With the help of an experienced Medicare professional, it can be easy to find a Medicare plan in Elmore, Boise, Owyhee, Canyon, Ada, Gem, or Payette county in Idaho.
Medicare Advantage
Medicare Advantage plans, also referred to as Medicare Part C, are offered by private health insurance companies in your area. You should recognize some of the major medical providers offering their plans. You can easily search for plans in your zip code at Medicare’s website, medicare.gov.
The plan has to be in your area because Medicare Advantage plans work with networks of health care providers to bring you the care services that you need. These networks of providers negotiate with the insurance company, bringing you lower rates. To enroll in a plan, you must be already enrolled in Medicare Part A and Part B and live within the plan’s service area.
There are a few different types of Medicare Advantage plans. You will see an assortment of HMOs, PPOs, PFFSs and MSAs. Each of these types has different benefits and rules. You should compare the plans based on if they will allow you to keep your current primary care provider, if you can see health care providers outside of the plan’s network, and whether or not the plan covers prescription drugs you are taking. You also need to compare plans based on their costs, whether or not they help you pay your Part B premium, and if they have a savings account to use toward your health care expenses. Decide which of these things matters most to you and weigh those qualities more highly in your considerations of the available plans in your region.
Medicare Part D
Medicare Part D prescription drug plans are also provided by private health insurance companies. You can compare these plans by viewing each plan’s costs and their formulary, which is the list of covered drugs. The plans should be forthcoming about the costs of your prescriptions, and you can find these listed in tiers based on whether your prescription is generic, brand-name, or specialty, and whether or not the drug is preferred by the plan.
All Medicare Part D plans are standardized to provide the basic care you may need. Effectively all prescription drugs are covered in each of the following six categories: anticancer, anticonvulsant, antidepressant, antipsychotic, antiretroviral, and immunosuppressant. It is imperative that the plan you choose covers the prescription medications you are currently taking.
Medicare Supplement
There are 10 available Medicare Supplement plans. Two of these, F and C, are available only to people who became eligible for Medicare before January 1, 2020. Those two cover the Part B deductible. The rest vary in coverage from basic to comprehensive. You will want to compare these plans in light of the coverage they offer you as well as how high their monthly premiums are, how high the deductible is, and whether or not they charge copayments or have an out-of-pocket maximum. Decide which of these things is important to you and choose a plan that makes sense for your health care expenses and your monthly budget.
To learn more about comparing Medicare plans, speak to an agent at Generations Insurance.
