If you are on Medicare, you probably familiar with the Medicare Prescription Drug plan.
This plan has a Medicare Part D Deductible
It changes every year. Also, if you don't sign up for this “optional” plan, you could wind up with significant penalties later on.
This is what happened to my husband and was actually the catalyst that got me into the Medicare business. A salesperson sold him a Medigap Plan but told him that since he didn't take any drugs, he didn't need a drug plan.
Well, that wasn't quite correct. Medicare Part D is technically voluntary, but if you don't sign up when you are first eligible, and you don't have creditable coverage, a penalty of 1% per MONTH starts building up. In my husband's case, we now pay more in penalties each and every month than we pay for the actual plan itself.
In addition to the penalties, there are other things that you should know about Medicare PDP plans. One such item is that there is a “donut hole” in which your costs go up.
Basically, the donut hole begins after you and the drug plan pays a specified amount set by Medicare. My free online class discusses this.
Now, let's get to the deductibles.
You probably already know that the deductibles for your drug plan change every year. Below is a list of Medicare Part D deductible amounts from 2015 through 2021. The insurance company can have a deductible less than the amount listed, but it cannot be more.
- In 2015, the PDP deductible was $320
- Then in 2016, the Medicare Part D deductible increased $40 to $360.
- In 2017 there was another $40 jump to $400.
- 2018 the Part D Deductible saw a $5 increase to $405
- By the year 2019, the deductible rose to $415
- 2020 the deductible was $435
In 2021, the Medicare Part D deductible increased to $445.
What will the 2022 Medicare Part D deductible be? I don't know but I'm guessing it will go up.
For more information about Medicare Part D, or any Medicare-related questions, sign up for our free online classes at MedicareQuick.com/Class or contact us via this form and we'll get back to you as soon as we can!
