If you have a Medicare Part D plan and you’re not quite happy about it, wait up for some good news. You can begin to find other plans beginning on October 1, 2008. During that time, you can expect insurance salesmen to do a hard sell on the new Part D plans available for 2009.

You can start enrolling yourself in a new plan within the enrolment period from November 15, 2008 to December 31, 2008.

Of course, you can always stick to your old plan and not have to elect a new plan. So what can we expect from the 2009 Part D? In two words: changed rates.

 

2008 Medicare Part D

 The standard benefits of the 2008 Part D can be summed up in these points:
 

Annual Deductible:	$275
Maximum annual out of pocket:	$4,050
Co-payment for generic drugs:	$2.25
Co-payment for covered branded drugs	$5.60

                             

2009 Medicare Part D

As can be expected, the 2009 Medicare Part D has a general increase in the figures. Do the math on just how much there is:

 

Annual Deductible:	$295
Maximum annual out of pocket:	$4,350
Co-payment for generic drugs:	$2.40
Co-payment for covered branded drugs	$6.00

                                        

Take note that the figures indicated above are only the standard benefits, and benefits may vary from plan to plan.

OPTED, NOT FORCED

Nobody can ever force you to take out a new plan if you don’t want to. If you’re content with your 2008 plan, you can by all means, renew your enrollment in the plan. But if you aren’t content with your plan, then you can elect a new plan under the terms of the 2009 Part D.

Do not stall in your decision because there’s no such thing as late enrolment in Part D. If you miss the deadline, the next time you can take out a better plan is in 2009, during the election period of 2010 Part D plans.

Past 2008, you can only switch from a MA-PD (Medicare Advantage with prescription drugs) to a PDP plan (original Medicare with prescription drugs program) with the Special Enrolment Period from January 1 to March 31, 2009.

PDP providers are required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to accept enrollees of the MA-PD program who want to enroll in the original Medicare program.

The marketing period for the 2009 Medicare plans may seem like a long way from now, but you really can save yourself some trouble if you determine early on if the current plan that you have now fits your needs and your budget. If it doesn’t, then you should take the time to list down what you really need. Doing this can certainly save you some trouble in going through a myriad of plans that are expected to come off the market.

In case you didn’t know, in some places in the United States where you can choose from 100 different Part D plans from 20 different insurance companies. That certainly is a lot of product literature to go through (if you really want to be sure you’re getting the best product), and it can get stressful.