access to exclusive information, benefits and discounts Premium increases — more than 15 percent in some of the largest plans, according to , a company that tracks health care trends — are announced in each plan's annual notice of change, which was sent to enrollees in September. These notices also describe the plan's tier structure — pricing categories that typically charge lower copays for generics and higher copays for brand-name drugs. But increasingly, plans are charging coinsurance — a percentage of the full cost of a drug — instead of set-amount copays. In 2016, the percentage of Part D drugs subject to coinsurance reached 58 percent, and that number is expected to rise. Because enrollees are unaware of a drug's full cost, which each plan negotiates with the drug manufacturers, they can't tell what a percentage (whether 25, 40 or 50 percent) means in actual money. "It's not like going to a supermarket and seeing a price sticker on the package," says Kelly Brantley, vice president of Avalere Health. "It isn't transparent."
Sticker Shock Ahead for Some Medicare Users
Changes make it crucial to compare Part D plans
Getty Pay attention to the trends in Medicare for next year, as they may cost you. Premiums for prescription drug plans will increase in 2017 by an average of 4.6 percent — the largest jump in several years — but experts say that you should look beyond premiums and pay close attention to the copays you'll be charged for drugs. Some people will see huge price increases for certain drugs if they stay with their current plan, according to an AARP Bulletin analysis. For example, one plan that charged $7 a month for a generic drug this year will charge a whopping $352 a month for the same drug after Jan. 1. AARP Membership: The analysis also found some enormous differences among the copayments that plans charge for a 30-day supply of the same drug. Some plans charge $100, $350 or even $500 more than other plans. (See chart below.) Courtesy FARMACIAPVR.COM, Martin Shields Alamy, Ian Gowland/Science source An analysis of what you might pay for certain drugs with the Part D plan in 2017. These trends, which effectively shift more costs to the beneficiaries, make it crucial for people in Part D plans to use , which runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, to compare plans according to the specific drugs they take, and find their best deals for 2017.Medicare
— Receive access to exclusive information, benefits and discounts Premium increases — more than 15 percent in some of the largest plans, according to , a company that tracks health care trends — are announced in each plan's annual notice of change, which was sent to enrollees in September. These notices also describe the plan's tier structure — pricing categories that typically charge lower copays for generics and higher copays for brand-name drugs. But increasingly, plans are charging coinsurance — a percentage of the full cost of a drug — instead of set-amount copays. In 2016, the percentage of Part D drugs subject to coinsurance reached 58 percent, and that number is expected to rise. Because enrollees are unaware of a drug's full cost, which each plan negotiates with the drug manufacturers, they can't tell what a percentage (whether 25, 40 or 50 percent) means in actual money. "It's not like going to a supermarket and seeing a price sticker on the package," says Kelly Brantley, vice president of Avalere Health. "It isn't transparent."