How to Find the Right PDP Plan

PDP stands for prescription drug coverage and it is an essential part to any healthcare plan. When selecting health insurance, regardless of whether or not it is company sponsored, it is important not only to select the healthcare coverage right for you, but also the prescription drug coverage that is most suitable for your medical situation. In order to make the best choice, researching different PDP plans is crucial.

Instructions

• 1

  Review the cost for co-pays on both generic and name brand pharmaceuticals. It is no secret that name brand pharmaceuticals are more expensive than most generics. However, some generic brands do not work as well as their name brands counterparts. Evaluate the medicines you are currently taking on a daily basis (if applicable) and work the cost of the co-pay for the PDP plan you are reviewing into your budget. When it fits, you have completed the first step in the review process.

• 2

  Review the plan for mail order options. Some PDP plans require that you participate in a mail order pharmacy subscription. This means that a local pharmacist can fill only a certain number of prescriptions, before you are relegated to using the mail order pharmacy exclusively. The best PDP plans allow you instant refills on medications like antibiotics and painkillers, needed for short-term illness, but offer you the benefit of mail order pharmaceutical options for medications you take in the long-term. Note that there is still a co-pay for any medications filled through the online pharmacy.

• 3

  Account for the unknown. The concept of insurance is based on whether or not something will happen. Even though you might be in optimum health today, that does not mean that you will not be in an accident or be diagnosed with a serious illness within the next year. Consider this possibility when you select your healthcare plan; make sure that your account for the same variable in your prescription drug coverage. Since much of your health care is dependent upon the successful use an implementation of pharmaceuticals, having substandard PDP coverage puts you at risk for higher co-pays and difficulties having prescriptions filled.

• 4

  Read the reviews from other subscribers to the PDP plan you are researching. The Internet is a wonderful resource to find reviews on nearly everything, including PDP plans. Using a search engine, type in the name of the PDP plan along with the word, "reviews" to find out what other users are saying about the plan and how they rate it.