Each year in late September, every Medicare recipient should receive an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) in the mail, which summarizes their current Medicare Advantage or Part D drug plan changes that will go into effect on Jan. 1st of the following year. Medicare Open Enrollment (Oct. 15th through Dec. 7th) is the period in which you may make changes to your current Medicare plan or your Medicare Drug plan.
Recipients should take the following steps to see if their current plan is still appropriate:
- Check your prescription drugs to make sure they are still covered. If not, you may need to change to a plan that will reduce the cost of your drugs.
- Since contracts can change during the year, you will need to ensure your doctors and hospitals are still in the plan; if they are no longer in the plan, you will need to go out of your network to see your usual doctor and this will probably cost more money than you want to spend. If you are currently on an HMO Advantage plan, you might need to change plans so your primary care doctor remains covered.
- Medicare Open Enrollment is the time to join a Medicare drug plan because if you select a plan outside of this period, you may encounter a late enrollment penalty; if you wait for future years, coverage will probably be more expensive.
Have you checked the following plan changes to see if they benefit you?
- Plans sometimes add value items, such as gym memberships, over the counter allowances, meal delivery, and acupuncture.
- Drug plans also make changes to which pharmacies are included as well as changes to tier coverage, deductibles, co-pays, and sometimes they will no longer cover the cost of a specific drug. Not knowing this information can save or cost you a lot of money. Also, if you went into the coverage gap last year, you need to see if changing plans can help you save money.
- Some plans are more useful for issues that might be important to you. Aetna, for example, has a generous hearing aid allowance compared to other plans, but co-pays may be higher. And if you have money coming out of your Social Security for Medicare payments, those could be waived depending on the amount you receive from Social Security.
The best way to make sure you’re getting the most out of Medicare is to visit a broker who is familiar with all the plans. There is no charge.
Reneé Gorden is an insurance broker and the founder of Health Choice America in Boca Raton.
By Reneé Gordon