Drug coverage -- via Advantage or Part D. Tips&Traps.   (Whether or not receiving benefits subsidized by HPInc or HPE.)

Menu of Benefits Enrollment pages: Enrollment Menu 

Based on reports from HP Alumni Association members who have completed enrollment. Join forums: https://www.hpalumni.org  Not officially endorsed or supported. Question? Email us: info@hpalumni.org  (Updated Dec 4, 2025)

You can choose to enroll in either a Medicare Advantage drug plan (MA-PD) that includes drug coverage and all other Medicare-covered benefits -- or in a stand-alone prescription drug plan (PDP) to supplement traditional Medicare..

Why are some Part D plans free? The government is paying an average of $1,710/year for your Part D coverage.

Heads up! For drug coverage, use the insurer's "formulary" database. Other sources, such as sales agency databases are not reliable -- fragile, constantly-changing, second- or third-hand information.

Original Medicare: You choose among stand-alone prescription drug plans (Part D) offered in your county. Often have introductory prices to capture market share. Member reports: $0.40/month Wellcare Part D went up to $17.40/month. A Humana Part D went up dramatically -- next year, they had a new very-low-cost Part D plan with a different name and plan number.

Advantage: Some Advantage plans do not include drug coverage. Some may charge a drug deductible.

Current Medicare policy cancelled early -- or recent new enrollment canceled.

Medicare maintains a central "Enrollment DataBase" to ensure that someone cannot be enrolled in multiple plans for the same time period. Insurers automatically report new enrollment approvals to Medicare, which continuously checks for coverage overlap. If a new policy that covers the same time period is found, Medicare causes the previous policy to be canceled.

If a problem, contact the insurance sales agency that sold you the misdated plan. Or contact Medicare.

Be sure to verify the starting date entered by the agent (or yourself) when you are applying for a new policy. One member discovered that their current plan had been cancelled when picking up a prescription.

Next step: Menu of key Enrollment issues: https://www.hpalumni.org/enroll-menu (Membership not required.)

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