Does Medicare cover prescription drugs?

When you receive your Medicare card, you may notice that it says Part A: Hospital and Part B: Physicians.

Medicare, which is Part A and Part B, really only covers that: hospital and physician services, but does not actually cover prescription drugs. So how does a person get prescription drug coverage?

When you are eligible for Medicare, that is, you have Medicare Part A or Medicare Parts A and B, you can buy a prescription drug plan, which is the same as Medicare Part D. The only way you do not need to buy a prescription drug plan is if you have a plan with an employer that covers drugs. The only way you do not need to buy a prescription drug plan is if you have a plan with an employer that covers your drugs. Otherwise, it is almost mandatory to buy a Medicare Part D plan to avoid costly mistakes in the future.

What does a drug plan do or how does it help you? Well, it will help you cover the medicines you need without paying for them in full, that is, you will not pay 100% out of your own pocket.

It is important to understand that these drug plans have formularies that classify drugs by levels and what they do is to know which ones can help them pay for and which ones cannot, for example, the higher cost ones.

In our years of Medicare experience, we have encountered people who have made costly mistakes because they don't know what they need to do when they get their Medicare card, don't buy a drug plan because they don't know they have to buy it, pay 100% for drugs out of pocket, and when they decide to enroll in a plan, Social Security fines them 1% for every month they didn't have a Medicare plan. These are mistakes that are made by not having clear information or not having the help of a specialized agent or an independent agency.

So, if you're just getting started with Medicare, educate yourself.

One of the choices you have for drug coverage is to purchase one of the Medicare Advantage plans. These plans usually have zero monthly premium and help you with additional benefits such as drug costs. In this case, you do not need to purchase a separate drug plan because your Advantage plan will already cover these costs, and it is extremely important that when you go to review these plans with an agent, you have the list of your medications in hand, so you can choose the one that will give you the most coverage and the most savings.

At Avila Medicare Solutions, we specialize in helping you with all of these plan options and making sure you have the right plan that gives you the most benefits. It really all depends on what is important to you and what you need.

If you know of anyone who could benefit from this article, please share it. The ideal is to educate yourself in time to avoid problems in the future, so we invite you to call us directly so we can provide free and personalized advice.

Our local number is 512-520-5957 or you can call us on our toll free number which is 855-GO-AVILA. We are here to serve you.