SilverScript Choice (PDP) 2020

[phaedruspress]

Would anyone be kind enough to comment on what they think of this plan? This is the one that I am leaning towards in lieu of my current Humana Walmart Rx Plan which is doubling in price. TIA.

Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans | SilverScript

 

[goillini52]

Would anyone be kind enough to comment on what they think of this plan? This is the one that I am leaning towards in lieu of my current Humana Walmart Rx Plan which is doubling in price. TIA.

Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans | SilverScript

I have it and I'm happy with it.

You can reenroll in your Humana Walmart plan if you want to keep it. It actually went down in price, but Humana is playing some games.

 

[phaedruspress]

I have it and I'm happy with it.

You can reenroll in your Humana Walmart plan if you want to keep it. It actually went down in price, but Humana is playing some games.

Thanks for replying.

>You can reenroll in your Humana Walmart plan if you want to keep it. It actually went down in price, but Humana is playing some games.

Yeah, I saw that there was an option to enroll or "downgrade?" to the Humana Walmart Value Rx Plan (PDP) $13.20 Monthly premium which is indeed lower then the $27.00 or so dollars that I currently pay but the cynic inside me made me suspicious and as a "civilian" I can only do so much due diligence before my head begins to spin : ) Why did they come up with this dirt cheap plan and yet if I was not proactive my current Humana/ Walmart plan at approx. $27.00 would auto morph into the "new" $60.00 plus PDP?

I could be 100% wrong but as you said "Humana is playing some games" and the $13.00 plan made my spidey sense tingle. While the SilverScript Choice (PDP) 2020 is a few dollars more then what I am paying (I do get assistance) if I have read the fromulary correctly on the Medicare website the only prescription medication that I am taking now will be $1.00 for a 30 day supply with the SilverScript choice whereas the Humana Walmart Value Rx Plan (PDP) will be close to $2.00 a month. Both costs are ridiculously inexpensive but unless I get into the weeds with the new inexpensive Humana plan I am fearful that down the road the Humana Walmart Value Rx Plan (PDP) will not be as robust as the SilverScript Choice (PDP) 2020 plan. Comments welcome.

 

[Chazm]

Nothing wrong with the new humana Walmart plan. When your plan was first introduced it was around $11 or $12. you know the saying about the toad in increasingly heated water? It applies here.

But no one can know which drug plan will be a fit for you. You have to enter in your drugs to Medicare dot gov.

 

[StephanieCJ]

Also recommended that once you enter them in at Medicare.gov to go to the plans website and verify that the numbers produced there are actually correct.

 

[LostDollar]

Caveat, not an agent.

The PDP is different from the MedSup/MAPD in the sense that one could get stuck with an MAPD/MedSup choice after a health event. You do have an option to change the PDP each year, and you need it because the carriers can change formularies and premiums each year.

I take one more expensive med ($180-$200 per mo. in US Pharmacies with pdp) and some T1-T3 generics. I use Canadian pharmacies for the more expensive one and the PDP plan for the others.

When I started, SilverScript Choice was the cheapest KS plan, other than Humana Walmart. I wanted to use a Kroger pharmacy. SS worked just fine for me. Next enrollment it went up a little bit, but was still ok and no other alternatives.

For the 2019 plan year, SS added about 1/3 of the current premium to the premium for next year-and a Cigna alternative turned up. (In goillini's state, the SS choice only went up one or two dollars that year.) With the Cigna plan they had very low tier assignments of the drugs I used, so I was ok.

For 2020, Cigna raised the tiers on some of my meds and I thought I was going to have to change plans, but with the Kroger preferred pharmacy, they kept the retail prices low, so that even though the meds were higher tiers, my copays-coinsurance remained low.

In 2021 the situation may change and I need to use someone else.

It doesn't hurt to check your situation each year, but at the same time if you are happy with your PDP premium, your pharmacy and your med prices, you don't need to change.

I would not choose the Humana Walmart plan because I don't want to buy my groceries at Walmart and I don't want to drive through two major intersections to get to the walmart pharmacy to buy meds. Those reasons have nothing to do with the PDP plan itself.

When I look at my SilverScript experience and listen to agent comments about Humana, I'd say, since you are having to make a change anyway, just have an adventure and choose which ever one you most want to try. You can change the decision next year.

And every one of us on a PDP plan faces the what if of a change in our health and the cost of some medicine we don't know about now. You can make yourself crazy trying to factor that into a PDP buying decision. (We won't talk about how I know that.)

 

[kgmom219]

1. Go to Medicare.gov
2. Create an Account
3. Enter in your drugs
4. Use CVS and Walmart as the pharmacies
5. Sort based on "premium and drug cost"
6. Determine the least expensive plan.
7. IMO, if you are paying more than $500/year total, its well worth your time to look at more than 2 pharmacies.

Helpful hint: Most likely, your current SS Part D plan has a $100 deductible. Next year, there is a significant increase. Remember that if you get the Shingles shots at the pharmacy, it applies to the Part D deductible. If you still need the shots, get the 1st one done this month, so you can get the 2nd one in December-BEFORE you have the new, higher Part D deductible to meet.

 

[phaedruspress]

Also recommended that once you enter them in at Medicare.gov to go to the plans website and verify that the numbers produced there are actually correct.

Thanks. I did that and the price ($1.00 per month) came up the same on the SilverScript website as it did on the Medicare PDP website. My current question at the moment that has given me pause is that there might be what they are calling on the SilverScript website "Eligibility criteria" something that I do not recall having to go through with the Humana plan that I have had for at the past three years or so. They say with diazepam that a Prior Authorization requirement is needed. I am concerned exactly what that is other then my physician's prescription. I certainly do not want to switch plans and then when I fill my new prescription next year under the SilverScript Choice (PDP) have them deny my prescription. Am I able to obtain "Prior Authorization" if I call them up and ask them what that means and whether or not I will be authorized if I switch to this plan? TIA.

 

[phaedruspress]

Caveat, not an agent.

The PDP is different from the MedSup/MAPD in the sense that one could get stuck with an MAPD/MedSup choice after a health event. You do have an option to change the PDP each year, and you need it because the carriers can change formularies and premiums each year.

I would not choose the Humana Walmart plan because I don't want to buy my groceries at Walmart and I don't want to drive through two major intersections to get to the walmart pharmacy to buy meds. Those reasons have nothing to do with the PDP plan itself.

When I look at my SilverScript experience and listen to agent comments about Humana, I'd say, since you are having to make a change anyway, just have an adventure and choose which ever one you most want to try. You can change the decision next year.

And every one of us on a PDP plan faces the what if of a change in our health and the cost of some medicine we don't know about now. You can make yourself crazy trying to factor that into a PDP buying decision. (We won't talk about how I know that.)

some snips

>The PDP is different from the MedSup/MAPD

Right. If I understand your point I only have original Medicare and an HDF medigap plan as well as the current PDP. I do not have Medicare Advantage.

>because I don't want to buy my groceries at Walmart

I don't buy groceries at Walmart either but my Walmart is a stone's throw from where I live and it is very convenient. Both CVS and Walmart are very close to me and both offer the same $1.00 monthly cost for the only prescription I take at the moment as indicated on the Medicare website as well as the plan's website.

>just have an adventure and choose which ever one you most want to try. You can change the decision next year

I am not as adventurous as I once was : )

 

[Ronnie Carter]

... Am I able to obtain "Prior Authorization" if I call them up and ask them what that means and whether or not I will be authorized if I switch to this plan? TIA.

Generally no, unfortunately. Most if not all carriers will not spend their time speculating about exceptions and authorizations for non-members.

Remember, under Medicare rules, the new PDP must give you at least a one-month fill of any drugs which are non-formulary or under restrictions, which you are already taking, to give you time to get the necessary approvals.

Others' experience may differ, but I cannot remember the last time any of my clients called to fuss about any PDP (or Part D embedded in an MAPD) refusing to give them some drug their doc said they needed. It must be an infrequent problem. The only ones I can think of are beneficiaries seeking weird or unconventional medications. Armor Thyroid comes to mind.