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  (Page updated Dec 25, 2025)

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

If you have a Medigap plan, you also need a Drug plan, as covered in the very clear official "Medicare & You" book. https://www.medicare.gov/publications/10050-medicare-and-you.pdf

Pages 9-12 explain Parts A, B, C, D, and Supplemental (Medigap) plans.

Pricing games.

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

Insurers play tricky pricing games 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.

To see all plans available to you from any source, use the official Medicare Plan Finder: https://www.medicare.gov/plan-compare 

Enter your ZIP code. Select Advantage, Medigap, or Drug. Click "Find Plans."

- For Advantage and Drug plans, the site lists all plans offered in your county -- with plan details and Medicare's official "Star" quality and performance rating.

Notes: Costs displayed are approximate. Some are small local or regional plans. The plan names indicate that some are for veterans or other specific groups.

Use the insurer's drug "formulary" database, if possible. Other sources, such as sales agency databases are not reliable -- fragile, constantly-changing, second- or third-hand information.

Medicare maintains a central "Enrollment DataBase" to ensure that someone cannot be enrolled in multiple Advantage or Drug 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.

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.

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

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

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