Comments for Medicare and More

Comment on Medicare Advantage Enrollment in Tucson and Pima County by B rad

B rad — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:55:00 +0000

But being on Medicare and Plan F you as a consumer have no incentive to be prudent with the governments money that pays claims. Every visit cost you nothing, so why not go for every hangnail and sniffle. At least with Medicare Advantage, the private insurers compete and those that satisfy the members will attract more members. That’s their motivation. And by managing the fee they receive they ultimately stay profitable. Free market, baby.

Comment on Medicare Advantage: Enrollment fraud investigated in Tucson by Diana Kelley

Diana Kelley — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:40:32 +0000

I am an insurance agent here in Tucson and specialize in plans that go with Medicare for people turning 65. Due to these “bad apples” I am required to pay $150. per year to take a required test to ensure that I know the Medicare compliance rules. I must also take a separate exam for each company I represent and am contracted with in order to sell their products. In some cases I must also attend a two to four hour educational meeting as well. Each year I spend at least forty hours on these exams. These tests and educational meetings are very clear when it comes to compliance and what the punishments will be if an agent is not compliant. I receive at least five emails per day from these insurance companies regarding compliance. They spend a fortune communicating to agents about compliance. The person who did this had to know exactly what was going to happen to them and did it anyway. This disgusts me! I spend at least two hours with each of my clients when signing them up for a plan. That appointment only comes after the client has returned a “scope of appointment” form giving me permission to see them, which is required by Medicare. I adore my clients and go out of my way to make sure they are comfortable with their decisions on health care. We go through the co-pays, medications, Drs, summary of benefits, personal needs, etc. How does this person sleep at night? Not only is this behavior damaging to seniors but it makes the rest of us who follow the rules 100% and truly care about our clients look bad. In a day and age where trust is lagging this is the last thing a senior needs to deal with! As an agent who complies with all of the rules I can tell you that these insurance companies (and yes, that includes United Health Care and Health Net) go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that all agents are compliant and that their members are protected. I am an independant broker and believe that these Advanatge plan are not “one size fits all”. I represent and am contracted with all but one Advantage plan here in Pima county as well as several Medicare supplements. My loyalty is to my client to find what suits them best so when I tell you how much these companies do to avoid this behavior by agents it is without any loyalty to one particular company. I feel that this all stems from this unethical, uncaring agent. Shame on you whoever you are!

Comment on Extra Help for Medicare and Part D Drug Costs by Denise Early

Denise Early — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:15:22 +0000

AHCCCS only asks for your income. They don’t care about your assets. Going through Social Security can result in a denial of help if a person has money in the bank or retirement funds. So I usually recommend going through AHCCCS. Unfortunately, they don’t have an on-line application.

Comment on Extra Help for Medicare and Part D Drug Costs by carol

carol — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:48:00 +0000

I have a question if i might why is it you need so much information for a person to apply for medicare savings program i understand that there are things you have to ask but there seems to be some things that i cant see really has any thing to do with appling for this program. Now i understand that there are things you have to ask but it would be so much easer if any person who wants to apply could do it on line there are those of us that cant always get to a mail box or have a fax machine so why not setup an on line website so that anyone who would be interested in appling for the program would have access to a website that would allow a person to apply for the program. think about it. It would make things much easer for those of us who are disable and cant get around all that well. Just think how you would feel if you could not get around to well.

Comment on Medicare Advantage Enrollment in Phoenix and Maricopa County by Tip O'Neill

Tip O'Neill — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:25:18 +0000

Yes it was your blog that first alerted me to it – I just wanted to make sure you saw the article
Thanks

Comment on Medicare Advantage Enrollment in Phoenix and Maricopa County by medicareblogger

medicareblogger — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:15:05 +0000

Thanks for the tip, Tip. I saw that article in today's AZ Star on the Medicare fraud investigation - which I reported on back on January 5th: Medicare Advantage Fraud Investigated in Tucson. Channel 4 reported on this story in mid-January. I'm proud to say I broke the story here on my blog long before the main stream media!!

Comment on Medicare Advantage Enrollment in Phoenix and Maricopa County by Tip O'Neill

Tip O'Neill — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:35:08 +0000

http://azstarnet.com/business/local/medicare-insurance-switches-are-probed/article_850d0f79-6803-50bc-ab83-0f81c14da2bf.html

Comment on Medicare Advantage Enrollment in Tucson and Pima County by Katharine

Katharine — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:21:12 +0000

To clarify, I am no longer a member of ANY Medicare Advantage program. Instead, I have original Medicare w/ Plan F Supplement, and also have AARP UnitedHealthcare Part D drug coverage. It’s my understanding that, when you enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan, the plan receives a lump sum payment. Because of that, you do not have to pay a monthly premium. However, the plan then has all the motivation in the world to LIMIT the $$ it pays out for your health care. So, that becomes their main motivation. Don’t be seduced by not having to pay a monthly premium. You will pay in the form of aggravation and poor quality care.

Comment on Medicare Advantage Enrollment in Tucson and Pima County by Katharine

Katharine — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:57:48 +0000

I belonged to Caremore for 1 3/4 years. It was a nightmare, both administratively and medically. I encourage anyone thinking about joining Caremore to stay away. I switched to AARP UnitedHealthcare and so far am quite satisfied.

Comment on Medicare Advantage: Enrollment fraud investigated in Tucson by medicareblogger

medicareblogger — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:27:07 +0000

I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t know how the legal system works in this kind of case, but I know that Medicare is really big on going after fraud. I have a feeling the independent agent who is accused of 900 fraudulent acts is in some big trouble.

As for the 900 or so people who were switched to another Medicare Advantage plan without their knowledge, most of them have probably been changed back to their original plan and will not be adversely affected. But this makes me think I should make a few calls to see if anybody will tell me if this has, indeed, happened.

Once the culprit is charged and the name is made public, you can bring your own lawsuit, I suppose. But I don’t know how this works when a person is found guilty – or pleads guilty. If that person has money and assets, you might get some financial compensation. But if that person is broke, you’re out of luck, I’d imagine. And speaking of broke, it is my understanding that an insurance agent can be fined $25,000 for one act of Medicare fraud. Multiply that times 900 and…… that person will be broke and maybe in prison.