2018 Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Cost Sharing It's October folks! Medicare season has begun! As of October 1st, licensed health insurance agents may begin speaking about 2018 Medicare Advantage Plans and stand-alone prescription drug plans. If you have a relationship with a licensed health insurance agent, Medicare Specialist or Medicare Consultant, they will more than likely start contacting you about your current plan. This is the time to discuss your concerns with your Medicare Specialist. You need to determine if all your prescription drugs are listed in the plan's 2018 formulary.  You also need to determine what your 2018 monthly costs will be for all your prescription medications. Ask yourself......."Have my out-of-pocket prescription drugs costs remained feasible on my current plan for 2018?" If so..... that's great! If not, it may be time to take a look at a new stand-alone-prescription drug plan. If you're on a Medicare Advantage Drug Plan, you will need to determine if your physicians are still in your plan's network and if your medical out-of-pocket costs are reasonable before you make any decisions. It is important to remember........ Medicare Specialists cannot take an enrollment application from you .......BEFORE October 15th! That is a Medicare Regulation!  If a Medicare licensed agent tries to take a signed application from you PRIOR to October 15th....... FIND A NEW AGENT! As a reminder........ NO ONE from Medicare will be knocking on your door or CALL you on the phone. Medicare will send you mail from the Social Security Administration ONLY! Any post cards or any letters with a return address from anywhere else on this Earth other than the Social Security Administration........ is not from MEDICARE!  It is most likely a solicitation from an Insurance Agent trying to get your business. Throw it out! Ok......let's take a look at the 2018 changes to Part D Prescription Drug Plans. Annual Deductible  The 2018 Maximum PDP Annual Deductible is $405.00. That's an increase of $5.00 from $400.00 in 2017. Starting January 1st of 2018....... if you are on a Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug Plan or Stand-Alone-Prescription Drug Plan...... that has a annual deductible, you will fit in one of two categories: 1. You will need to pay your annual deductible right away        prior to your plan's benefits kicking-in.  As of January 1, 2018, when you hand in a prescription for a listed drug on your plan's formulary, you will be expected to pay the full cost of that drug or the listed annual prescription deductible, whichever is less. For example, your stand-alone prescription drug plan has an annual prescription deductible of $405 on all tiers. You hand in your first prescription for lisinopril, which is listed as a Tier 1 on your plan's formulary. The listed      co-pay for a Tier 1 drug on your plan is $2.00. The total cost for a 30 day supply of lisinopril at your preferred pharmacy is $100.00. Since you have a $405.00 deductible, the cost for the 30 day supply of lisinopril  at $100.00 would be a lower out-of-pocket cost than the full $405.00 deductible. Therefore, you pay the $100.00 and deduct that amount from the $405.00 annual deductible, leaving you with a balance of $305.00. You will pay $100.00 for February, March and April for your lisinopril and in May you will pay the remaining balance of your deductible, which is $5.00. Then, your prescription drug benefits will kick in and you will also pay your $2.00 co-pay. Beginning in June, you will pay a $2.00 co-pay for your lisinopril for the remainder of the year.                                      OR 2. You will pay the annual deductible if and when you            "trigger" the deductible. As an example, You would trigger the annual deductible if you requested a prescription for a drug that was a Tier 3, Tier 4 or Tier 5 on your Medicare Advantage Drug Plan or Stand-Alone Prescription Drug Plan. If you requested a drug that was a Tier 1 or Tier 2 on that sam