Medicare.gov formulary update is Oct 26 so recheck your meds for Medicare D plans

I compare plans every year on Medicare D (more than once before the Dec 7 in case there are more formulary updates). I have had 4 plans in 6 years and switched each time as it saved me money. Of course if you get an unpleasant surprise midyear with a new, expensive, drug like I did one year you are stuck for the rest of the year but then that is true with all Supplement/Medigap D’s you chose. No magic wand to see the future.

If you compare with agents many will not tell you about plans they don’t write, And this year most D’s don’t have commissions so you may well be told about even fewer of them. Some sgents have  posted on a forum i watch that they will not write nor deal with plans that don’t pay commission (commissions are their only source of money and they refuse to work for free for the companies who offer the plans). So using medicare.gov is one of the few ways you can see every plan out there that you can buy where you live and see the costs 

One aside is open the drugs and their costs in each plan once you choose a plan and see at which pharmacy you chose a drug is the cheapest. I generally find some drugs are cheaper at one pharmacy and some at another and so I have them filled at the pharmacy that is cheapest. AND it isn’t always at the preferred pharmacy that they are the cheapest either. Go figure. AND, at least locally, Walmart has the cheapest esterdoil/estrogen cream when it wasn’t even on most formularies last year or if on them was really expensive (unlike the erectile disfunction drugs). There must finally!! be some women on the committees that sets prices for formularies. LOL

HOW TO CHANGE YOUR PLAN - you can change multiple times by changing it on medicare.com under the plan finder tab. you DO NOT have to cancel the one you signed up for (or the one you have now) as at midnight Dec 7 whatever plan you have on their as the plan you want is the plan you have for 2027. 

You can also change your plan calling medicare or use an agent if you can find one willing to deal with this (good luck with that if you don’t already use that agent for the rest of your medicare needs).