If you're on Medicare, you can change some of your health-insurance arrangements this month, Trudy Lieberman reports for the Rural Health News Service.
"Until the end of March, if you have a Medicare Advantage plan, you are allowed to switch to another Medicare Advantage plan," she reports. Or you can drop an Advantage plan, return to traditional Medicare and buy a separate drug benefit under Medicare Part D.
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| Trudy Lieberman |
"It’s also a good time for those who will soon be turning 65 to begin thinking of their options and learn what the rules are once they make their selections," writes Lieberman, a nationally recognized health-care journalist.
"Until the end of March, if you have a Medicare Advantage plan, you are allowed to switch to another Medicare Advantage plan," she reports. Or you can drop an Advantage plan, return to traditional Medicare and buy a separate drug benefit under Medicare Part D.
"What you cannot do, if you have traditional Medicare along with a stand-alone drug plan, is switch to a new drug benefit that might let you save more money on your prescriptions," Lieberman writes. "You can do that only during the open enrollment period in the fall."
Lieberman notes that if you switch to traditional Medicare, "You might have trouble buying a Medigap policy to fill in holes in Medicare coverage." Only four states require Medigap insurance to be issued: New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine.
Why would you want to switch? "If you have an Advantage plan that has a drug benefit built in as part of the coverage but you believe you can do better with another plan’s drug benefit, then you might want to do the math," Lieberman writes. "Too many consumers fail to do their shopping for the drug benefit."
Here's another reason: "Research is beginning to surface that shows Medicare beneficiaries with high medical needs may have trouble accessing care in some Medicare Advantage plans. Medicare defines those with high needs as people who have three or more chronic diseases and a functional limitation in activities of daily living or in performing routine daily tasks.
The inspector general of the Department for Health and Human Services "reported last fall that those with Medicare Advantage plans sometimes had trouble getting claims paid under those plans, or they reported other problems getting help from the plan," Lieberman writes.
Lieberman notes that if you switch to traditional Medicare, "You might have trouble buying a Medigap policy to fill in holes in Medicare coverage." Only four states require Medigap insurance to be issued: New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine.
Why would you want to switch? "If you have an Advantage plan that has a drug benefit built in as part of the coverage but you believe you can do better with another plan’s drug benefit, then you might want to do the math," Lieberman writes. "Too many consumers fail to do their shopping for the drug benefit."
Here's another reason: "Research is beginning to surface that shows Medicare beneficiaries with high medical needs may have trouble accessing care in some Medicare Advantage plans. Medicare defines those with high needs as people who have three or more chronic diseases and a functional limitation in activities of daily living or in performing routine daily tasks.
The inspector general of the Department for Health and Human Services "reported last fall that those with Medicare Advantage plans sometimes had trouble getting claims paid under those plans, or they reported other problems getting help from the plan," Lieberman writes.
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