Enrolling or renewing Medicare, know your options

Anne Lindsay is a volunteer counselor with SHIBA (Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance). She spoke to 50plus about changes she sees being offered for 2022 in Greater Portland.

“I’m seeing 10 more Medicare Advantage Plans,” she says, “about 44 total, including a number of five-star plans.” People can enroll in them throughout the year, says Lindsay, plus it’s good to know you’ve got five-star quality.

Lindsay urges folks to really look at their current plan during Open Enrollment (now through Dec 7) to determine if it will work for them next year. “There might be another plan that offers more,” she says, pointing particularly to medication coverage.

Also new 2022 are Advantage plans offering benefits basic Medicare doesn’t cover such as dental, routine vision care, fitness benefits, telehealth and worldwide emergency coverage.

“Check the plans over and know what they mean,” Lindsay urges, “they vary.” To date no Medicare Advantage plans are offering in-home care or modification devices, such as grab bars. Interestingly, while many are authorized to offer medical transport benefits, Lindsay says very few are doing so.

Still, many are offering “a lot of extra benefits not available under basic Medicare.” This includes over the counter medications and emergency response devices, such as the medallions with a button to press in the event medical help is needed.

Overall, Lindsay says she is seeing “a lot of experimentation” with Medicare Advantage plans “to see what people really want.” An example is preventive dental. “So dental cleaning and preventive care is built into the Medicare Advantage plan at no extra charge.”

Others are holding such benefits separate, so they must be purchased as a sort of rider to the desired plan.

“These plans are taking more and more advantage of branching out. Companies have been given permission by Medicaid and Medicare Services — the federal agency governing Medicare — to offer a lot of extra benefits basic Medicare does not cover.

“Some insurance companies are experimenting with a more fundamental approach to Medicare Advantage plans,” Lindsay continues, “modeled on health insurance plans people under 65 have been paying for.”

These plans tend to have a higher deductible, but also offer a health savings plan. “They must be used for qualified medical (or dental) services only,” says Lindsay.

Lindsay’s greatest concern for those enrolling, changing or renewing their Medicare plans is to “make sure your current plan will work for you next year.”

“This can’t be stated strongly enough,” echoes her husband Craig, who is also a SHIBA counselor. “People get notices by mail or email about any changes to their plan during the year, but it might easily be missed or recycled along with promotional mail.”

“Lots and lots of people don’t check their current plan,” says Lindsay, ““This is the time of year to make a change. You don’t want to discover you should have when it’s too late.”

Craig adds, “The cost of prescription medication may have gone up. Check your plan against new offerings and make sure your medications will still be covered and compare costs.”