Choosing The Right Medicare Part D Insurance

Which Part D plan is best for you?

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.

Medicare Part D Options

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.

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 catastrophic area which is pegged at $5,100.

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 insurance policies should be chosen based on rates. Coverage on Medicare insurances are standardized, rates are varied. Medicare policies that you choose during the open enrollment period may be the most important decision you make for your retirement years.

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 fifteen 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, ARP/ United Insurance. This aggressive pricing caused Medicare Part D by Humana to capture 23.6% of the stand-alone nationwide market, as opposed to ARA 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 ARA'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 ARA Medicare Part D plan has risen to 12.8% market share.