As every senior knows, it’s Medicare renewal time. So this is my annual reminder: First, think about your health; has it changed (different meds?), or might it change next year (medical procedures?). Before you try to figure this out yourself, or just tune out, and simply renew what you already have, talk with someone who does this all the time. You may be able to save money by rearranging some things.
The obvious and most common change will be to your Medicare Part D plan. Remember that if you simply renew your current plan, that does not mean your current plan is the same as it was last year. The kinds of drugs the plan covers, your copays, basically everything about your plan may be different on Jan. 1. You don’t want to find out about that on Jan. 2, when it turns out one of your medications is not covered, or the copay has doubled. You also want to figure out if your medications or copays will change if you change pharmacies.
The second part of your medical insurance that you want to check on, if you are on “traditional” Medicare (Part A and B), is your supplemental insurance package. No surprise that the healthier you are, the more you may be comfortable with a supplemental plan that is less expensive but increases your costs in the case of a serious event. The sicker you are or expect to be, the more you benefit from a supplemental plan that is more all-inclusive. The point is that, at our age (I turned 73 this year, so I get it), there’s more likelihood that your health will change from year to year. You have the luxury of tailoring your insurance to adjust for that, but only at this time of year, and only until Dec. 7.
Finally, except on Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket, you want to compare your plan to one of the several so-called Medicare Advantage plans (technically, Medicare C plans) that are required to provide at least what Medicare A and B provide, but also include drug coverage, and often include much more, like vision appointments and eyeglasses, hearing appointments and hearing aids, reimbursements for trips to the gym, and any number of other “goodies” meant to make you want to be a member. The percentage of seniors using Medicare C plans grows every year, and now accounts for nearly half of all senior coverage in other parts of the country. Especially if you are interested in having someone pay you to stay healthy in addition to paying you if you get sick, you should check out the Medicare Advantage plans.
If you want to learn more about these issues, you can watch this month’s episode of Elder Law 101. You can find it on MVTV (Comcast 13), or visit Frank and Mary’s YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/elderlawfrankandmary. If you have any questions, please contact me at 508-860-1470, or at abergeron@mirickoconnell.com.
Arthur P. Bergeron is an elder law attorney in the trusts and estates group at Mirick O’Connell.
