2018 MA and PDP Plans

[DS4]

https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Prescription-Drug-Coverage/PrescriptionDrugCovGenIn/index.html

 

[Yagents]

MC.gov has 2018 PDP plans listed.
What's up with Aetna Medicare Rx Select (New plan?) being the low cost provider in AZ ($12) & W FL ($17) ?

 

[Chazm]

Yeah I didn’t even know about it. And I went to their F2F meeting.

 

[kstein]

And silverscript has Levemir flex oems as a tier 2. Looks like CVS is trying to take back marketshare from Walgreens.

 

[kgmom219]

Site is still glitchy, but a quick glance:

Aetna at $16.70
Humana jump to $20.40
SilverScript decrease to $23.50
BCBSTX jumping in at $23.40 (its been years since they have been competitive)

Until the site is totally up (Tuesday or Wed) there is no way to tell who won for 2018. Its going to depend on the Aetna contract with Walgreens (and maybe Walmart) and if Silver Script lowered their reimbursement to CVS. Current view of SilverScript is that they lowered the premium, but added a layer of copays.

Also, in plans I have been running since 7/1, Kroger has been very competitive. We will need to be running lists up against them, too.

 

[ExProgrammer]

In all states and DC Aetna will offer three PDPs. In some the three will be the same as this year: Aetna Medicare Rx Saver, FHPD Value Plus and FHPD Value Premier. In others the three will be Aetna Medicare Rx Saver, Aetna Medicare Rx Select and FHPD Value Plus.

FHPD stands for First Health Part D. Walgreens is preferred for 2017 but standard for 2018. CVS is standard for 2017 but will be preferred for 2018.

 

[sman]

First comparison I ran was wrong. Medicare.gov had a medication on Humana that wasn't on the formulary, but according to Humana's website it is on the formulary.

Seems to happen every year with at least one carrier.

 

[kgmom219]

Up running lists before the system starts to crash. First glance:

1. Silver Script did not under cut Walgreens with their reimbursement. Walgreens vs CVS on Silver Script are close to identical.
2. Humana with Walmart is NOT winning on all generic. Kroger is cheaper. (No clue what Kroger is on the East Coast. Its Ralphs in CA)
3. Express Scripts and Aetna are going to be players this year.
4. Walgreens is not in the Aetna network.
5. Express Scripts mail order is cheaper than Humana MO
6. AARP Walgreens isn't popping up (like it did last year)

Looks like the rule will be make sure Kroger is in the mix when running the lists.

Aetna PBM cut Walgreens out.

Silver Script seems to still offer the most comprehensive formulary, with a nationwide network.

 

[LostDollar]

Silverscript dropped 3 to 24.50 in my zip.

On a 5mg bystolic-Silverscript Plan-CVS is about $10 cheaper for 30 day supply than Kroger, WalMart and Walgreens.

For drugs I personally need, the Silverscript formulary did not change much. There is on antifungal that the pricing on is absolutely obscene compared to other plans.

When I take my list of 4 drugs and look at ExpressScript and Aetna RX Saver and then look at the pricing in the Deductible Column and the Initial Column; I see Walgreens higher than Kroger, CVS and WalMart-2 out of 4 times on ExpressScript and 3 out of 4 times on Aetna RX saver.

 

[Midlevel]

What I'm reading on Silverscript is that only CVS and USave are preferred pharmacies in my area and rest would be Standard. So will it really be $7.00 and $20.00 to till generics at Walgreens or Walmart on the Silverscript plan?