subject: What You Should Know About ARP Medicare Part D? [print this page] What You Should Know About ARP Medicare Part D?
If you have the original Medicare program, you can alwayssupplement your policy with a Medigap plan. There are many private insurance companies that offer them like theARP or American Association of Retired Persons.
There are around seven million people who have the ARP brand of health insurance, including Part D coverage and Medigap. Such is the popularity of ARP insurance, the organization earns so much from selling insurance to its members than by collecting membership dues.
It is no surprising thatARP should involve itself in selling insurance. The group did influence congress in passing the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, which createdMedicare Part D.
ARP is set to become the largest provider of health insurance products for Medicare recipients. In 2008, it's set to offer new products including HMO for recipients of Medicare (partnered with UnitedHealth Group), PPO, and a hybrid insurance product and health savings account for people who are 50 and over (partnered with Aetna). With the increase in health insurance products, ARP's customer base is expected to increase to 14 million in 2014.
Make no mistake about it the ARP is not an insurance provider. It does not pay for insurance claims, even if you try squeeze it out of them. Rather, it is a brand name in insurance, and it is paid like an insurance agent with commissions.
About Medicare Part D
The Medicare program began offering Part D coverage beginning in 2006. D imminently stands for "drugs" although some peeps like to call it D for "disaster" because the low number of enrollees relative to the number of people who are eligible for the program. Thus far, there are only 662,000 recipients out of the eligible millions.
Low turn out, however, has no deterred brand names like ARP from offering Part D coverage on their health insurance programs. Part D coverage is not a stand-alone policy. When you opt for this coverage you need to have a main Medicare plan that offers Part D coverage. So, out on the market you will see MA-PD plans or Medicare Advantage Plans with Prescription Drugs. But you can also enroll in Part D if you have a PDP or a Prescription Drug Plan.
There is never a lack of Part D products. In fact, across the United States there are places with 100 Part D plans that are being offered by 50 providers. Across all Part D plans, the plans are basically the same. The only difference is the coverage amount and the list of drugs that are covered.
However, under the Medicare program, all Part D plan providers must exclude certain drugs, including barbiturates, cough suppressants, and benzodiazepines. Recipients of Medicaid stand on a point of advantage Medicaid pays for drugs that Part D does not cover.
