Best Medicare Part D Providers

Bottom Line

Aetna offers the best Medicare Part D plans overall for 2025. It combines excellent Medicare star ratings and affordable premiums. If price is your main concern, Wellcare has the lowest premiums in our study, while UnitedHealthcare has the best out-of-pocket prices, and Cigna is competitive on both.

The best company depends on your budget, ability to meet the deductible, how many prescriptions you need, and where your prescriptions fit into a plan’s formulary tiers and pricing.

What Is Medicare Part D?

Medicare Part D helps people with Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) pay for prescription drugs. Part D plans are offered by private insurance companies approved by Medicare, and coverages differ by state.

Part D covers many prescription drugs, but not all. Each plan has a list of covered drugs, called a formulary, and you might pay a premium, deductible, and copays for your medicines.

Changes Coming to Medicare Part D in 2025

A New Out-of-Pocket Spending Limit

In 2025, Medicare Part D will simplify its coverage phases, and you’ll have a $2,000 yearly cap on out-of-pocket drug costs due to the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Here’s how it will work:

1. You’ll pay 100% of drug costs until you reach your plan’s annual deductible, which can’t be more than $590.
2. Then, you’ll pay 25% of drug costs until your total out-of-pocket spending hits $2,000.
3. After you hit $2,000, you won’t pay anything more for covered drugs until year’s end. For next year, you’ll restart at step one again.

Prescription Payment Plan

The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan allows people with a stand-alone Part D plan or a Medicare Advantage plan with drug coverage to spread their out-of-pocket prescription drug costs throughout the year. Instead of paying the pharmacy all at once, this option bills you monthly for your drug costs. 

All plans offer this voluntary option. If you use it, you’ll still pay your regular plan premium (if you have one) and get a monthly bill for our drug costs. There’s no extra cost to join the plan.

How to Choose a Medicare Part D Plan

The official Medicare website has a plan finder tool that lets you compare drug costs, star ratings, and plan networks. The right Medicare Part D plan can help you effectively manage your prescription drug costs. Here’s how to make the best decision:

• Make a list of your medications: Write down all your prescription drugs, including the dosages. This will help you compare plans to see if they cover your medications.
• Check the formulary: Each Medicare Part D plan has a list of covered medications called a formulary. Ensure your medications are included and whether any special rules apply, such as prior authorization or quantity limits.
• Compare costs: Look at each plan's monthly premiums, deductibles, and copays. While a plan with a lower premium may seem better, it might have higher copays for your medications or a higher deductible. The lower-premium plan could lead to higher out-of-pocket costs if you have multiple or expensive medications. 
• Review the network pharmacies: Some plans work with specific pharmacies. Make sure your preferred pharmacy is part of the plan’s network, or you may have to pay more for your prescriptions.
• Consider Medicare star ratings: CMS rates plans on quality and performance, so consider plans with higher ratings for better service and satisfaction.

When Will 2025 Medicare Part D Plans Be Available?

You can review 2025 Medicare Part D plans starting in October 2024. The annual enrollment period for Medicare begins on Oct. 15 and runs through Dec. 7 each year. If you’re in Original Medicare, you can choose a new Part D plan, drop your current plan, or stay with your current plan during this period.

You can sign up for Medicare Part D when you first become eligible for Medicare. This is during your initial enrollment period, which starts three months before the month you turn 65 and lasts for seven months total. There’s also a special enrollment period if you have certain life events, such as losing other drug coverage. 

If you don’t sign up for a Part D plan when you’re first eligible, and you go 63 days or more without other drug coverage, you have to pay a late enrollment penalty, which is added to your monthly premium for as long as you have Medicare Part D.

How Much Do Medicare Part D Plans Cost?

The cost of Medicare Part D plans can vary depending on your chosen plan and the medications you take. Here’s a breakdown of the costs:

• Monthly premium: This is the monthly amount you pay for your Part D plan, ranging from $0 to more than $100. Anthem had the most expensive premiums in our study, averaging $106 monthly, although you may find Anthem PDPs for less. The average stand-alone Part D plan total premium is expected to be $40 in 2025, according to Investopedia research. 
• Yearly deductible: You must pay your deductible before the plan starts covering your medications. According to CMS rules, your Part D deductible can’t exceed $590. Our analysis finds that the average deductible for stand-alone Part D plans will be $466 in 2025. Aetna and Wellcare had the highest deductibles on this list, with some or all plans’ tiers requiring you to meet the $590 deductible first. 
• Copays or coinsurance: You pay either a flat amount (copay) or a percentage (coinsurance) for each prescription. The amount depends on the type of drug, the tier it’s assigned to, and whether it’s generic or brand-name.

Some people with higher incomes may also pay an extra amount on top of the monthly premium, called an income-related monthly adjusted amount (IRMAA).

How We Chose the Best Medicare Part D Providers 

To identify which Medicare insurance companies to review, we reviewed research conducted by market intelligence and consulting firms, such as Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), Chartis Group, and McKinsey. These reports provided insight into individual market share, enrollment growth, and nationwide availability for major Medicare providers in the United States. We considered this information, along with our previous research, to select 13 Medicare Advantage, Part D, and Medigap providers for our review. 

For each of these companies, we collected data from third-party rating agencies such as the credit rating agency AM Best and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), an independent organization that rates health care plans on quality and customer satisfaction. We also gathered data from government websites and databases provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and directly from companies via websites, media representatives, and existing partnerships. The data collection process ran from Aug. 27 to Oct. 10, 2024.

We then developed a quantitative model that scores each Medicare company based on the data we collected. We ensured the integrity of our data by cross-referencing the records in our database with primary sources.

We weighted the categories as follows for this article:

• Star Ratings: 37%
• Costs: 58%
• Availability: 5%
  

Read our full methodology for reviewing Medicare insurance providers.