{"id":6271,"date":"2017-10-26T13:38:17","date_gmt":"2017-10-26T13:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/?p=6271"},"modified":"2017-10-26T13:45:00","modified_gmt":"2017-10-26T13:45:00","slug":"simple-truths-do-i-need-to-buy-prescription-drug-coverage-separately-if-i-have-original-medicare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/simple-truths-do-i-need-to-buy-prescription-drug-coverage-separately-if-i-have-original-medicare\/","title":{"rendered":"Simple Truths: Do I need to buy Prescription Drug Coverage separately if I have Original Medicare?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Original Medicare does not provide prescription drug coverage. You must buy separate Part D prescription drug coverage if you have Original Medicare or a Medicare Supplement plan. Part D prescription drug plans help pay for the cost of prescription drugs and are sold through private companies.<\/p>\n<p><em>Solution:<\/em> If you want prescription drug coverage, there are two ways to get a Part D plan. You can purchase a Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage (MAPD) or a stand-alone Prescription Drug Plan (PDP).<\/p>\n<p>You may not be enrolled in a stand-alone PDP and also be enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan at the same time.*<\/p>\n<p>*<strong>Exceptions:<\/strong> Medical Savings Account (MSA), Private Fee-for-Service (PFFS) or Cost Plans<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6272 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/plans-graph.png?resize=628%2C390&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"628\" height=\"390\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/plans-graph.png?resize=1024%2C637&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/plans-graph.png?resize=300%2C187&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/plans-graph.png?resize=768%2C478&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/plans-graph.png?resize=482%2C300&amp;ssl=1 482w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/plans-graph.png?w=1386&amp;ssl=1 1386w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 628px) 100vw, 628px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tips for choosing a Part D Plan?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Make sure that the plan you choose covers the medications you take.<\/li>\n<li>Review the plan\u2019s formulary, which is a list of covered drugs.<\/li>\n<li>Ensure the plan covers the pharmacy that you use; some may have limitations.<\/li>\n<li>Compare the premium cost of the plan and the cost sharing for the drugs, i.e., deductible, copays, coinsurance.<\/li>\n<li>Determine if the company offers a savings through mail order.<\/li>\n<li>Look for a Part D or Medicare Advantage plan with Drug Coverage with a higher star rating. Ratings are based on quality and performance.<\/li>\n<li>Join the plan when you are eligible for Medicare to avoid the late enrollment penalty.<\/li>\n<li>Review your plan yearly during the Annual Enrollment Period (October 15th through December 7th) to determine if the plan still fits your needs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Original Medicare does not provide prescription drug coverage. You must buy separate Part D prescription drug coverage if you have Original Medicare or a Medicare Supplement plan. Part D prescription drug plans help pay for the cost of prescription drugs and are sold through private companies. Solution: If you want prescription drug coverage, there are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[631,633],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-medicare-simple-truths","category-simple-truths"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6ZZGa-1D9","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6271"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6277,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6271\/revisions\/6277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}