By Jose Juarez, guest columnist
Medicare’s annual enrollment period is open now through Thursday, Dec. 7.
This is the time frame that we encourage anyone on Medicare to do a plan comparison to decide if it’s beneficial for you to change your coverage based on your needs for the upcoming year.
It may seem overwhelming, but if you had large out-of-pocket expenses this year, or had medication changes, or need extra benefits such as dental, vision or chiropractic coverage – we strongly encourage you to consider a free plan comparison meeting.
During a plan comparison meeting, an insurance broker will simplify the benefits of the different Medicare Advantage plans so you can evaluate them side-by-side.
Medicare consists of four parts:
- Part A: Helps pay for inpatient hospital stays, skilled-nursing care, hospice and home care.
- Part B: Helps pay for doctor visits, surgery, lab tests, medical equipment and preventive exams.
- Part C: Medicare Advantage, which is offered by private insurance companies, and provides the benefits of Parts A and B, as well as often including Part D.
- Part D: Helps with the cost of prescription drugs not covered by Medicare.
The important thing to keep in mind is that those enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B may have high out-of-pocket expenses. It’s important to look at your options during the annual enrollment period to see how you can save money.
This is also the time of the year when you may be considering changing your primary care doctor or network of doctors. As a reminder, this is something you can do all year long. You can change your primary care doctor anytime during the year.
If you need a recommendation for a new primary care physician, please reach out to our Medicare education specialists. They will be happy to provide you with more detailed information about our network and our outstanding doctors.
Healthcare is complex and as we age, we need it more than ever. MemorialCare is committed to finding you the best…
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