Why People Don’t Switch Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans

A few months back I reported on a survey that found many Medicare beneficiaries are paying about double the premiums they should be for their coverage under Part D Prescription Drug plans. Here’s a report on a recent survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation seeking to find reasons why people don’t switch Part D plans very often. After all, insurers offering the plans are allowed to switch their terms every year, and many make significant changes in premiums, coverage, and other terms. In addition, a person’s health can change, and that might make a different plan a better fit. Yet, few people switch plans.

The Kaiser survey found that people do a lot of research before buying a Part D plan, but a number of factors contribute to the inertia that prevents people from seeking new plans.

Covered medications. Medicare Part D plans have lists of covered medications called the formulary, which are tweaked from year to year. Seniors who need medications that aren’t on their plan’s formulary are often willing to try a number of workarounds including an alternative drug or a generic version that is covered, medication samples from a doctor’s office, applying for discounts from drug manufacturers, appealing the insurer’s decision not to cover the drug and ordering medications online, KFF found. However, some seniors say they would be motivated to change insurers if their plan stops covering a necessary drug, significantly increases the out-of-pocket cost or makes it difficult to obtain the medication due to preauthorization requirements or other restrictions.