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13 Nationwide Insurers
There are now 13 Part D insurers that are offering their Part D plans in all 50 states.
Here is the list (in order of members as of Dec. 1, 2008)
1. Humana Insurance
2.UnitedHealthcare/AARP
3. Blue Cross/Unicare
4. Aetna Medicare
5. Coventry AdvantraRx
6. CIGNA Medicare Rx
7. SilverScript Insurance
8. WellCare
9. Sterling Life
10. EnvisionRx Plus
11. United American
12. HealthSpring
13. Health Net
How did Humana become #1
As Part D of Medicare was beginning in January, 2006 Humana's strategy was to use the Part D insurance as a loss-leader. Humana has been America's leading Medicare Advantage insurance company since the early 1970s.
Humana's HMOs (Advantage plans) have had high market share in Texas and Florida since the Medicare HMO inception. Humana knows the value of getting "out of the box" early even if this means every additional Medicare Part D client causes a financial loss.
There are currently twelve nationwide part D insurers and hundreds of regional actors in this nationwide drama as to who will actually stay in this industry.
For the Part D insurer, the initial administrative and marketing expenses are staggering. As the insurer gets it foot in the door and survives the initial stage, the market becomes a printing press for profits.
Humana Part D insurance lost $187 for every member that signed up for their plan at Part D's inception on January, 2006.
These losses were caused by Humana Part D having rates that were substantially lower than their competitor, AARP/ UnitedhealthCare.
This aggressive pricing caused Medicare Part D by Humana to capture 23.6% of the stand-alone nationwide market, as opposed to AARP Medicare Part D market share of 11.5%. As one would expect, Humana's Part D insurance had record price increases for calendar year 2007.
Humana's Part D mean premium rose from $21.75 to $38.65 for 2007. For calendar year 2008, their Medicare Part D is $41.56. While AARP's Part D Medicare Plan is now slightly less costly at an average rate of $38.78 per month.
Humana's market share for the stand-alone Part D program has fallen to 18.5% while the AARP Medicare Part D plan has risen to 12.8% market share.
Definition:
Retail prescription
drug expenses are "before insurance."
Donut Hole is the coverage gap, where the person must pay for 100% of the prescription costs, based on established prices.
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Choosing The Right
Medicare Part D Insurance For Maximum Savings
Your Medicare Part
D insurance should be tailored to fit your specific drug expenses.
These Government plans are confusing, even for educated professionals, so consulting a Part D specialist is valuable.
No matter which company for Medicare Part D insurance you choose, you want it to be
the most suitable Part D plan for your specific
needs.
The lower cost plans will lower
your overall costs and give you suitable coverage when full retail prescription
expenses are less than $2,250 per year, as long as they cover the specific
prescriptions that you take.
Which Part D plan is best
for you?
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Talking to a qualified
Medicare insurance agent will help you choose the right plan.
You can take advantage
of the correct Medicare Part D drug plan if you do your homework. Click here to find out more.
It is possible
to save 60% or more with a Medicare drug plan, but that depends on
how much you spend each year.
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Medicare Part D Options |
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Our Recommendation |
| Most basic plans are sufficient if your annual costs are close to $2,250.
Medicare Part D insurance
premiums are reasonable with basic plans and range from a low of $12 or
so, up to about $30 per month.
If your annual retail
prescription drug expenses are beyond $2,250 then you need to consider a more expensive Medicare part D supplemental plan. |
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Two
good choices for basic Medicare Part D insurance
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Consider This:
- Discuss your annual
prescription costs with a pharmacist to find out what you would pay
retail if you had "No Insurance". This is important because basic Medicare
part d coverage is only good up to $2,250 for most medical insurance
plans.
- Once you spend
beyond $2,250 you are into the "Donut Hole" with most Medicare part
d plans and it is at that point your coverage ends.
- You continue paying
monthly premiums when in the "Donut Hole" with Medicare
part d, but there is "No More Coverage" until you reach the
A large number of
seniors will not reach the catastrophic area in Medicare part d and will
be stuck paying 100% when they go beyond $2,250 if you choose the
wrong plan.
Medicare Supplements should be chosen based on price.Coverage on Medicare supplements is standardized, rates are varied.Medicare supplement policies that you choose during the open enrollment period may be the most important decision you make for your retirement years.
Savings that you thought you had shrinks dramatically the further
your expenses surpass $2,250 in the Part D. In short, your savings drop dramatically once your part d coverage ends.
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The Short History of Medicare Part D
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The question arises as to why did Medicare Part D, a federal program costing 38 billion dollars per year, come into existence. The answer is twofold.
a. The state of Florida, home of millions of Medicare recipients, decided the 2000 presidential election by less than 1,000 votes.
Pity the political party that would oppose giving a bit extra funding to the constituency that determined the outcome of Bush/Gore 2000.
b. Just before Part D was implemented, Medicare recipients were catching on to the fact that prescription drugs were 50-80% less expensive in Canadian drug stores. Millions of Medicare recipients had replaced the local drug store with a toll free number that rang in Canada.
Tax revenues were decreasing and unemployment was increasing. The local drug store was being replaced by the UPS driver.
Congress Had to Act
Medicare Part D is costing the taxpayer $38 billion dollars per year and paying 50.75% of the Part D recipient's prescription drug bills. Most Medicare recipients prefer to pay a bit extra and pick up their prescriptions at the local drug store.
Paying 10-20% more is reasonable but not paying three times as much. Congress has subsidized Medicare recipients enough through the Part D program to cause reasonable people to forego the Canadian drug store option.
The neighborhood drug store has been saved. Federal tax revenues have increased.
J & J, Pfizer, Merck, Abbott, Wyeth, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Amgen, Schering, Baxter, etc. are recording record profits which are the envy of other industries.
The ten largest pharmaceutical companies increased their profits by over eight billion dollars in the half year of Jan-June 2006 (part D was implemented Jan, 2006) versus the six month period for the previous year. Profits were just under 40 billion for the six month period after Medicare Part D was implemented.*
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Calculate your local drugstore costs as if you have no supplement insurance.
When the full retail annual price exceeds $2,250 your basic insurance ends and you are officially
in the "Donut Hole" with most plans.
Help that is available to fill in the Part D gaps.
Considerations to make when choosing a Part D plan?
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Here is a suggestion
to help maximize your savings with Medicare Part D...
View our suggested Medicare
Part D supplement scenarios to help you chose the type of plan that is best for your specific
needs.
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