Now Is the Time to Weigh Medicare Options
The New York Times, October 31st, 2009
MEDICARE recipients, it’s your turn.
For the last few weeks, my Patient Money colleague Lesley Alderman
and I have been giving advice on how to navigate the open enrollment
season for employee health benefits. But Medicare enrollees must also
do this annual drill, and in some ways their task can be more
complicated.
While employees now typically face a dwindling
number of options, Medicare recipients may have the opposite problem —
a potentially overwhelming welter of choices. They may need to sort
through dozens, even hundreds, of choices during the annual enrollment
period, which runs Nov. 15 through Dec. 31.
Those already
enrolled in Medicare, of course, might not need to do anything.
Assuming the coverage they have now is not changing, and it’s working
for them, they can probably stand pat. That might be particularly true
for the 35 million people whose main coverage comes directly through
the government. In that case all they may need to worry about is their
Medicare D prescription drug plans provided by private insurers, if
they have such coverage; about 17.5 million of these people in
traditional Medicare have the separate drug coverage.
But as I
explain below, there are various reasons that staying put might not be
a good idea. And making a change means coming to grips with an array of
Medicare options that has been expanding at a bewildering rate in the
past decade.
There is the traditional Medicare A, which covers
hospitalizations and is provided at no charge to enrollees, and
Medicare B, which covers fees from doctors and other health care
providers and requires a monthly premium. (Because there will be no Social Security
cost-of-living increase in 2010, premiums for most current B enrollees
will stay the same as for 2009, at $96.40 a month. However, most new
enrollees will pay 15 percent more than that, $110.50 a month.
Seniors
can also choose from a vast number of specialized plans from private
insurers. There’s the Medicare D drug coverage, for example. But there
are also fuller private-carrier packages called Medicare Advantage,
which often bundle Medicare A and B with a drug plan, along with extra
benefits like dental, vision and wellness coverage.
Supplemental Medicare Insurance: work with a pre-screened insurer
to find the right Medicare Advantage program for you and your medical
needs.
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