In terms of the costs for 2025 Medicare Part D Plans the news may not be so good for retirees who happen to actually need drug coverage as costs are rising faster than ever before.
Overall, on a national average, the monthly Premiums will increase by 5.25% while the Annual Deductible will also increase by 21.21%.
The Total Cost on a monthly basis will increase too by 10.07%, but, unfortunately, this is not the entire story for 2025 as things are changing.
What is new for the Costs for 2025 Medicare Part D Plans:
Supplemental Premium
The biggest surprise for 2025 is the new “Supplemental Premium” for Enhanced Part D Plans which will increase the total amount retirees will have to spend each month for coverage.
The Centers for Medicare Services is reporting that this increase will in fact help retirees as it will “count towards their out-of-pocket costs, resulting in their reaching the $2,000 cap sooner”.
Please note that the Inflation Reduction Act limits the amount a retiree will have to pay in 2025 for their out-pocket drug costs and the amount is $2,000.
The logic by your government is that by having retirees pay more upfront in terms of their premiums they will reach this limit of $2,000 faster and not have to pay out-of-pocket for their drugs by the end of the year.
The reality, though, is that retirees who need adequate drug coverage will have to pay more monthly in terms of a premium than those who don’t, and the difference is significant.
Number of Plans:
The other surprise for the 2025 Medicare Part D Plans happens to be the actual number of plans that will be made available and the new is not good.
In 2025 there will only be 788 Part D plans nationwide with each state only having between 12 to 18 plans being made available.
To put some perspective on this there were 1,071 Part D Plans throughout the nation with each state having between 19 to 20 Plans to choose from in 2024.
This is a 22.62% decrease in Part D plans from 2024.
As costs are rising seniors are going to have less options to find cheaper alternatives.
The Breakdown of Costs for both Basic and Enhanced 2025 Medicare Part D Plans:
When it comes to drug cover through Medicare’s Part D there are 2 types of Plans a retirees can choose from which are:
- Basic Plans
- These types of Part D Plans usually have cheaper premiums but also have smaller formularies (list of medications a plan will cover).
- Enhanced Plans
- These Part D Plans typically are more expensive than Basic Plans, but they also tend to have much larger formularies.
Each type of these Part D Plans have their own monthly Premium while some may or may not have an Annual Deductible.
Please note that every Basic Part D Plan will have an Annual Deductible in 2025 while the majority of Enhanced Plans will not.
NOTE:
If you are not taking many or even any prescription drugs, then a Basic Plan may be all that you need but if you are taking a lot of prescriptions drugs then the Enhanced Plan may be best.
ALSO, regardless of the costs of each Part D Plan the only thing that matters is that you find a one that covers all of your prescription drugs for the year.
Costs of Basic Part D Plans in 2025:
The Premiums:
If you are looking for good news, well here it is as the Premiums for the Basic Plans are the best it is going to get for the 2025 Medicare Part D Plans.
On a national average the Premium for Part D Basic Plans in 2025 will drop by over 12.25% from 2024 to $45.73 a month.
The news is even better when looking at individual states like Arkansas, Oregon and Washington where the monthly premium on a state average will fall by more than 65% from 2024.
If you want to be even more specific and look at actual Part D Plans a few Basic Part Plan premiums will drop by 100% as these plans will have no monthly premium.
Yes, 100%!
Here is the list of Basic Part D plans that will experience a 100% decrease in premiums from 2024:
|
State |
Company |
Plan Name |
Contact ID |
|
Alaska |
Humana |
Humana Basic Rx Plan (PDP) |
S5884 |
|
Arizona |
Cigna |
Cigna Secure Rx (PDP) |
S5617 |
|
Arkansas |
Wellcare |
Wellcare Classic (PDP) |
S4802 |
|
Arkansas |
Cigna |
Cigna Secure Rx (PDP) |
S5617 |
|
Arkansas |
Clear Spring Health |
Clear Spring Health Value Rx (PDP) |
S6946 |
|
Hawaii |
UnitedHealthcare |
AARP Medicare Rx Basic from UHC (PDP) |
S5921 |
|
Illinois |
Clear Spring Health |
Clear Spring Health Value Rx (PDP) |
S6946 |
|
Maine |
Humana |
Humana Basic Rx Plan (PDP) |
S5884 |
|
Michigan |
Cigna |
Cigna Secure Rx (PDP) |
S5617 |
|
Nevada |
Clear Spring Health |
Clear Spring Health Value Rx (PDP) |
S6946 |
|
New Hampshire |
Humana |
Humana Basic Rx Plan (PDP) |
S5884 |
|
New Mexico |
Wellcare |
Wellcare Classic (PDP) |
S4802 |
|
New Mexico |
Cigna |
Cigna Secure Rx (PDP) |
S5617 |
|
New Mexico |
UnitedHealthcare |
AARP Medicare Rx Basic from UHC (PDP) |
S5921 |
|
Oregon |
Cigna |
Cigna Secure Rx (PDP) |
S5617 |
|
Texas |
Clear Spring Health |
Clear Spring Health Value Rx (PDP) |
S6946 |
|
Washington |
Cigna |
Cigna Secure Rx (PDP) |
S5617 |
But please remember, we are dealing with the government and any good news will always have bad news to go along with it.
The bad news is that there are few Basic Part D Plans with monthly Premiums that will increase by more than 70% and they are:
|
State |
Company |
Plan Name |
Contact ID |
Increase from 2024 |
|
Nevada |
Cigna |
Cigna Secure Rx (PDP) |
S5617 |
70.28% |
|
Louisiana |
UnitedHealthcare |
AARP Medicare Rx Basic from UHC (PDP) |
S5921 |
80.30% |
|
Idaho |
UnitedHealthcare |
AARP Medicare Rx Basic from UHC (PDP) |
S5921 |
81.57% |
|
Utah |
UnitedHealthcare |
AARP Medicare Rx Basic from UHC (PDP) |
S5921 |
81.57% |
|
Louisiana |
Cigna |
Cigna Secure Rx (PDP) |
S5617 |
82.74% |
|
Virginia |
UnitedHealthcare |
AARP Medicare Rx Basic from UHC (PDP) |
S5921 |
83.08% |
|
Alaska |
Wellcare |
Wellcare Classic (PDP) |
S4802 |
88.83% |
|
Nevada |
Humana |
Humana Basic Rx Plan (PDP) |
S5884 |
94.09% |
|
Mississippi |
Cigna |
Cigna Secure Rx (PDP) |
S5617 |
97.77% |
|
Connecticut |
UnitedHealthcare |
AARP Medicare Rx Basic from UHC (PDP) |
S5921 |
101.45% |
|
Massachusetts |
UnitedHealthcare |
AARP Medicare Rx Basic from UHC (PDP) |
S5921 |
101.45% |
|
Rhode Island |
UnitedHealthcare |
AARP Medicare Rx Basic from UHC (PDP) |
S5921 |
101.45% |
|
Vermont |
UnitedHealthcare |
AARP Medicare Rx Basic from UHC (PDP) |
S5921 |
101.45% |
Overall, of the 341 available Part D Plans that will continue from last year, 205 or 66% of these plans will have a monthly premium that will decrease.
This is very good news for seniors.
The Annual Deductible:
The 2025 Annual Part D Deductible is where there will be some bad news for seniors as the Deductible will increase by 8.25% from 2024 to $590.00.
To add insult to injury, every Basic Part D Plan that will be available in 2025 will have this Annual Deductible in 2025.
The Total Cost:
Because of the increase in the Annual Deductible the drop in monthly premiums will be offset and the number of Plans that are cheaper from 2024 will decrease.
For 2025 the national average monthly Total Cost (premium and deductible) is $94.90.
Thankfully, this is still a decrease from 2024 but by only 2.74% which happens to throw a little cold water on the good news of the premium decrease.
Enhanced Part D Plans in 2025:
The Premium:
Where there was a lot of good news for Basic Plans the exact opposite is happening for Enhanced Part D Plans in 2025, and it all starts with the average monthly premium as it will increase by 17.76% from 2024.
In 2024 the average national monthly premium for the available 670 plans = $63.47.
For 2025 the average national monthly premium for the available 447 plans = $74.74.
If we look at the existing plans from 2024 the numbers are even worse.
For the plans that are remaining in 2025 the premium will increase by 20.95% to $75.15 a month.
If you have a Medicare Part D Enhanced Plan please go shopping for a new plan, but make sure it will cover all of your medications first.
There is a little bit of sunshine in the data though as the premium did decrease for over 213 Enhanced Part D Plans from 2024 with more than 60 plans having no monthly premium at all.
The Annual Deductible:
This is where the news may go from bad to worse as the Annual Deductible for Enhanced Plans will increase by 32.34% from 2024.
In 2024 the national average Annual Deductible = $388.87.
For 202 the national average Annual Deductible = $514.13.
The good news is that 201 plans that are remaining from 2024 will only have an Annual Deductible increase of 8.64%.
Please note that unlike Basic Plans not every Enhanced Plan will have an Annual Deductible.
The Total Cost:
The monthly Total Cost for Enhanced Plans in 2025 should ring alarm bells for those who are adequately planning for health costs in retirement as the amount is going to increase by over 19%.
In 2024 the national average monthly Total Cost for Enhanced Plans = $88.26.
For 2025 the national average monthly Total Cost for Enhanced Plans = $105.72.
For retirees who have Enhanced Plans from 2024 that will remain in 2025 the news is slightly better as their Total Costs will only increase, on an national average, by 17.85%.
Conclusion for 2025 Medicare Part D Plans
All in all, there is no real good news for seniors as costs are increasing by double digits across the board.
The only real positive is that there a few plans within state that have dropped in terms of costs, but, frighteningly enough, those that didn’t drop will increase by a lot.
To find a Medicare Part D Plan that will suit your needs please use Medicare’s Plan Finder Tool which you can access here.
Remember, the single most important thing you can do when selecting a Medicare Part D Plan is choosing one that will cover all of your prescription drugs.
