The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched a modernized and redesigned Medicare Plan Finder. This tool allows users to shop and compare Medicare Advantage and prescription drug (Part D) plans. This new tool also integrates Medigap plans which were not available in the legacy plan finder. In addition to upgrading Medicare Plan Finder, CMS has redesigned the Medicare.gov homepage and refreshed the personalized MyMedicare.gov portal to create a more seamless, easy to navigate, personalized online experience for people with Medicare.
What does this mean to Medicare beneficiaries? Beneficiaries won't be able to use Medicare number and save the search history using a Drug List ID generated through the Legacy Medicare Plan Finder. Instead, under the new Plan Finder, Medicare beneficiaries need to go to mymedicare.gov portal and create a username and password in order to be able to save the search history and enroll in a plan. In addition, comparing the costs across plans could be challenging under the new plan finder. To calculate the overall costs of prescription drug plans, beneficiaries must add plan premium to the out-of-pocket drug costs.
We suggest that Medicare beneficiaries seek assistance from the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) in your area. Please call 1-800-AGE-LINE or browse our website for events in your area.
