Starting January 1, 2025, Medicare members will have the option to pay their prescription costs in monthly payments, spread over the year rather than all at once, with the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan.

The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan is a new program created under the Inflation Reduction Act that requires all Part D plan sponsors, including Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC), to provide members the option to pay out-of-pocket prescription drug costs in the form of monthly payments over the course of the plan year instead of all at once to the pharmacy.

Members participating in the program will pay $0 when filling their prescriptions at the pharmacy for covered Part D drugs, and Blue Cross NC will then bill program participants monthly for any cost sharing they incur while in the program.

Blue Cross NC will notify pharmacies when a Part D member incurs out-of-pocket costs for covered Part D drugs that make it likely the individual may benefit from the program.

If a Part D member has cost sharing for a single covered Part D drug of $600 or more and has not already opted into the program, Blue Cross NC will notify the pharmacy to inform the member about the program.

The pharmacy will provide the Part D member with the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan Likely to Benefit Notice, a standardized notice that all Part D sponsors are required to use.

Pharmacies will be paid in full by Blue Cross NC in accordance with Part D prompt payment requirements.

For more information, visit the Medicare website.