The Medicare program now plays out like an alphabet soup. When it was introduced in 1965, the only thing it bothered about was hospital insurance and outpatient care (Part A). As the aging population now has more needs, you can now append more letters to Medicare – so you can say Medicare Part B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L.

Of the twelve letters, none has generated more buzz than the letter D – for good reason. After all, the D in Medicare Part D stands for “drugs”.

So what exactly is Medicare Part D? It is probably one of the most convoluted features of the Medicare program, which is probably the reason why only 660,000 have enrolled out of the seven million people who are qualified to have it.

What Part D does is to cover the cost of your prescription drugs. It may sound easy enough but it is not as simple as one may think. You need to think about which category you belong to, and each category is based on your base Medicare coverage.

If you have the original Medicare plan, Medicare Part D is your chance for you not to spend your own money on your prescription medicine. You can get a Part D by getting a Medicare Advantage Plan, a Medicare drug plan or stand-alone drug plans that are specific to a state or are for people with low income.

If you have Medicare plus Medigap insurance, it is recommended that you drop your Medigap insurance and get a Part D plan. But that is certainly just optional, you can keep your existing coverage if you like.

If you have an employer-backed plan or a union-backed plan with prescription drug plan, you can choose to keep your plan and not enroll in a Part D plan. However, if you’re not satisfied with your current plan, just compare your plan with a Part D.

If you’re relying on Medicare with Medicaid, you will automatically be enrolled in a Part D plan. In this case, you can choose a plan yourself.

Choosing a plan can be stressful – in some places in the United States there can be as many as 100 plans being offered by 20 different insurance companies. Of course, you really don’t have to view all the plans there are in the market today. You can just cherry-pick two or three plans, review and choose the best plan for you.

The rule of thumb in choosing the best plan for you is to check if the plan covers your drugs. Part D plans are notorious for having different drugs on their lists. What this means is that while your prescription drug can be covered in one plan, it might not be covered in another. Every year, the lists change and so does your co-payment.

You will then have to review your Part D coverage just as often, which is every year. If your plan doesn’t really cover your needs, then it may be time to consider another plan.

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