FillMap

Official resources

Where to get the authoritative answer, apply, or talk to a trained counsellor for free.

Last updated · FillMap Technologies LLC

FillMap has no affiliation, partnership, sponsorship or endorsement arrangement with any organisation listed on this page. That includes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, any state agency, any State Health Insurance Assistance Program, and any insurer or health plan. Nobody listed here has reviewed, approved or is responsible for FillMap, and FillMap is paid nothing by any of them.

FillMap is not a government website and is not operated by or on behalf of a government agency. It is a private reference tool published by FillMap Technologies LLC. It is also not an insurance agent, broker or plan sponsor — it does not sell plans, cannot enrol you in one, and earns no commission on your choice.

These links are offered for convenience. FillMap does not control the content of any external site and is not responsible for it; a site may move, change or go away without notice. Where an official source disagrees with FillMap, the official source is right. Our figures come from files these agencies publish, and a file can be read correctly and still be out of date — the data disclosures set out the known limits.

Nothing here is medical advice. Never start, stop or switch a medication because of something you read on FillMap or on a page it links to — that is a conversation for your doctor or pharmacist.

2. Medicare

  • Medicare.gov — the official Medicare site: what is covered, how to enrol, and your rights.
  • Medicare Plan Finder — the government's own plan comparison tool, and where you actually enrol. FillMap links to it from every Medicare plan it shows.
  • Extra Help with drug costs (Social Security) — the subsidy that caps what you pay per prescription. You apply through Social Security, free, and you can apply before or after you join a drug plan.
  • Medicare Savings Programs — state programmes that help with Medicare premiums and other costs. Qualifying for one usually qualifies you for Extra Help automatically.

By phone: 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), 24 hours, seven days a week. TTY 1-877-486-2048.

3. Medicaid

FillMap holds Texas Medicaid only. Every other state publishes its own drug list in its own format, so for Medicaid outside Texas your state's agency is the source.

4. Marketplace

  • HealthCare.gov — the federal marketplace: compare plans, check whether you qualify for help with premiums, and enrol.
  • Find local help — free in-person help from a trained navigator or assister near you. They cannot charge you and cannot steer you to a particular plan.

By phone: 1-800-318-2596, 24 hours, seven days a week. TTY 1-855-889-4325.

5. Free help from a real person

Every state runs a State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) — trained counsellors who answer Medicare questions one to one, in person or by phone. It is free, it is not a sales channel, and the counsellor does not work for any insurer. If someone asks you to pay for this, you are in the wrong place.

The programme goes by a different name in different states. In Washington, Oregon and Idaho it is SHIBA (Senior Health Insurance Benefits Advisors); in Texas it is HICAP; elsewhere it may be SHINE, HICAP or simply SHIP. One locator covers all of them.

  • SHIP National Technical Assistance Center — find the programme for your state, whatever it is called locally.
  • Medicare Rights Center — an independent non-profit with a free national helpline for Medicare problems and appeals.
  • 211 — free, confidential referral to local help — prescription assistance, food, rent, utilities and more. Dial 211 from any phone, or search by ZIP. Useful when the problem is broader than one prescription.

A counsellor can do things FillMap cannot: look at your actual situation, help you appeal a denial, and check your eligibility for help paying. If what you need is advice rather than a drug list, start here rather than with us.

6. If the price is the problem

Sometimes a drug is covered and still costs more than you can pay, or is not on the plan's list at all. Buying it outside your insurance is sometimes cheaper — and there is a trade nobody tells you about, so it is set out here first.

  • Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs — an online pharmacy that publishes what it paid for each drug and adds a fixed markup and dispensing fee, so the price breakdown is visible. Mostly generics. A private company — FillMap has no relationship with it and is paid nothing for this link.

What you spend buying outside your insurance does not count toward your deductible or your Part D out-of-pocket cap. That is the catch, and it is not obvious. If you have a deductible to clear, paying cash for a cheap generic leaves you exactly as far from clearing it as before — and the same is true of the yearly cap that ends your spending once you reach it. For an inexpensive drug that is usually still the better deal; for an expensive one it can cost you more across the year even when each fill looks cheaper. Your pharmacist can work that out with you.

On Medicaid, this is almost certainly the wrong move. Texas Medicaid charges nothing or close to nothing for a covered prescription, so paying cash means paying more for something you could have had for free.

7. Marketplaces FillMap does not cover

Eight jurisdictions run their own marketplaces and publish outside the federal files FillMap reads, so their plans are absent from it entirely — see disclosures §2. If you buy marketplace coverage in one of these, go to your own exchange: