Skip to headerSkip to main contentSkip to footer
Get our Free E-newslettersGet our Free E-newsletters
Kiplinger logoLink to homepage
Get our Free E-newslettersGet our Free E-newsletters
Subscribe to Kiplinger
Subscribe to Kiplinger
Save up to 76%
Subscribe
Subscribe to Kiplinger
  • Store
  • Home
  • Investing
  • Retirement
  • Taxes
  • Personal Finance
  • Your Business
  • Wealth Creation
    • Podcasts
    • Economic Outlooks
    • Tools
    • Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine
    • The Kiplinger Letter
    • The Kiplinger Tax Letter
    • Kiplinger's Investing for Income
    • Kiplinger's Retirement Report
    • Store
    • Manage My E-Newsletters
    • My Subscriptions
Skip advert
  • Home
  • retirement
  • Medicare
Medicare

8 Changes to Watch Out for During Medicare Open Enrollment for 2019

Getting ready to enroll in a Medicare Advantage or Medicare Part D plan for 2019?

by: Kimberly Lankford
October 17, 2018

Getty Images

Skip advert

Getting ready to enroll in a Medicare Advantage or Medicare Part D plan for 2019? You may have more plans to choose from, the premiums may be lower, and some Medicare Advantage plans are adding benefits. That’s why this open enrollment period is a particularly good time to shop for coverage even if you’ve been happy with your current plan.

Open enrollment for Part D and Medicare Advantage runs from October 15 to December 7 for coverage starting January 1, 2019. Here are eight changes to be on the watch for this enrollment season.

  • 8 Steps to Picking the Right Medicare Plans During Open Enrollment
Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

1 of 8

More Medicare Advantage Plan Choices

Getty Images

Skip advert
  • There will be approximately 600 new Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S. in 2019, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, with a variety of options depending on your location. More than 91% of people with Medicare will have access to 10 or more Medicare Advantage plans in their area (some insurers offer several different Medicare Advantage plans in one area). For example, Aetna is expanding its Medicare Advantage plans into six new states and 358 counties.

You may have more Part D plan options, too. Mutual of Omaha, which has offered popular Medicare supplement plans for years, is entering the Part D business for 2019 plans.

 

  • 10 Things You Need to Know About Medicare
Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

2 of 8

Average Part D Premiums Going Down

Getty Images

Skip advert
  • The average premium for Part D plans is decreasing by $1 per month in 2019, to $32.50, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

But don’t just look at premiums alone. Some plans with low premiums might have higher co-pays for your drugs or require you to pay a lot more unless you use certain preferred pharmacies. It’s important to compare each plan’s total costs. The Medicare Plan Finder lets you type in your zip code, drugs and dosages and estimates your total costs throughout the year for premiums plus co-payments for your drugs. See How to Find the Best Medicare Drug Plan for You in 2019 for a step-by-step guide to using the Medicare Plan Finder.

Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

3 of 8

More Plans With Preferred Pharmacies

Getty Images

Skip advert

Part D plans with preferred pharmacies tend to have low premiums and low co-payments if you use certain pharmacy chains, but charge a lot more if you get your drugs anywhere else. The Humana Walmart plan, one of the first to adopt a preferred pharmacy, charges premiums as low as $22.20 per month in some areas and low co-pays at Walmart, Sam’s Club and through Humana’s mail-order pharmacy. Humana also offers other Part D plans without the preferred pharmacy.

  • If you like to use a certain pharmacy, see if it’s a preferred pharmacy under any plans. Walgreens, for example, is a preferred pharmacy in the AARP UnitedHealthcare plan, Cigna plans and many BlueCross BlueShield plans. See the Walgreens Medicare page for a list of plans where Walgreens is the preferred pharmacy.

 

  • Retirees, Find Help to Cover Expensive Drug Costs
Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

4 of 8

Pay Less in the Doughnut Hole

Getty Images

Skip advert

The doughnut hole—the coverage gap in which you must pay more out-of-pocket for your drugs—will close in 2019, a year earlier than originally scheduled. Even so, you’ll need to pay a portion of your drug costs. After the total cost of your drugs reaches $3,820, you’ll pay up to 25% of the cost of brand-name drugs (37% of the cost of generics) until you spend $5,100. Then you’ll pay 5% of the drug costs after that.

You can see a monthly breakdown of your share of the drug costs under each plan with the Medicare Plan Finder. Click on the “drug costs & coverage” tab when you compare plan details.

 

  • Retirees, Avoid These 11 Costly Medicare Mistakes
Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

5 of 8

Average Medicare Advantage Premiums Decreasing

Getty Images

Skip advert
  • The premiums for Medicare Advantage will run an average of $28 per month in 2019, down from $29.81 in 2018. And more Medicare Advantage plans next year will have zero premiums. (You still have to pay the Medicare Part B premium, which will be $135.50 per month for most people in 2019.)

Be aware, lower-premium policies may have smaller provider networks, so make sure the doctors and hospitals you want to use are covered. In some cases, you may have several plan options with the same network but different premiums and cost sharing. “If you have a higher premium, you may have lower co-pays, or if you’re in good health, you may want to elect a plan with lower premiums and higher co-pays,” says Agnes Strandberg, a senior vice president with Kaiser Permanente Medicare, which usually offers at least two versions of its plans in most states.

You can compare the costs and coverage for each Medicare Advantage plan in your area using the Medicare Plan Finder. See How to Find the Best Medicare Advantage Plan for You in 2019 for step-by-step instructions for comparing plans.

Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

6 of 8

Less Coverage for Out-of-Network Care

Getty Images

Skip advert
  • Some Medicare Advantage plans charge higher co-payments if you use out-of-network providers, and a growing number of others won’t cover care outside the network except for emergencies (often some of the lowest-cost plans).

Yet some plans are providing more options that may cost more but expand the network coverage. Aetna, for example, is expanding its Explorer PPO plan, which will be offered in 28 states in 2019 and will give people nationwide coverage while traveling. Ask the insurer whether the doctors and hospitals you’d like to use are included in its network for the specific plan. (Some insurers offer a few plans in one area with different networks.)

 

  • 7 Things Medicare Doesn't Cover
Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

7 of 8

Medicare Advantage Plans Adding New Benefits

Getty Images

Skip advert
  • Medicare Advantage plans often offer additional benefits that aren’t available through traditional Medicare, such as vision and dental care and fitness club memberships. And new regulations let them expand their benefits starting in 2019 (expect to see even more new benefits in 2020).

UnitedHealthcare will offer over-the-counter drug benefits in some plans, providing a preloaded plan debit card that you can use at Walgreens, as well as virtual visits with providers and transportation to and from doctor’s appointments under some plans. Some Aetna plans provide transportation benefits and meals after a hospital discharge. And some plans may start to offer new benefits such as adult day programs and in-home assistance, although more of these benefits are likely to begin in 2020 after insurers have more time to implement the new regulations.

 

  • How to Find the Best Medicare Advantage Plan for You for 2019
Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

8 of 8

More Flexibility to Switch

Getty Images

Skip advert

In the past, if you were unhappy with your Medicare Advantage plan, you had from January 1 through February 14 to drop out of it and switch to traditional Medicare and a Part D plan. But you couldn’t change from one Medicare Advantage plan to another (unless you qualified for a special enrollment period, such as if you moved out of your plan’s service area).

But now you will have from January 1 to March 31 to switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan if the one you chose doesn’t end up being a good fit.

 

Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert
  • Medicare
  • Medicare
Share via EmailShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn
Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert
Skip advert

Recommended

7 Things Medicare Doesn’t Cover
Healthy Living on a Budget

7 Things Medicare Doesn’t Cover

Medicare Part A and Part B leave some pretty significant gaps in your health-care coverage. But Medicare Advantage has problems, too.
May 4, 2022
Retirees, Here's How to Make a Medigap Switch to Save Money
Making Your Money Last

Retirees, Here's How to Make a Medigap Switch to Save Money

You want to find the best Medicare medigap plan for your budget. Sometimes that means changing things up. Here's some guidance.
March 30, 2022
You Can Appeal a Medicare Premium Surcharge
Medicare

You Can Appeal a Medicare Premium Surcharge

If your income has dropped in the past two years, there’s a good chance you can get your surcharge eliminated or reduced.
February 25, 2022
5 Fixes That Could Help Save Medicare
Medicare

5 Fixes That Could Help Save Medicare

There have been dire warnings about the overall health of Medicare for years, yet policymakers have been slow to act. Here's how Congress can shore up…
February 24, 2022

Most Popular

Why Are Gas Prices Still Going Up?
spending

Why Are Gas Prices Still Going Up?

The cost of a gallon of gas is at an all-time high. What’s driving the surge and will gas prices go down anytime soon?
May 23, 2022
Your Guide to Roth Conversions
Special Report
Tax Breaks

Your Guide to Roth Conversions

A Kiplinger Special Report
February 25, 2021
Which States' Taxes Are Going Down
Tax Breaks

Which States' Taxes Are Going Down

State lawmakers are cutting income, sales and property taxes to return budget surpluses to residents.
May 25, 2022
  • Customer Service
  • About Us
  • Advertise With Us (PDF)
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Kiplinger Careers
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy Preferences

Subscribe to Kiplinger's Personal Finance

Be a smarter, better informed investor.
Save up to 76%Subscribe to Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Do Not Sell My Information

Kiplinger is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site www.futureplc.com
© Future US LLC, 10th floor, 1100 13th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005. All rights reserved.

Follow us on InstagramFollow us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterConnect on LinkedInConnect on YouTube