Connecticut Consumers Guide to Choosing Your Medicare Supplement or Advantage … · 2019-06-03 ·...

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Pg. 1 www.CTMedicareTips.com (203) 374-3645 Connecticut Consumers Guide to Choosing Your Medicare Supplement or Advantage Plan (updated for 2020) Author Alston J. Balkcom President 1800insuranceCT.com LLC licensed Connecticut insurance agent since 1985 You may have requested this guide because you’re overwhelmed by the unfamiliar health insurance choices you face as you approach your start date for Medicare. It’s not your fault if Medicare still looks like a swirling maze or sounds like a foreign language. I was overwhelmed at first too. And when I shifted my focus to Medicare, I was an insurance veteran. I helped people with other types of insurance during my first 20 years of experience. Whatever you’re feeling right now, I wrote this guide for you. I think it will help you make good Medicare decisions. You should feel more confident about Medicare soon. You’ll see the same step-by-step process my son Joel and I use to advise our clients who live in Connecticut. You’ll hear the most important strategies we’ve used to help hundreds of our Connecticut neighbors onboard to Medicare each year. This guide will give you what you need to make good choices by yourself. But you don’t have to walk alone. We can walk the path beside you. You can discuss your concerns with us. And Joel or I can also do most of the research for you. (You won’t pay extra. We are paid fairly by the insurers. And they are not allowed to pass this cost on to you. So, you get our help for free.) Table of Contents When Should You Enroll in Medicare Parts A and B? ................................................... 2 How to Enroll in Medicare ......................................................................................... 3 Do You Need Drug Coverage if You Don’t Take Prescriptions Today?.........................4 What’s Better for You – Medicare Supplement or Advantage? ..................................... 4 Advantage vs Supplement (Medigap) - Three ways to Choose .................................... 6 How Do You Estimate Your Total Costs (Premiums + Copays + Coinsurance + Deductibles)? ............................................................................................................ 7 How to Compare Medicare Supplement Plans ............................................................ 8 How to Compare Medicare Prescription Drug Plans ................................................. 11 How to Compare Medicare Advantage Plans with Drug Coverage .............................11 How to See What Plans Your Doctors Accept ............................................................ 17 Special Options for Low Income Households ........................................................... 18 Why Advice from Out-of-State Experts can Cost You ................................................ 18 What Should You Do During Each Annual Enrollment Period? ...................................18 How to Apply for your Medicare Supplement, Drug or Advantage Plan.....................20 Still Have Questions? ............................................................................................... 20 Want to work with us one-on-one (at no cost to you)? .............................................. 20

Transcript of Connecticut Consumers Guide to Choosing Your Medicare Supplement or Advantage … · 2019-06-03 ·...

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Connecticut Consumers Guide to Choosing Your Medicare Supplement or Advantage Plan (updated for 2020)

Author Alston J. Balkcom President 1800insuranceCT.com LLC licensed Connecticut insurance agent since 1985

You may have requested this guide because you’re overwhelmed by the unfamiliar health insurance choices you face as you approach your start date for Medicare.

It’s not your fault if Medicare still looks like a swirling maze or sounds like a foreign language.

I was overwhelmed at first too. And when I shifted my focus to Medicare, I was an insurance veteran. I helped people with other types of insurance during my first 20 years of experience.

Whatever you’re feeling right now, I wrote this guide for you. I think it will help you make good Medicare decisions. You should feel more confident about Medicare soon.

You’ll see the same step-by-step process my son Joel and I use to advise our clients who live in Connecticut. You’ll hear the most important strategies we’ve used to help hundreds of our Connecticut neighbors onboard to Medicare each year.

This guide will give you what you need to make good choices by yourself. But you don’t have to walk alone. We can walk the path beside you. You can discuss your concerns with us. And Joel or I can also do most of the research for you. (You won’t pay extra. We are paid fairly by the insurers. And they are not allowed to pass this cost on to you. So, you get our help for free.)

Table of Contents

When Should You Enroll in Medicare Parts A and B? ................................................... 2�How to Enroll in Medicare ......................................................................................... 3�Do You Need Drug Coverage if You Don’t Take Prescriptions Today? ......................... 4�What’s Better for You – Medicare Supplement or Advantage? ..................................... 4�Advantage vs Supplement (Medigap) - Three ways to Choose .................................... 6�How Do You Estimate Your Total Costs (Premiums + Copays + Coinsurance + Deductibles)? ............................................................................................................ 7�How to Compare Medicare Supplement Plans ............................................................ 8�How to Compare Medicare Prescription Drug Plans ................................................. 11�How to Compare Medicare Advantage Plans with Drug Coverage ............................. 11�How to See What Plans Your Doctors Accept ............................................................ 17�Special Options for Low Income Households ........................................................... 18�Why Advice from Out-of-State Experts can Cost You ................................................ 18�What Should You Do During Each Annual Enrollment Period? ................................... 18�How to Apply for your Medicare Supplement, Drug or Advantage Plan ..................... 20�Still Have Questions? ............................................................................................... 20�Want to work with us one-on-one (at no cost to you)? .............................................. 20�

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When Should You Enroll in Medicare Parts A and B?

Do you want to delay enrolling in Medicare?

www.CTMedicareTips.com/delay (Visit for details about starting Medicare “late” without paying late enrollment penalties.)

Can you keep health insurance from you job (or your spouse’s) after your 65th birthday? If so, you may be able to delay enrolling without paying penalties.

Do you want Medicare to start “early” - before 65?

If you’re disabled you may qualify for Medicare at an earlier age. Contact us, or Social Security to see when you should enroll.

Do you want Medicare to start “on time” - just before you turn 65?

www.CTMedicareTips.com/deadlines (Visit this page to see your deadlines for each step.)

If your red, white and blue Medicare card has already seen the inside of your mailbox, you may not need to take action to complete this important first step.

Just make sure you see starting dates for both Medicare Part A and Part B.

Synonyms:

Medicare Part A and B are also known as “Original Medicare”

“Medicare Supplement” and “Medigap” mean the same thing

“Medicare Advantage Plans” are also called “Medicare Part C.” (They cover you differently than Medigap plans.)

“Medicare Prescription Drug Plans” are “Medicare Part D” plans. Part D can be standalone or “baked into” other policies.

To avoid missing important deadlines, apply for Medicare two or three calendar months before your 65th birthday.

By default, Medicare starts just before your 65th birthday and always on the first of the month. (If your birthday is the first of the month, it starts one month before your birthday.)

Your window to apply opens 3 months before your default start date.

Request Medicare A & B as early in your window as is convenient for you. You must have both Medicare Parts A and B in place before you can apply for your Medigap or Medicare Advantage Plan.

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If you miss your three-month window you may have an additional four months to enroll, but you could have several nervous months without proper coverage.

If don’t apply before your window closes, you may have to wait a year to get the protection you need. Your window should stay open while you have qualifying group insurance.

How to Enroll in Medicare

www.CTMedicareTips.com/apply (Visit to see the links and phone numbers you’ll need to apply for Medicare.)

To apply for Medicare Part A and Part B either:

Visit www.ssa.gov/medicare/ (You can get there directly or from the Medicare.gov home page.)

Contact your local Social Security office to arrange a face-to-face or phone-to-phone meeting

You will be asked if you want to enroll in Medicare Part A and/or Part B.

You’ll need both Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B to qualify for any Medicare Health Plan (Medicare Advantage Plan) or a Medicare Supplement.

If you keep other coverage after you’re eligible for Medicare (like group insurance), you may need Part A only, Part A and Part B or neither. Talk to your HR department or ask us for advice.

How Much Does It Cost?

www.CTMedicareTips.com/all-costs (Visit this page to see the current dollar amounts.)

You’ve probably already paid in full for Medicare Part A. If you or your spouse paid Medicare payroll taxes for at least 10 years, you’ll probably get it without monthly payments. Most of us will pay for Part B. The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B $144.60 for 2020. Your income could mean you pay more than the standard Part B premium, or less.

See www.CTMedicareTips.com/income (Visit this page to see if your above average or below average income will change what you pay for Medicare, or if you qualify for extra benefits.)

You may qualify for the Medicare Savings Program. It can pay your monthly Medicare Part B premium. If your income falls within the guidelines (see link above), we can help you apply.

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Do You Need Drug Coverage if You Don’t Take Prescriptions Today?

Unless you’re sure you’ll never need prescription coverage, it is important to maintain continuous “creditable” drug coverage once you eligible for Medicare. Otherwise, you may pay a late enrollment penalty.

You can avoid that penalty by maintaining qualifying drug coverage from:

Medicare Advantage plans that have baked in drug coverage

Standalone Medicare Prescription drug coverage

Your employer-sponsored plan Veterans Affairs coverage You may have other options that

aren’t common

You will pay this penalty (mandated higher premiums) every month you have drug coverage. You will even have to pay it for otherwise $0 premium options.

For more details on the penalty visit:

www.CTMedicareTips.com/penalty

What’s Better for You – Medicare Supplement or Advantage?

The end game for most is to have Medicare Part A and Part B plus one of the following:

A Medicare Supplement Plan and a standalone Prescription Drug Plan

A Medicare Advantage Plan with “baked in” prescription coverage

Warning: Enrolling in a separate Prescription Drug Plan will automatically cancel your Medicare Advantage Plan in most cases.

It is possible, but unlikely, that you will be best served by an option that does not include prescription drug coverage. You may have “creditable” drug coverage from the VA or elsewhere. (“Creditable” coverage meets Medicare’s minimum standards)

What are the differences between the plan types?

In the next section, we will drill down and discuss how you can easily compare one specific policy with another, but first let’s see which type of policy looks better for you.

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Medicare SUPPLEMENT Strong Points:

Access to more doctors Lower copays or cost shares (with most options)

Medicare Supplement Plans coordinate with Medicare Parts A and B. In most situations, Medicare Part A or Part B will pay a portion of a medical expense and your Medicare Supplement Plan will pay some or all the balance.

About 90% of all US doctors accept Medicare Supplement plans. If your doctor accepts Medicare, and takes you as a patient, she will accept your supplement.

Medicare ADVANTAGE Strong Points:

Lower monthly premiums (in most cases) Often lower overall costs (monthly premiums, plus copays and other cost-shares) Prescription coverage built-in at no extra cost (most policies) Lower copays for drugs than standalone drug plans (usually) No cost annual exams, and (usually with shared costs) possibly dental and eyeglasses An annual out of pocket maximum that limits what you can pay for medical care (but not

prescriptions)

Medicare Advantage Plans work much like the insurance you probably have now, or had before Medicare covered you. You’ll access your Medicare Part A and B (Original Medicare) benefits through your Advantage plan’s ID card instead of through your red, white and blue card.

You’ll get coverage for all Original Medicare health care benefits. For most covered expenses, you will typically hand your doctor or other medical professional your insurance policy’s ID card and pay a small copay. The average person with an Advantage plan will pay less in cost shares than a person with Original Medicare and no other coverage.

A Medicare Advantage Plan will pay less (or not pay at all) when you get treatment out-of-network. However, this may not affect you. We can probably find at least one Advantage plan that covers the doctors you trust.

You’re free to visit an ER or urgent care anywhere in the US if you have a medical emergency or urgent need. Your Advantage plan insurer will waive its network restrictions. You’ll just pay the normal in-network copay (or other cost share).

So, if you need care from an ER or a walk-in clinic while visiting your sister in Texas, your Medicare Advantage Plan will cover you. Some plans cover emergency care worldwide.

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What’s Better for You – Medicare Supplement or Advantage? (continued)

Most Medicare Advantage Plans will cover your prescription drugs. (You will need a second policy for medicines, if you choose a Medicare Supplement.)

The plan combination that will make you happiest is probably the one that covers your doctors, covers your medications and has the lowest overall cost. By overall cost, I mean the cost when you add the monthly premiums for the policy to what you will spend in copays and other cost-shares.

Advantage vs Supplement (Medigap) - Three ways to Choose

The Easy Way

If you are a “snowbird” or otherwise spend enough time outside of Connecticut to need non-emergency care in another state, then you will probably be better served with a Medicare Supplement Plan. (Some Medicare Advantage Plans have networks outside of Connecticut.)

If you think your copays will be more than $100 a month on a Medicare Advantage Plan, consider enrolling in a Medicare Supplement Plan or do an analysis using “the hard way” below.

Whatever you choose, you won’t be locked in for long. You can make a different decision each fall during the Annual Election Period (Open Enrollment). You may qualify for other Enrollment Periods in other parts of the year.

So long as you (or we) find a plan that covers your doctors and prescriptions, you will probably be better served with a Medicare Advantage Plan.

The Hard Way

First forecast how you are likely to use medical care during a typical year. Then imagine a worst-case situation and do the same exercise.

Then, by following this guide, estimate your total costs (monthly premium, copays, coinsurance and deductible) for each policy in each scenario.

The Super Easy Way

Just request recommendations from us by phone or online. We are authorized to help you with any Connecticut Medigap plan from the major carrier. We are authorized to help you with any Medicare Advantage plan available to residents of Connecticut.

www.CTMedicareTips.com/advice

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Advantage vs Supplement (Medigap) - Three ways to Choose (continued)

Medicare Advantage vs. Medicare Supplement Scorecard

Question 1: Will you need non-emergency, non-urgent care in another state?

If yes: Add 100 Supplement points. Unless your Advantage Plan has a network in the state(s) you visit, you’ll pay 100% for routine visits.

Question 2: Will you move to (not just visit) another state before the end of the year?

If yes: Call or email us for advice. This gets a little tricky.

Question 3: Will you pay more in Advantage plan copays than in premiums for a Supplement?

If yes: Add 500 Supplement points.

Question 4: Are all your important doctors in-network for a Medicare Advantage plan?

If yes: Add 25 Advantage points. The network restrictions aren’t likely to hurt you.

Question 5: Is your income under the limit for Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) status?

If yes: Add 100 Advantage points so long as we can find a plan that covers your doctors and medicines. You won’t have copays for any Original Medicare benefits, including hospitalization. (You may have small copays for drugs.) You will get extra benefits you can only get through an Advantage plan.

Question 6: Are you OK with possibly paying your Advantage Plan’s annual maximum-out-of-pocket (MOOP) limit or worst-case-scenario one year?

If yes: Add 25 Advantage points. Remember, you change plans at least once per year. And, it’s a gamble either way. Two or three years of Medicare Supplement premiums can exceed the one year worst-case-scenario for an Advantage plan.

How Do You Estimate Your Total Costs (Premiums + Copays + Coinsurance + Deductibles)?

You won’t know which plan is best for you unless you know what medical services you’ll need. We may not have a crystal ball, but you can take educated guesses.

There is an easy way to estimate your prescription drug costs. Medicare.gov has a tool that will do the math for you. You’ll see the out-of-pocket costs for all plans in your county quickly and easily. We will cover that in a minute.

But it takes a little more effort to estimate your out-of-pocket costs for medical bills. You will need to list the number of times you believe you will see your primary care doctor, your specialists and how frequently you will need other types of care.

Create a most likely scenario and a worst-case scenario.

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Once you have these scenarios look at the copays and other cost-shares for each service. You’ll have to check each plan separately. Then let your calculator help you make your decision. This is a simple, but time-consuming process.

This is relatively easy to do for Medicare Supplement Plans. You can see the current monthly premiums, copays and deductibles for each plan (from every company serving Connecticut) here:

www.CTMedicareTips.com/prices

Don’t let the tail wag the dog!

Advantage plans have a lot of cool benefits you won’t find in a Supplement. All cover annual exams and preventive care with $0 copays. Many cover dental care, eyeglasses and hearing aids.

But let’s put first things first. Make sure your choice covers the doctors you trust and the drugs you need with affordable copays.

You can avoid the research chore if you choose. Or use us for a second opinion. Just ask us to research the plans for you. You’ll get a short of plans to consider. You’ll get your personalized suggestions delivered to your mailbox or inbox.

www.CTMedicareTips.com/Advice

How to Compare Medicare Supplement Plans

If you qualify for Medicare due to disability and not due to age, fewer Medicare Supplement Plan options will be available to you until you reach age 65. If this is the case for you, a Medicare Advantage Plan will almost certainly be your best choice.

We’ll cover those plans starting on page 11.

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How to Compare Medicare Supplement Plans (continued)

You can see an overview of all Medicare Supplement (a.k.a. Medigap) Plans online.

You can visit our site for the information you need (www.CTMedicareTips.com/prices) or you can visit Medicare’s official website :

www.Medicare.gov/find-a-plan/questions/medigap-home.aspx

1 Enter your zip code 2 Click your county 3 Click “Continue.”

(You’ll see the continue button after you select your county.)

The plans, I feel, will give you the best value in 2020 are Plan G (not high deductible G), Plan N and Plan K. Other experts will have different opinions.

4 Click “Plan Details” to see your deductibles, copays and other cost shares for the plans that interest you.

You might prefer to view the side-by-side chart we’ve attached to the Connecticut Medicare Supplement (Medigap) price list. www.CTMedicareTips.com/prices

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How to Compare Medicare Supplement Plans (Continued)

Once you understand the plans and have your estimate of the number of times you are likely to need various medical services, you are ready to estimate your copays and other cost-shares. Then it should be easy to make a decision about that plan.

Bear in mind, all Medicare Supplement (Medigap) Plans – with the same plan letter - will have the same core benefits and out of pocket costs for copays, coinsurance and deductibles.

But the monthly premiums can be very different!

So, a Plan A policy from any company will have the same medical benefits as a Plan A from any other company. The same is true for all Plan B policies… and so on. This is a federal mandate.

You can finally make apples-to-apples comparisons!

When is the last time you’ve heard that?

How to Enroll

You can enroll on the insurance company’s website, but I hope you will want our help. (We never charge broker fees. Your insurer will compensate us. For you and our other clients, all our services are free.

If you feel our information has helped you, or we can be helpful to you in the future, please call or email us.

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How to Compare Medicare Prescription Drug Plans

Just follow the steps you see just below in the “How to Compare Medicare Advantage Plans with Drug Coverage” section.

Then click "View Available Drug Plans” when you’ve completed the other steps. (See page 17)

Medicare.gov makes it easy to compare Medicare Advantage Plans and Prescription Drug Plans. It is also easy to see how each plan covers your drugs.

www.CTMedicareTips.com/drugs (Visit this page to download an e-book like this one, that focuses on comparing Medicare Prescription Drug Plans.)

Note: Supplement plans only cover drugs administered by a medical professional, like blood infusions. These are Part B drugs.

If you choose a Medicare Supplement, you’ll need a Standalone Medicare Prescription Drug Plan for “regular” drugs you can take at home. These are Part D drugs.

The standalone drug plans are not compatible with Medicare Advantage plans. You’ll be automatically disenrolled from your Advantage plan if you enroll in a standalone drug plan. Fortunately, most Advantage plans include Part D drug coverage.

The drug coverage baked into Advantage plans is usually comparable or better. This is true even for the plans with $0 monthly premiums.

How to Compare Medicare Advantage Plans with Drug Coverage

Estimating your medical costs for a Medicare Advantage Plan is a little more time consuming because the policies are not standardized.

To save time, eliminate from consideration the plans that do not include your prescriptions in their formulary or your important doctors in their network. This way you won’t waste time comparing benefits for plans that aren’t a good fit for you.

First eliminate the plans that don’t cover your drugs. It is easier to do it in this order. You can check the drug formularies (lists of covered drugs) all at once. Just follow the directions below.

You have to check the network of doctors one at a time. So, it’s faster if you eliminate the plans that don’t cover your prescriptions first.

You’ll see how to do that on the next few pages.

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How to Compare Medicare Advantage Plans with Drug Coverage (continued)

The easiest way to compare plans is to use this great tool from Medicare.gov:

www.Medicare.gov (Medicare’s official website.)

1 Click “Find Plans”

2 Click “Continue without logging in”

3 Or… “Log In or Create Account.”

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How to Compare Medicare Advantage Plans with Drug Coverage (continued)

4 Select “Medicare Advantage Plan”

5 Enter your Zip Code 6 Click “Continue” 7 Select “I don’t get

help from any of these programs” (unless you do get help)

8 Click “Next”

9 Select “Yes” 10 Select “Both” 11 Click “Next”

4

6

8

9

10

11

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How to Compare Medicare Advantage Plans with Drug Coverage (continued)

12 Start typing the name of your drug

13 Click the name of your drug when it auto-fills. (Be careful, many prescriptions have similar names.)

14 Click “Add Drug”

15 Select Dosage 16 Select Quantity and

Select Frequency (30 every month if you take one pill daily) If you don’t see the dosage you need, try clicking cancel and typing in the name of the drug again. You may have to click on the second or third result with the same name

17 Click “Add to My Drug List”

14

15

16

17

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How to Compare Medicare Advantage Plans with Drug Coverage (continued)

18 Click “Add Another Drug” and repeat the previous steps, until all your drugs are on the list

19 Or… Click “Done Adding Drugs”

Preferred Pharmacies – this is important!

www.CTMedicareTips.com/PreferredPharmacies (Visit this page for a list of preferred pharmacies that are in your insurance policy’s network.)

You will save about 60% on many if not all of your drugs when you use a preferred pharmacy.

After you’ve entered all your drugs and clicked “Done Adding Drugs,” you should select pharmacies.

Before we look at your favorite, let’s see which drug store has the lowest costs.

Especially if you take any name brand or expensive drugs, it’s important to compare the copays for the preferred pharmacies that connected with each policy.

But here’s the catch. There is no single list of preferred pharmacies. Each company has their own list of drug stores who have a contract with them. And the list changes from year to year.

Currently the best way to do that is to select “CVS” and “Walgreens” in this step. As of this writing, one or the other is on the preferred pharmacy list for each of the Connecticut Medicare Advantage Plans that cover drugs.

19

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After you see the lowest overall costs for the Preferred Pharmacy and Medicare Advantage Plan combination, you can return to this step and see if a combination that includes your favorite pharmacy can match those costs.

How to Compare Medicare Advantage Plans with Drug Coverage (continued)

20 Select the closest Walgreens

21 Select the closest CVS pharmacy (To see why I suggest these drug stores, see the previous page.)

22 Click “Done”

20

21

22

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How to Compare Medicare Advantage Plans with Drug Coverage (continued)

23 Sort Plans By “Lowest drug + premium cost” The plan with the lowest drug cost should be listed first

24 To see which pharmacy has the lowest cost for this policy, click “View drugs & their costs” You’ll be able to weigh the difference in cost between the insurer’s mail order program and the pharmacies you listed in the previous step.

25 The word “yearly” is incorrect. These figures (monthly premiums and copays added together) are for the rest of the year, not including this month, unless you request information for next year.

26 Optional… Click edit your “drugs and pharmacies.” This time select different pharmacies you may find another pharmacy and policy combination with a lower overall cost.

27 Click “Plan Details” to see this plan’s copays for doctor visits and other medical care. This is the information you need to estimate your out-of-pocket costs.

28 Click “View Available Drug Plans” to see other options to cover your drugs.

How to See What Plans Your Doctors Accept

When it is time to see if your doctor is in the network for a given plan, I do not recommend calling your doctor’s office. These professionals work hard and are often very busy.

There is a more selfish reason not to call your doctor’s office. Most health insurance companies offer more than one type of policy. Each type (group, individual and Medicare) can have different but overlapping networks. This is confusing for almost everybody. This probably includes your doctor’s staff.

A doctor may be in-network for the group policies for Company X, or even be in network for their other Medicare policies… and not be in-network for policy Y from Company X.

I’ve often received the wrong answer when I’ve called doctors’ offices.

23

28

24

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The best way to check is through the insurers’ websites or by contacting a local independent broker like us – or actually us :-).

www.CTMedicareTips.com/docs (Visit for links to each company’s list of in-network doctors and other medical providers for their Medicare policies.)

Special Options for Low Income Households

www.CTMedicareTips.com/income

You may qualify for the Medicare Saving Program or “Extra Help” if your income falls within the guidelines. You may get free Medicare Part B or a reduction in the copays you pay for various services.

Connecticut’s an expensive place to live. So, the income guidelines are much higher here than in most other states. The income you can receive is probably much higher than you think. And less than half of income from a job or self-employment is countable for this program.

So, take a minute to visit the link above even if you have a middle-class income.

Medicare Savings Program and “Extra Help”

Connecticut is one of few states that won’t ask you about your home or other assets when you apply for the income-based Medicare Savings Program (MSP) or for the Medicare “Extra Help” program.

Also, unlike Medicaid, neither the Connecticut MSP program, nor the federal “Extra Help” program will take your assets to repay any bills they have paid on your behalf.

Why Advice from Out-of-State Experts can Cost You

Medicare is a Federal program. Medicare Supplement coverage is the same in every state except Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin. So many agents learn how Medicare works in their state and think they are an expert for the rest of the country.

But the Connecticut Insurance Department has unique regulations you won’t see in other states. Most out-of-state agents have no clue about these differences. The advice I might give you could cost a resident of another state thousands of dollars each year.

And vice versa! This means solid expert advice that will serve the residents of other states well, could cost you thousands of dollars. Every. Year.

What Should You Do During Each Annual Enrollment Period?

The Annual Enrollment period starts October 15 and ends December 7th each year. During this period, you can switch from a Medicare Advantage Plan to a Medicare Supplement Plan or vice versa. You can also change your Prescription Drug Plan.

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During most other times of the year, you can switch from one Medicare Supplement Plan to another. But changes to your Medicare Advantage Plan or your Prescription Drug plan can only take place during specific times of the year unless you qualify for an exception.”

Exceptions include:

Turning 65 Moving to another county or state that has other policy options Leaving group coverage

The annual enrollment period is a good time to review everything.

It is a good time to:

Project your annual medical expenses for the next year See which pharmacies will give you the best price for your current prescriptions Review the current prices and benefits available to you from all insurers that service your

area Read the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) letter your insurer will send you in the fall

(see below).

Pro tip: Late summer is a great time to have a physical. This way you’ll have the most up-to-date information when it’s time to make projections and decisions for the following year.

Annual Notice of Change Letters

Your insurer will send you an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) document for your Medicare Advantage Plan or Prescription Drug Plan. Expect this in September or October.

Most ANOC documents will announce small changes to your policy. For example, you may hear that your doctor copays will be $5.00 more next year.

However, sometimes there are bigger changes. You should read the document carefully or consult with your agent.

You may even receive a notice stating that your plan will not be available in your area for the coming year. If you ignore this, your insurer may place you in a plan they think is similar but that doesn’t meet your needs. Or they may not have a comparable plan to move you to. This could mean you have no coverage for a year!

Connect with your agent, or read your ANOC each year, or you could lose coverage.

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How to Apply for your Medicare Supplement, Drug or Advantage Plan

You can enroll on the insurance company’s website or you can ask for our help.

I’m sure you can figure out the application, but if you feel we’ve been helpful to you and could be help you in the future, I hope you will let Joel or I assist you. When you’re ready, please call the number below.

Still Have Questions?

Visit www.CTMedicareTips.com/free-info to get Medicare tips in your email inbox (if you’re not already receiving them.)

Visit www.CTMedicareTips.com/guides to download our cheat sheets and other free guides like this one.

Want to work with us one-on-one (at no cost to you)?

If you live in Connecticut, you can get your Medicare answers from us

Please visit www.CTMedicareTips.com/advice or call the number below.

If you want our help, we can do the heavy lifting of researching the plans for you. Then help you look over your choices. Then complete your “paper” work with you while we talk.

We can also do most of the work for you and/or with you. (And you won’t pay any broker fees when you choose us).

Alston J. Balkcom Licensed agent since 1985 CT license # 36280 203-374-3645

Joel A. Balkcom (son) Licensed agent since 2007 CT license # 2284927 203-374-3645