10/27/2025
The Medicare open enrollment period has begun and several patients have brought in letters stating that the plan they were on in 2025 will not be available in 2026. Others are wondering which plans we will be "in network" with in 2026.
At this time, we are compiling an accurate list of plans we will be participating in for 2026. We are in negotiations with several plans and have not yet received responses to our contract offers. We were also made aware that some individuals trying to help local patients with their 2026 plans inadvertently gave the patients information about our network status for 2025 instead of 2026.
This is a complicated and stressful time of year for patients, pharmacies, and insurance brokers as information available on the Medicare.gov website is incredibly inaccurate. The website only updates contract information once a month and sometimes that is delayed. We ask for your patience while we sort through the contracting information available to us.
There are several pieces of advice that I can offer to those looking for Medicare Part D plans.
Beware of telephone calls from unknown people asking you to sign up for a Part D plan.
Beware of door to door salesmen trying to get you to sign up for a Part D plan.
Beware of signing up for a Medicare Advantage plan. These plans may entice you with the promise of extra benefits and cash payments. In past years these plans have not had providers that are in network for things such as home health, physical therapy, and local pharmacy services. These plans may also require prior authorizations for medications and services. In network specialists may not practice locally and this may result in extensive travel and delays in scheduling appointments.
Bedford Drug does everything in our power to offer the most extensive access to insurance plans that we can. A lot of thought and consideration goes into every decision to accept or decline these contracts. When we decline a contract we realize that we may lose long time patients , but we must also balance our ability to survive financially when we accept these contracts. As some of you have seen, many pharmacies that accept all contracts have experienced a decline in service and medication availability in the form of same day service. We would rather be out of network than be forced to provide a substandard service to our patients.
For those patients that decide to use a plan where we are out of network, we would ask for the opportunity to quote a "self pay" price for your medications. In many situations it may be less expensive for you to pay out of pocket for your medications than to use your insurance. This is especially true for generic medications.
