Medicare Supplemental Insurance

Archive for November, 2009

For those with a Medicare Advantage plan or a Medicare Part D (prescription) plan, starting on November 15th and going through December 31st you can make a change to your current program which will take effect on Jan 1st, 2010.

This Annual enrollment period does not allow you to make a change to your medicare supplement since those are a different type of insurance policies and do not follow the Annual / Open Enrollment periods set by Medicare for the Advantage and Part D programs.

The reason that the Medicare Advantage and Part D programs have Annual and Open Enrollment periods is because they are a contract between Medicare and private insurers for those benefits and the enrollment periods are set around the fact that the contracts follow the calendar year.

Medicare Supplements are not direct contracts with Medicare and therefore do not follow the Annual / Open enrollment periods that Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D follow.  Medicare Supplements have their own open enrollment periods and guarantee issue periods that may have special options for you depending on what state you live in.  Contact an agent for more information.

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

By now, if you are on a PFFS Medicare Advantage plan (private fee for service) depending on what company you have your plan with, you might have gotten a letter saying that your plan will not be offered for the 2010 year.  With some of the changes Medicare made this year, there now must be a network associated with the plans.  Those companies offering PFFS plans that don’t have a network in your area, have sent out a letter to those members affected letting them know they need to find a different plan for 2010.

You can obviously select another advantage plan in your area, but you also now have a guarantee issue period to select a Medicare supplement plan if you would like to move back to original Medicare.

If you live in Missouri, Kansas or Iowa and need assistance with finding a new plan, please give us a call 816-254-6100 or toll free 1-888-535-0999.

Curious what your drug expenses will be next year?

Visit our resource page for a link to Medicare’s Prescription Plan finder and find the best plan for you.  Once you find that plan, let us know so we can get you set up for 2010.  Need help with the plan finder, we are more than happy to help!  Just give us a call 816-254-6100 or toll free 1-888-535-0999.

Visit our resource page -> here

From what we are seeing, it looks like the average premium will be around $40 per month again, however your actual total drug costs for the year may make a HUGE difference.  Make sure you look at the total cost not just the monthly when you are trying to find the Perfect plan.

Also look to use the mail order to help lower costs as well.

Call us for help 816-254-6100 or toll free 1-888-535-0999.

If you have Medicare Part B, you can get your flu shot each year.  You can visit the link to the right for the medicare website with information on the flu shot benefit or you can visit the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services official flu informational site -> here.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services official flu informational site -> here also includes information on the N1H1 as well.