Medicare Part D Insurance

Medicare Part D insurance is commonly referred to as prescription drug coverage. The prescription can be for either brand name drugs or generic drugs offered through participating pharmacies. Fortunately, almost all pharmacies participate in Part D coverage.

The basic idea is to provide drug coverage for people who have very high drug costs or from unexpected prescription drug bills in the future. Everyone enrolled in Medicare Part A & Part B are eligible for coverage. There are no income limits, health exclusions or prescription expense requirements to meet before coverage is issued.

Medicare permits a person to sign up for Part D coverage when they first become eligible for Medicare. This eligibility period is three months before the month you turn age 65 until three months after you turn age 65. When you do the math, a person actually has a 7 month window of opportunity to obtain the Part D coverage.

People who receive Medicare due to a disability can join from three months before to three months after their 25th month of cash disability payments. A word of warning is in order because if a person doesn’t sign up when they first become eligible, Medicare reserves the right to impose a penalty. If they apply the penalty, you will pay a higher premium for the coverage.

Whether or not you obtain Medicare Part D insurance depends on your current health care plan. Some health plans include drug coverage which means Part D would be duplicate coverage and probably unnecessary.

Medicare offers two ways to obtain Part D prescription drug coverage. The first is through a Medicare prescription drug plan. The second option is to join a Medicare Advantage Plan or another Medicare Health Plan that offers drug coverage. Either are acceptable to Medicare.

Medicare Part D insurance is no different than any other insurance. If you decide to obtain coverage, you almost always will pay a monthly premium and a yearly deductible. The premium and deductible vary by the issuing company.

Part D also makes you pay part of the cost of your prescriptions. These costs come in the form of either a co-payment or coinsurance. Like the premium and deductible, costs will vary depending on which drug plan you choose.

People with limited income and resources may qualify for extra help. In fact, they may not have to pay a premium or deductible. For more information about receiving extra help, call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778). If you have access to a computer, their website address is www.socialsecurity.gov

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