Archive for the ‘Medicare Bills’ Category

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.

Here is the Press Release from AARP.

AARP has approximately 29% of the Medigap Market in terms of # of insureds.  There has been some debate on whether this endorsement has a financial incentive for AARP because of the possibility of an increase in Medicare Supplement sales.  AARP receives referal fees from United Healthcare who administers the AARP Medicare Supplement and Part D programs.

Article -> here

Learn What You Need to Know about Medicare, and How to Pick the Perfect Supplement Plan!

Independence, MO – One of the biggest fears that many people have today is the fear of turning 65 and having to figure out their own benefits with no knowledge of how the Medicare system works or who to contact.  Most people end up just trusting what their sales agent tells them they need and find themselves with hundreds if not thousands of dollars in medical bills left for them.  Most of the public does not know what plans are available to them and get their information from a green sales agent or commercials on TV.  Did you know Medicare Benefits during the year 2010 have the most changes since 2006, which could affect anyone on Medicare!  A community informational workshop presented by Travis Gensler, local advisor who specalizes in Medicare Plans.

At this workshop, you will learn:

• How to sign up for your Medicare benefits and the eligibility requirements
• How to find out what is and is not covered by Medicare Part A & B
• What is a Medicare Supplement or Medigap plan
• What is the Medicare Advantage program
• What is Part D and why do I need it
• The 5 questions you need to ask to pick the perfect advisor to work with
• The 10 questions you need to ask to pick the perfect plan
• How the current changes and healthcare debate will affect the future of Medicare

Workshops 10am – 12pm on the following dates:

Nov 10^th        Nov 17^th        Nov 24^th        Dec 1^st           Dec 8^th

Attendance for this workshop is free, but seating is limited. 

 You can reserve your spot by calling 816-228-8000. 

These classes will fill up quickly, so call right away!

Class Location: 201 W. Lexington Ave, Suite 301 (3^rd floor), Independence, MO 64050

Not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or the Federal Medicare Program. For educational purposes only, no company or plan specific information will be available.

With the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid releasing the projected growth rates of the Medicare Advantage plan for 2010,   the results ended up smashing the stocks of those companies who derive a substantial amount of their business from these plans.  A report released from Goldman Sachs had this to say:

…however, the bottom line is that MA plans will need to cut benefits to maintain profit margins, which could be tricky with many more plans competing for MA lives relative to prior years.   At most, however, this represents an acceleration of the time frame given proposals already on the table to cut back MA funding (in fact, the Obama Administration is reportedly set to unveil broader MA funding cutbacks as soon as this week). The broader funding cuts are expected to be phased in starting in 2011, coincident with the termination of the MA private fee-for-service product (MA-PFFS) for most geographies.

Read the entire article and report here

P.S.  the termination of the MA private fee-for-service product for most geographies statement is because the new mandate states that they must establish a network for the plan to provide service through, those companies without a PPO or HMO network in those areas will not be able to offer a PFFS plan in those areas.

P.S.S  If you have any burning questions or need some advice on your current or future situation, call 1-888-535-0999 and ask for Travis

One of the features of the bill that was passed on friday is pushing doctors and medical professionals to convert their patients records to an electronice format.  The bill sets to increase the payment to providers in 2011, but will potentially reduce payment to those providers who do not use electronic records at that point.

Read the entire article here