Wellcare for Part D

For us Medicare types, it’s that Part D time of year again. In mid-September I received an email from our Part D insurer, Aetna Silverscript, saying I could see the Annual Notice of Change online. I did so and got a shock. My wife’s and my monthly premiums were going from $9.80 each to $44.80 each beginning in January 2025.

I did a little reading online, and contacted our broker, and learned that due to some recent legislation Part D plans were in for some big changes in 2025. Tell me about it.

The next step was on October 1^st, when all the available Part D plans in our area for 2025 would be listed on the Medicare website. On that day I had a look. The website is quite useful—you can enter all the prescription drugs you take and it will save that information and use it to give you a total annual cost (premiums plus drug costs) for each Part D plan offered.

I saw that, for my wife and myself, our combined total annual cost if we stayed with Aetna Silverscript would increase from $274.46 in 2024 to $1353.84 in 2025. A bitter pill to swallow.

But there were a few Part D plans offered with lower costs, and the least expensive by far were a couple from Wellcare. In fact, the cheapest plan, the Wellcare Value Script, would actually reduce our combined yearly cost to $116.80. The other Wellcare plan, Wellcare Classic, would increase it a bit to $414.63.

I also ran the numbers if we used GoodRx for the drugs when its prices were lower than what they would cost with the insurance. This lowered the total annual cost amounts substantially in some cases. For example, with the Wellcare Value Script plan, our combined total annual cost would go from the already bargain rate of $116.80 to an almost unbelievable $40.19. You would likely see similar savings with SingleCare or Mark Cuban’s CostPlus Drug Co.

So this is all leading up to my question: Do any of my fellow HD readers and writers use Wellcare for their Part D plan? If so, what’s been your experience? I’ve actually read a few good reviews, several saying they’ve greatly improved customer service in recent years. I spent a few minutes on their website, double checking the numbers I’d gotten on the Medicare site, and found it quite user friendly. But that old saying “If it seems too good to be true it probably is” keeps banging around my head.

A couple of final comments. As my fellow Part D participants probably know, the Annual Enrollment Period, when you can change your plan, is from Oct. 15^th to December 7^th. I’ve also read that the insurer information and cost figures on the Medicare website are sometimes updated by the companies after October 1^st. So  some folks say they check back in early November.

I’d appreciate any comments from those with recent experience with Wellcare. Thanks.