Finding and Comparing Medicare Plans
(Part 7 of a Series of 8
Articles)
You may decide that your current coverage
still meets your needs for 2014. If that’s the case, you’re done! You don’t have
to do anything more during Medicare Open Enrollment. Your coverage will continue
automatically in 2014.
Be sure you understand any coverage or cost changes your
plan may have made for 2014 before making your final decision. You can review
these in the Annual Notice of Changes (ANOC) you received from your
plan.
If you’re not sure yet, whether you want
to change your coverage, then you may want to learn about the Medicare plans
offered where you live.
You may be looking for a Medicare
Advantage or a Medicare prescription drug plan, depending on your needs. These
plans are offered through private insurance
companies.
Each plan has a geographic service area
where it operates. You must live in a plan’s service area in
order to enroll in the plan.
How to Find Medicare
Plan Information
You may have many plan choices, depending
on where you live. You can use the Plan Finder tool
at Medicare.gov to look for plans offered in your
area.
There is a link to the tool in the
resource list at the end of this article. This may be a good first step, since
you can get a whole list of plans offered by many
companies.
How to Compare
Medicare Plans
Carefully review the terms of any plan you
are considering. Plans may change coverage terms and costs from year to year, so
you want to make sure you have the most current
information.
Here are a few questions you will probably
want to answer “yes” to for any plan you may want to
enroll in:
Is your provider in
the plan network, if there is
one?
Can you use your
preferred pharmacy, if you have one?
Are your drugs on the
plan formulary?
Are you comfortable
with the expected out-of-pocket costs?
It may take some time to understand plan
costs. You may want to estimate what your costs would be with each plan or
combination of plans you’re considering. Create a scenario or take a situation
from your own health care experience and compare what you would pay with each
coverage choice.
Here are some costs to
consider:
Monthly plan
premiums
Annual
deductibles
Copays/coinsurance
Annual out-of-pocket
maximum
Emergency care
fees
Annual pharmacy
deductible
Prescription drug
costs
Medicare Open Enrollment ends December 7. You have just a couple more weeks to
make your decisions and change your Medicare coverage choices, if you
choose.
For a comprehensive
Medicare review and audit, please
contact:
Gavin Walker
PH:
702-325-9585
Located inside
Vons in Anthem Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 9:30am-2:00pm
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