Don’t Let Open Enrollment Scare You!!
Oct 20, 2015
Which scares you more — Halloween or the Open Enrollment Period? No doubt, the latter because it deals with your Medicare. Looking at all the changes and deciding whether to switch to a different drug or Medicare Advantage plan can be threatening.
Why is this so scary? The notice of changes booklet your plan sends can be hundreds of pages, an inch or more thick. How do you begin to sort through all that information? Then, what if you pick a new plan and it turns out worse than the one you have? For many, it’s just easier to ignore the whole thing.
However, deciding not to do anything can create many problems. Consider this example. Jennifer takes one medication that costs $25 a month this year. When the notice of changes arrived, she confirmed that her current plan would still cover that drug and her pharmacy was still in-network next year. She can keep the plan she has. However, she missed some changes with impact on her costs and coverage.
- Several generic medications are changing from a Tier 2 to a Tier 3 next year.
- The coinsurance for Tier 3 drugs will be 40% of the costs, up from $40.
- Several pharmacies will no longer offer preferred cost sharing. (Find out what this means at https://www.65incorporated.com/topics/medicare-part-d-prescription-drug-plans/corner-pharmacy-may-not-be-your-best-deal/.)
Put these changes together and Jennifer's medication will be a Tier 3 and her pharmacy will offer only retail cost sharing. Her out-of-pocket cost will surge to $146.
Open Enrollment may scare you but you should be terrified about what can happen if you do nothing at all. When you get the information, pay attention to the changes. Look at other plans available. And, if you need help, contact 65 Incorporated. We can help take the scare out of Open Enrollment. Find out how at