Reply to Retired Fed - Switch to FEP Medicare Prescription Drug Program?

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Reply to "Retired Fed - Switch to FEP Medicare Prescription Drug Program?"

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[quote=Anonymous]From the link I posted earlier:

[quote]Earlier this year, the Office of Personnel Management encouraged FEHB plans to offer more Part D options so that federal annuitants could benefit from improved prescription drug coverage. In a letter to FEHB carriers, OPM offered two ways for FEHB plans to provide Part D coverage—Part D Prescription Drug Plans, which had never been offered to annuitants before, and FEHB Medicare Advantage Plans, which have been available over the last few years.

(snip - list of health insurance plans here)

[b]To receive OPM approval, the PDP must provide as good or better prescription drug benefits than the FEHB plan, at no additional cost.[/b] After our review of the 2024 PDP benefits, [i]we concur with OPM’s assessment[/i][b]. The PDP benefits are as advertised and are at least as good as the FEHB prescription benefits, in some cases with even lower out-of-pocket prescription drug costs. This is especially true for the PDPs, marked above, that provide the $2,000 prescription drug maximum out-of-pocket, a year earlier than what is required by law. ([i]note from OP -- that includes BCBS Standard, but not Basic, this year)[/i] [b]Annuitants with moderate to high prescription drug costs will benefit greatly from enrolling in one of those plans next year.
[/b]

If you are a member of an FEHB plan offering a PDP and are enrolled in either Medicare Part A or Medicare Parts A & B, you’ll be auto-enrolled in the PDP plan for prescription drug coverage. BCBS plans are the exception to the rule; they will only auto-enroll when you have both Parts A & B. Your plan will send you written notification of the auto-enrollment, and you’ll have 30 days to opt out of the PDP. After the 30 days, you’ll receive a new prescription drug insurance card, and your Part D coverage will begin 1/1/2024. [/quote]

OK, I thought it was a little suspicious when I saw that BCBS was making me opt out not opt in,  but at least according to this article, the plans are supposed to provide better coverage, and it is in a response to a federal change requiring Medicare Part D plans to provide better coverage for prescriptions.

So yeah it makes sense to BCBS to urge retirees to move to this plan because it's going to save them money but it looks like it should also save me money?[/quote]

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