# Medicare part D question **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 30, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicare-part-d-question/800233 "2017-10-30T16:35:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicare-part-d-question/800233/1 "2017-10-30T16:35:53Z")
I have insurance through the company I work for but in a few years I will have to sign up for Medicare. My insurance, generic drugs are free but any name brand drugs have little to know discount. I have a couple of prescriptions for diabetes that have no generic equivalents, so until I meet my deductible each year my meds are about $2000.00 per month. If I were to sign up for Medicare part D (which as I understand it is the prescription part) will Medicare pay for my prescriptions at a better discount than my work insurance? Can I combine them together? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicare-part-d-question/800233/2 "2017-10-30T16:43:59Z")
To get an idea of how much different Medicare plans would pay for your drugs for 2018 plug your drugs into the Medicare Drug Finder: > **[Drug Finder: Find which 2023 Medicare Part D plans best covers your drugs](https://q1medicare.com/PartD-SearchPDPMedicarePartDDrugFinder.php)** > > Drug Finder: Find which 2023 Medicare Part D plans best covers your drugs Note the Medicare Part D coverage gap (known as the Medicare donut hole) will be eliminated by 2020–so that will happen before you retire: > **[Medicare Part D coverage gap](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_Part_D_coverage_gap)** > > The Medicare Part D coverage gap (informally known as the Medicare donut hole) was a period of consumer payments for prescription medication costs that lied between the initial coverage limit and the catastrophic coverage threshold when the consumer was a member of a Medicare Part D prescription-drug program administered by the United States federal government. The gap was reached after a shared insurer payment - consumer payment for all covered prescription drugs reached a government-set amoun... ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicare-part-d-question/800233/3 "2017-10-30T18:10:25Z")
> [@adhemar](#): > > I have insurance through the company I work for but in a few years I will have to sign up for Medicare. My insurance, generic drugs are free but any name brand drugs have little to know discount. I have a couple of prescriptions for diabetes that have no generic equivalents, so until I meet my deductible each year my meds are about $2000.00 per month. > > If I were to sign up for Medicare part D (which as I understand it is the prescription part) will Medicare pay for my prescriptions at a better discount than my work insurance? Can I combine them together? Your post is a bit unclear in that you seem to be conflating your free generic drugs with “discounts” on brand name drugs. There are two forms of savings under medical insurance plans, 1) the plan paying a share of the costs, and 2) discounts that the plan negotiates with the providers. In any event, you should be aware of a couple of facts, for starts: [ul] [li]Unlike ordinary Medicare, all Medicare Part D plans are offered by private insurance companies and subsidized by the government.[/li][li]Under the ACA, manufacturers of brand name drugs offer standard discounts on drugs in the “coverage gap”.[/li][li]Lower income people have a lower level of cost-sharing for Part D drugs.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicare-part-d-question/800233/4 "2017-11-01T03:36:15Z")
**PastTense** has it. You can only know by looking at the formulary’s of various providers. Where you get the drugs also influences the cost. A non-preferred pharmacy is more expensive than a preferred one, and mail order from the insurer can be cheaper still. One pill I take was $60 for 3 months under my reasonably good employer coverage, it is now $6 mail order from my Plan D provider. YMMV quite a bit.