Medicare and More

Sorry I haven’t written all week, but I’ve been very busy talking to seniors about their Medicare Advantage plans and their Medicare options.  With big changes to certain plans, people are confused and unsure about what they should do.  Should they stay put?  Should they change plans? Should they go back to Medicare and get a Medicare Supplement?

Here are some examples of people I’ve met with this week.

I met with several veterans who use the VA for their medications and even some of their health care, but they are also enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.  All of them had forgotten how to use their Medicare Advantage plan, and in some cases they would have saved money if they had used their Advantage plan rather than the VA.  The VA has deductibles and co-pays for services which, in some cases, are higher than what they would have paid using their Medicare Advantage plan.

Several seniors had run into problems with their Advantage plans because they went out of network for lab services, or showed their Medicare card when they went to the emergency room.  They ran into lots of hassles trying to get their plan to pay the bills because of their mistakes.

One plan’s application form says, “I will read the Evidence of Coverage from ____ when I get it to know which rules I must follow in order to get coverage with this Medicare Advantage Plan”.  The Evidence of Coverage is over 100 pages of details about what is covered and rules that must be followed in order to get medical bills paid.  This book arrives after a person has enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan.  I ask people, “Do you promise to read the Evidence of Coverage?”

I met a woman who had just quit her job to take care of her elderly parents, and she seemed very, very stressed.  I don’t know if she can afford to go without a paycheck, but both her parents are frail and need a lot of attention.  This woman asked me if Medicare pays for respite care for a caregiver like herself.  I had to tell her that I have never heard of that as a Medicare-covered service.  This woman, in her fifties, seemed overwhelmed by the responsibility of taking care of her parents and figuring out their medical bills, their prescriptions, and what might lay ahead in the coming months. 

So I’ve been very, very busy this week, and I’ve met lots of interesting people.  There are many more people to see over the next five weeks.