Are you overwhelmed with the ads on TV about your health insurance plan options? Is your table piling up with mail from every insurance company and agent? The reason is, it’s Open Enrollment time for Medicare and Individual/Family (affectionately known as ObamaCare). This is the period where you can switch plans or enroll into a new Part C (Medicare Advantage Plan) and Part D (Part D Plan) OR individual/family health insurance plan. Here are the dates:
MEDICARE – October 15th – December 7th
INDIVIDUAL/FAMILY – CA, October 15th – January 15th (depending on your State – some are from Nov 1st – Dec 15th)
What to look for? All plans seem to change something, especially the drug formulary (the list of medications they cover and which Tier they’re covered on). Look at your ANOC (Annual Notice of Change) booklet that you recently received (or call your Plan if you haven’t received it yet). The first few pages will tell you what is changing in your Plan for the next year. There are also new Plans that are created each year and research needs to be done to see if there is another Plan that may offer you better benefits. Many Medicare Advantage Plans offer extra benefits like chiropractic, acupuncture, vision, hearing, dental or gym memberships. If you feel your Plan is good for you next year, there is nothing to do. It will simply roll over.
Look for the ‘Star Ratings’ of the Medicare Plans also. Medicare gives an overall rating of the Plan’s quality and performance for the types of services each plan offers. For plans covering health services, this is an overall rating for the quality of many medical/health care services that fall into 4 and 5 different categories. From my experience, there is a reason a Plan gets a low rating so BEWARE!
Medicare uses a 5 Star Rating
This is also the time for those that are uninsurable (maybe in a nursing home or just diagnosed with cancer, etc.) to possibly obtain ‘guaranteed issue‘ into a MediGap supplement plan. If ANY benefit in your Medicare Advantage Plan increased by 15% or was eliminated, a window opens for you to go back to original Medicare (Part A & B) and obtain a MediGap Supplement (with NO insurable questions asked) and a stand alone Part D Plan (for drugs). With this option, it gives you the choice to see ANY Provider that accepts Medicare, no referral needed! It comes in handy if you want to go to a skilled nursing facility of your choice or have a surgery from a particular Surgeon.
If your loved ones or neighbors are on Medicare, please help them. Many times, they stay on the same Plan because they just don’t know who to turn to. You can make a huge difference in their lives by having them to call us!
So what’s a person to do? You can do your own research by going to Medicare.gov/Healthcare.gov OR reach out to an independent insurance broker/agent such as ourselves. Imagine if you could put your head on your pillow tonight, knowing all this was behind you and you knew you made the right choice! That’s what WE do for you! We conduct a thorough search and will let you know if your Plan is right one or if you should look at other options. The icing on the cake…there is no extra charge for our services! How do we get paid? If another Plan is better and we’re able to enroll you, we receive a commission from the insurance company. If you’re on the best plan, we’ll let you know that too! Make sure the person you are working with is REALLY independent and represents MANY companies. We have come across many agents that are independent, however they are only Medicare certified with one or two companies :/ At Hoffman Insurance Resources, we are contracted with over 40 companies and Medicare certified with 13 carriers. YOU’RE best interest is our interest, whether we get compensated or not. If that wasn’t enough, we’re here for you AFTER we enroll your plan. We’re your advocate and can help with everything from getting another ID card to helping with a bill you don’t understand. Check out our Yelp and Google reviews. Our clients are amazing and very giving of their stories. We’re sure one or two will resonate with your situation. Your only assignment is to reach out to us early because it gets quite busy during the last week of Open Enrollment and our time is extremely limited. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Hoffman Insurance Resources is an independent insurance brokerage agency specializing in Medicare and individual/family health plans. We are contracted with over 40 companies, Covered CA certified and Medicare certified with 13 carriers. Physically located in the Los Angeles area, we are also contracted in many states throughout the country. We pride ourselves on doing what’s right for our clients (whether we make money or not), educating you, being your advocate after the sale and exceeding your expectations. We accept only the insurance company commissions so there are NO extra charges for our assistance and guidance. From ObamaCare through MediCare…we truly Care! Check out our reviews on Yelp and Google 🙂
Debbie@Go2HIR.com 323.455.4961 www.Go2HIR.com https://www.facebook.com/hoffmaninsuranceresources