Medicare Part D Nevada Plans
With all the different parts of Medicare, coming up to your 65th birthday can seem overwhelming. Even if you fully understand your current health policy, Medicare plans and parts can seem like a daunting new subject to understand. One important piece of the puzzle is Part D. Medicare Part D Nevada plans cover your drug expenses. Since original Medicare does not cover the cost of drugs, it is important to ensure that you are not left with an expensive bill the next time you are at the pharmacy.
Medicare and Drug Coverage
Original Medicare Parts A and B, the parts that you receive from the government, only cover hospital and doctor bills. Those parts also only cover about 80 percent of your medical expenses. To cover the other 20%, you may want to look into a Medicare Supplement or Medicare Advantage plan. The original Parts A and B also do not cover prescriptions. This is where a Part D drug plan can be useful. Depending on the prescriptions that you take, a drug plan can be pretty inexpensive. These plans will help alleviate the cost of buying your prescriptions by lowing them to a typical copay amount. In addition, a Part C Medicare Advantage plan may also have drug coverage included in the policy.
Getting a Drug Plan
The government Medicare website has a great tool for shopping prescription drugs plan. You can enter the drugs you take, dosages, and frequency to find a carrier that will cover you for the lowest premium and copays. You can also work with a health insurance broker to help navigate to the right policy. If your Medicare Advantage plan includes drug coverage, you will want to check the formulary for the carrier. This will list which drugs are covered and at what tier. Depending on the tier, the insurance company will charge you a certain copay. Many of these drug plans often cover generic prescriptions for little to no expense to the member.
Even if you do not currently take prescriptions, you should still purchase a drug plan when signing up for Medicare. If you do not, you may have to pay a penalty for each month that you did not have coverage when you do need to purchase a plan. During the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) you can sign up for a drug plan or purchase a different drug policy if your needs changed. This period runs from October 15th to December 7th.