Best Medicare Part D Providers

SilverScript is a CVS Health company, adding convenience in terms of retail pharmacy access. CVS Health and Aetna merged in 2018, so CVS is now a subsidiary of Aetna, which is listed as the benefits provider when searching for this plan. This merger has enabled CVS Health to grow its Part D plans, and an estimated 23% of all Part D subscribers held a CVS Health policy in 2019 (the earliest available data). 

SilverScript Insurance Company holds the most popular of CVS Health’s available plans: the SilverScript Choice plan. This plan covers thousands of generic and specialty medications and includes a $0 deductible on Tier 1 and Tier 2 medications with low to no copays if you use a SilverScript preferred pharmacy. Prices will vary by state and other factors, such as costs of healthcare in the region, your age, and overall health. For comparison purposes, we reviewed the SilverScript Choice Plan for Houston, where the monthly premium was quoted at $21.20. 

SilverScript’s Plus plan is pricier at $77.30 in Houston. However, the drug deductible is $0 (compared with $360 for the Choice plan). The Plus plan has a more expansive formulary, which may be beneficial to you if you take several medications or specialty medications.

The Plan received a 4-star (above average) Medicare rating and is known for its customer service, which includes a 24-hour question line and easy access to an online document library that contains an enrollment guide, claims forms, and formulary lists in one location.

AARP’s Part D plans represent a strategic partnership with UnitedHealthcare, much like CVS and SilverScript have. AARP/UnitedHealthcare also has a large market share for Part D plans. An estimated 20.8% of Part D enrollees participated in a UnitedHealthcare drug plan for 2019. UnitedHealthcare’s Part D Plan in Texas earned a 5-star plan rating in 2020, and the company has an overall 3.5-star rating. 

All three of AARP’s drug plans were in the top 10 for enrollment in 2019: AARP MedicareRx Preferred, AARP MedicareRx Saver Plus, and AARP MedicareRx Walgreens. 

We reviewed its plans in Chicago, where all received a 3.5-star rating. True to its name, the Saver Plus was the least expensive premium at $23.60, while the Preferred plan was $81.50 per month. The Preferred plan has a $0 deductible and a more comprehensive formulary when compared with the Saver Plus.

The Walgreens plan was $32.60 in Chicago, and this plan leverages AARP’s partnership with Walgreens to offer the lowest co-payments when filling a prescription there or at Duane Reade.

Both AARP and UnitedHealthcare offer information about their Part D plans on their websites. You sometimes have to switch between the two, which can seem time-consuming. However, we liked UnitedHealthcare’s Get a Plan Recommendation tool, which helped us to answer a few questions and input our medications and dosages to compare available plans and estimated costs.

Humana offers three Part D Plans, one of which was introduced in 2020. The new plan is the Humana Walmart Value Rx Plan, which offers an average premium of $17.20 and which the company reports is the lowest of its kind in 47 states and the District of Columbia. The new plan offers preferred cost-sharing at pharmacies at Walmart and its subsidiaries. Humana’s strategic partnerships with Walmart, Walmart Neighborhood Markets, and Sam’s Club mean more opportunities for you to save.

Additional plans include the Humana Basic Rx Plan and the Humana Premier Rx Plan. We looked at the average premium costs in Los Angeles, where the Basic plan was $30.30 and the Premier plan was $72.50. The Premier plan is costlier but features a larger listing of in-network pharmacies and more drugs on its formulary. The Basic plan features a deductible of $435 toward all drug tiers, while the deductible for other plans applied only to tiers 3, 4, and 5.

Its website quote tools were efficient, as you could import your list of medications from Medicare.gov. This saved time and allowed for a more precise estimation of yearly drug costs. You could also compare the plans side-by-side. We were missing some educational elements or decision tools from Humana’s site that could make selecting a plan easier.

One of the value-added services Humana offers to members taking more than eight medications or with chronic health conditions such as diabetes or chronic heart failure is its Medication Therapy Management program. This service helps you schedule a meeting with a local pharmacist to evaluate the list of medicines you’re taking to help identify potential interactions as well as cost-saving opportunities.

Cigna-Healthspring (Healthspring is an insurance division of Cigna) has an impressive pharmacy network—there are more than 63,000 locations across the country. Obtaining medications from in-network pharmacies will provide you the greatest cost savings. Additionally, Cigna’s plans have a formulary that has at least 3,000 medications, providing further cost savings. It offers Part D coverage in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. While it has a large pharmacy network, Cigna does not have a key strategic partnership that can offer further cost savings than a preferred network.

Cigna offers three plans: Cigna-HealthSpring Rx Secure, Rx Secure-Essential, and Secure-Extra. The Secure plan is its “basic protection” plan, which can help if you receive Extra Help in paying for medications or don’t currently take a lot of medications. We were quoted a monthly premium of $23 for the Asheville, North Carolina, ZIP code, with coverage that includes free generic medications with no-cost home delivery.

Cigna’s Secure-Extra program is a program for those who benefit from a larger formulary and more cost protection (for example, if you have many chronic medical conditions). We were quoted a monthly premium of $60.00 for Asheville, which is still on the lower side of premier plans. The pharmacy deductible for this plan is $100, whereas the other plans have a $445 deductible.

Cigna’s website offers a quote tool on the landing page. We liked that its forms, including the summary of benefits, star ratings, and enrollment forms, were available in both English and Spanish on our results listing. Cigna’s overall star ratings performed higher than average at 3.5 stars, but we have reviewed plans that consistently achieved 4-star or higher ratings.

Participation in a Cigna Part D plan means you have access to its Healthy Rewards program. This provides discounts to fitness, vision, wellness, and alternative medicine programs.

WellCare is a nationwide company that has 68,000 network pharmacies—a very comprehensive network. It also offers six plan choices that range in price and coverage from basic to premium. 

We priced WellCare’s Part D plans in Phoenix. The options and monthly premiums were Select ($13.10), Wellness Rx ($14.50), Value Script ($17.40), Classic ($24.90), Rx Saver ($31.70), and Value Plus ($73.30). With the exception of the Value Plus program, most premiums are under or close to the national average.

As a plan overall, Medicare awarded WellCare 3.5 stars. Its Value Script, Select, and Wellness Rx plans don’t have a deductible for Tiers 1 and 2, and neither does the Value Plus plan.

The website doesn’t have a lot of educational tools or intricate designs, but it is clean and easy to follow. Because there are so many plans, a plan comparison tool would have helped in evaluating each option. The site does feature downloadable forms in both English and Spanish, with a multi-language interpreter service in a wide variety of languages.

For those who take multiple medications or have chronic medical conditions, WellCare offers a Medication Therapy Management program. This approach allows you to participate in a one-on-one review annually with a pharmacist or pharmacy staffer to check for drug interactions and provide tips to best manage your health. WellCare also offers an enhanced Healthy Living Program in 11 states: Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wyoming. This voluntary program provides a health coach, a dedicated call center, and an educational website.

While Mutual of Omaha may be new to Medicare Plan Part D participation, its company reputation (it's been in business for more than 110 years), plan offerings, and clean, easy-to-understand website make it one of the top insurance companies. Mutual of Omaha launched its Part D plans to 49 states and the District of Columbia in 2019.

The company offers two plans: Mutual of Omaha Rx Value and Mutual of Omaha Rx Plus. We priced its plans in Baltimore and were quoted a monthly price of $30.10 for the Value plan and $63.00 for the Plus plan. According to the benefits overview, the Plus Plan ranges from $46 to $63.90 while the Value plan ranges from $21.70 to $30.90. Mutual of Omaha offers preferred pricing at more than 24,000 pharmacies, including big names like CVS, Walmart, Sam’s Club, and CVS/Target.

Mutual of Omaha offers $0 copays on Tier 1 medications at preferred pharmacies and via its mail-order options. It also offers a $0 deductible on Tier 1 and Tier 2 medications as part of its value plan, which made it one of the most competitive plans we reviewed for tier pricing.

Mutual of Omaha’s website was also a standout for using easy-to-understand callouts and illustrations. It also has a separate library of articles that educates consumers without specifically discussing the products. We liked the “Know More About My Medicare Options” section, which included a guide to understanding Part D drug plans.