Medicare Supplemental Insurance

Archive for the ‘Medicare Advantage’ Category

What a sad day, I feel so bad for my client being caught in the middle of this.    To make a long story short, I  had a client who was having trouble with Humana approving a treatment that was recommended by her doctor.  She finally decided she wanted to switch back to Original Medicare and pick up a supplement so she didn’t have to deal with the pre-authorization junk anymore. 

Needless to say, to be curtious she called her Humana agent to let her know that she was discontinuing her plan with Humana and moving back to original Medicare.  Her Humana agent told her that she was not allowed to do that at this time and told her that her Humana HMO with prescription coverages was not considered a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan.

My poor client, not knowing called me crying because she was so fedup with Humana.  Her agent even pointed out a paragraph in the Medicare and You handbook to back up her claim, just either didn’t know or forgot to show her the paragraph above that told her she could.

To keep from rambeling on, after educating my client and showing her where she can see the answer for herself, problem solved. 

I guess my point here is even though someone works for a company there again they may not be the best advisor for you because they probably have quotas and must do whatever they can do to gain and keep your business no matter what.  It pays to search out someone who doesn’t care what company your with, because they can give you the pros and cons for each.  A true independent agent will find a solution. 

If you want the truth about your options, give us a call 1-888-535-0999.

Not sure what it means for you?

Some seniors may lose Medicare benefits they now enjoy. Many others will gain from an enhancement of Medicare’s prescription-drug program.

The link below does a pretty good job explaining how it could impact those on medicare.  As always let us know what questions you have.

Full Article Here

Travis

Phone 816-254-6100

toll free 888-535-0999

This is your last chance to make a change on how you receive your Medicare benefits for the 2010 plan year. 

The open enrollment period runs from Janurary 1st to March 31st of each year and you are allowed to make ONE change in how you receive your medical coverage.  You have the following options:

• If you are enrolled in Original Medicare with a Part D prescription program you may change to a Medicare Advantage plan that includes prescription coverage
• If you are enrolled in a Medicare advantage plan with prescription coverage you may change to another Medicare Advantage plan with prescription coverage
• If you are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan with prescription coverage you may return to Original Medicare as long as you pick up a Part D prescription plan.
• If you are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan without prescription coverage you may return to Original Medicare but you are not allowed to enroll in a prescription plan at this time.

If you are like everyone else what I just typed could be real confusing so please give us a call to help find what option is available to you.

816-254-6100 or toll free 1-888-535-0999

Travis

The 2010 Medicare supplement Modernization Act will certainly update current Medicare Medigap insurance plans countrywide. Nevertheless, it can not affect any existing Medicare Supplemental coverage which you have.

This exclusively has an effect on individuals that buy a brand new plan with an effective date of coverage on or after June 1, 2010. In case you already possess a Medicare Supplement insurance policy, your own health benefits are not going to change and also you are guaranteed to keep your policy given that you continue paying your payment. You will end up grandfathered in to the old plan benefits, nevertheless could possibly have a chance to go on to a new program if it performs better for you.

In case you are turning 65 on or after June 1, 2010 or considering a Medicare Medigap switch on or perhaps after that date, you’ll want to pay special attention to the brand new insurance plans and the way they’ll have an impact on you. The key modifications are going to be:

The Preventive Care and At Home Recovery features will be removed completely from all policies which bundled them prior to June 1st, 2010. Medicare has made the decision that these kind of benefits, that weren’t used very often will not be worthy of inclusion in the standard Medicare Medigap insurance plans moving forward, consequently they’ve been peeled off all policies which had them.

Together with the removal of those two benefits many of the plans are going to mirror several other policies exactly, therefore in order to reduce multiple policies with the very same coverage, plans E, H, I along with J will not be available to buy.

Yet again, make sure you try to remember for those who have a plan which won’t be available immediately after June 1st, 2010 you’re grandfathered in and get to maintain your current plan, your features cannot change.

For the brand new policies being launched immediately after June 1st, 2010, there will be a new Hospice feature added as a standard benefit within all the plans. This will now be regarded as a core feature and will be an integral part of all of the brand new plans.

The biggest revision is actually the addition of two new plans, Plan M and also Plan N. Those two plans promise to be a very practical choice for all those currently on a Medicare Advantage plan which are either losing their insurance or facing the significant rates increases / benefit decreases which are predicted in these the years to come.

Each plans will certainly use a different cost-sharing to allow for lower prices. Plan M will make the covered responsible for Half of the Part A deductible, while Plan N will have a $20 doctor’s office co-pay and a $50 emergency room co-pay. Both plans estimate to have 15-30% lower monthly premiums as compared to existing Medicare Supplement Plan F.

At the time of the witting of this article, there has not been virtually any details released with who will likely be selling these brand new plans or the exact costs. I highly recommend you subscribe to our site at www.medicaresupplementdirect.com with regard to up-to-date info as it is published.