Are you approaching your Medicare decision and feeling overwhelmed with phone calls, commercials, and insurance mailers telling you that Medicare Advantage is best for you?
The reality is that with all these commercials and advertisements, it can be tough to figure out if a Medicare Advantage is right for your unique situation.
Today, let’s go over some tips to determine if Medicare Advantage could be right for you.
What IS Medicare Advantage?
Medicare Advantage is another name for Medicare Part C. Advantage plans are offered by private insurance companies.
While Medicare Advantage plans are required to cover all the same basic Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B services, insurance companies can set up rules and parameters in order for you to get care.
Most Medicare Advantage plans typically work like an HMO or a PPO. They have restrictions on which doctors you can see and how referrals work.
That means, in order to get care covered, you must see a doctor within those selected networks or go through approvals.
No matter what the Medicare Advantage advertisements say, these plans have premiums, co-pays, and max out-of-pocket amounts.
How do you determine if a Medicare Advantage plan is right for you?
Tip #1. Ask your current (and future) doctors if they accept Medicare Advantage.
My advice to all of you is to make a list of the current doctors you see and the ones you want to see in the future. Then, ask yourself, “if I were to find out I have cancer tomorrow, what doctors and facilities would I want to go to?” Then ask each of them what type of Medicare they accept. Unfortunately, most top research hospitals do not accept Medicare Advantage plans.
It’s essential to consider your healthcare if you get sick, as it’s unrealistic to plan for only being healthy.
With Medicare having insurability rules, it can be really hard, if not impossible, to go back to Original Medicare with a Medigap plan after you’ve chosen a Medicare Advantage plan.
Tip #2. Review your current medications.
I have found that certain people with expensive medications can have much lower costs on Medicare Advantage plans.
This is not always the case, but for our clients with expensive medications, we look to see what the cost of their medications would be with a Medicare Advantage plan because it can be a determining factor.
Tip #3. Review your finances, you may be comfortable with the total cost of Medicare Advantage.
As I mentioned above, there are costs associated with Medicare Advantage plans. They are not free. These costs tend to skyrocket when you have health issues.
For that reason, if you are comfortable understanding those premiums, co-pays, and max out-of-pocket costs, then Medicare Advantage can make a lot of sense.
With all of this said, Medicare Advantage can fit certain people well. Just be sure that whatever plan you choose is best for your unique situation.
One of the number one mistakes we see people make is assuming they can just get a better plan down the road when they need the care – that’s not how Medicare works.
Please be mindful of this as you start your Medicare research.
To get help with your Medicare decision, you can register for my next free online Medicare workshop by clicking here!
