📋 Medicare Part D Offering Fewer Choices, Higher Prices (AARP Article)

[Winter2025VA]

FROM THE ARTICLE.

Original Medicare Enrollees Face Fewer Part D Choices.

The number of stand-alone prescription plans drops, while the popularity of Medicare Advantage plans rises.

By Tony Pugh, AARP. Published December 05, 2025.

Key takeaways!

(1) Fewer stand-alone Part D plans than previous years.

(2) Prescription drug coverage secure in original Medicare.

(3) Medicare Advantage prescription coverage is stable.

(4) Consumer-friendly legislation revamped Part D coverage.

(5) Use Medicare open enrollment to compare drug plans.

Medicare’s market for Part D plans has shifted in response to growing enrollment in private Medicare Advantage plans, and the number of stand-alone prescription drug plans available to original Medicare beneficiaries continues to decline in 2026.

In 2020, 53 percent of Part D enrollees were enrolled in stand-alone Part D drug plans used by beneficiaries in original Medicare. By 2025, only 42 percent of Part D enrollees were in stand-alone drug plans, while 58 percent received Part D coverage through their Medicare Advantage plans.

USE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE.

https://www.aarp.org/medicare/fewer-part-d-drug-plan-options/