Medicare Part D Changes for 2025

Learn about upcoming changes to Medicare Part D plans.

Learn more about important upcoming changes.

Video Duration: 4 minutes 39 seconds

What’s changing: Elapsed time 0 seconds [00:00]

Hello everyone! My name is Cicely Patridge, I’m a licensed insurance agent and Manager in the Life, Health and Retirement Income team here at USAA.

I want to talk about something that’s been in the news a lot lately – Medicare’s Prescription Drug Plans, also known as PDP, or Medicare Part D plans. I want to also share with you what’s going on with the Inflation Reduction Act.

Let’s break it down.

Okay, so what is the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA? In short, it’s a big piece of legislation that the government passed in 2022 to address rising costs — everything from energy to healthcare. The main idea behind the act is to help bring down inflation.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting for those of you on Medicare or will be on Medicare soon. Some of the changes from the Inflation Reduction Act directly impact your Medicare prescription drug coverage.

Here’s how:

Starting in 2025, there will be a cap on how much you have to pay out of your own pocket for prescription drugs under Medicare Part D.

The out-of-pocket cap will be $2,000 annually. This feature eliminates the famous “donut hole” you may have heard about or are familiar with.

The new cap means that once you’ve spent the $2,000 on your covered drugs, you won’t have to pay any more for your covered prescriptions for the rest of the year.

What’s important to understand here is the word “covered” drugs. That’s why it’s crucial to keep your list of medications updated when it comes time to review your Medicare prescription coverage.

The act ensures that recommended vaccines, like the shingles shot, no longer require co-pays – making it very affordable to stay up-to-date on your shots.

Another key impact is how Medicare will now be able to negotiate prices for certain prescription drugs. This could help save you money when it’s time to visit the pharmacy.

Lastly, to further ease the burden, beginning in 2025, the optional Medicare Prescription Payment Plan allows people with Medicare prescription drug coverage the ability to spread the costs of their prescription drugs over the calendar year, rather than paying in full at the pharmacy counter each time they fill a prescription.

To recap, the Inflation Reduction Act is making some important changes, especially when it comes to your Medicare prescription drug costs.

Whether it’s capping what you spend out-of-pocket, vaccine impacts, reducing the cost of specific medications, or the new prescription payment plan option, these changes are all about making your healthcare more affordable.

Now, let’s talk how USAA can help you when you’re researching prescription drug plans.

For those unfamiliar with how you can use USAA’s systems to enter in your prescription drugs and navigate what plans are available to you, let’s take a quick moment to walk you through our website.

First, open your web browser and type in usaa dot com forward slash P D P.

This will take you to the USAA prescription drug plan page.

Next, you’ll click the button “Shop Plans,” which will present a new page letting you know you’re leaving USAA’s web page to visit our Medicare plans pages.

Enter in your ZIP code, and click “Shop Plans.”2

Now, locate the tab labeled Prescription Drug Plans to view plans available in your area. Let’s add your current prescriptions. Adding your prescriptions will help you see how much they’ll cost you with each plan – giving you a quick way to compare plan coverages.

Next, click the blue button titled, “Add Information” and select “Prescriptions” from the left-hand side menu.

From here, you’ll be able to enter all your current prescriptions one by one. When finished, click the “Continue” button at the bottom right-hand corner. You can either continue entering in your pharmacy of choice or simply hit “Skip” to return to the Prescription Drug Plans tab.

By entering in your prescription, now as you begin to browse plans available to you in your area, you’ll notice how many of your prescriptions are covered by any given plan, along with your estimated annual cost for those drugs.

Taking the time to add your list of medications, ensures you can see upfront, what medicines are covered by the plans you may be interested in.

Thanks for watching. I hope this helped to explain the impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act on your Medicare prescription drug plans, steps to take while you’re seeking a prescription drug plan, and how to enter in your prescriptions by going through the USAA website.

Until next time, stay healthy and happy.

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