Aaron Meyer, Medicare Insurance Agent

Answer: You absolutely are elligible for a special enrollment period if you lose employer coverage. Most often you are unable to change your plan during the year but if you have one of these qualifying events, Loss of Employer Coverage, Changing home address, change in household size, or plan leaving the area. These all will allow you to change into a new plan.

Answer: Unfortuneately the quick answer is "It Depends". Each Part D plan covers this perscription differently. However this is a higher tier persctription so you likely will have to pay your plans deductable before getting coverage for the perscription. So typically your first month's or first refill of your medication will be higher cost than the rest of the year.

Answer: Your local independent agent is the best person to help you navigate the Medicare Maze and Soup. As a licensed agent there are a lot of steps and trainings that go into the licensing and appointment process so you local agent will be able to provide exact guidance to your questions and situations. Below is a quick guide to understand a couple of the letter sets that you may see.

Network : What doctors and hospitals you are able to see and get the lowest cost coverage typically.

HMO - Limited network, typically provides little to no out of network coverage. Exact size depends on your area

PPO - Wider network, typically provides coverage in or out of network

HMO POS - Limitied network but larger than HMO typically provides little to no out of network coverage.

Answer: Typically if the procedure is deemed necessary by your doctor and medicare then it can be covered. Your out of pocket costs depend on plan that you are on and the doctor or hospital doing you surgery. Typically this is billed as an outpaitent proceudre so if you are on an MAPD or MA plan then that is a good place to start but some hospitals do charge above medicare rates to be sure to check into this before choosing a place to get the surgery done.

If you do not have a MAPD, MA, or Medicare supplement then you would be on the hook for 20% of the Medicare approved cost of the surgery.

Answer: As long as you enrolled through a reputable broker or through a site like Medicare.gov you should be just fine. However a surefire way to know if you are enrolled is when you recieve you updated insurance card from your new plan. If you worked with a broker they can also look up directly with the carrier to see where you are in the process of them approving your enrollment. Additionally you should be able to call up the carrier and give them your info and they should be able to get you sorted as well.

Answer: While yes you can cancel your Medicare Part D there are risks associated with doing this. If you cancel your Part D and do not have "Credible" drug coverage as dictated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services then you will accrue a penalty equal to 1% of the National average of premium costs for each month you go without coverage, meaning that if/when you need that drug coverage later on you will have to pay a considerable amount more each month. There are some alternative options to a traditional Part D plan, switching to a Medicare Advantage plan with Perscription Drug Coverage (MAPD) and depending on you state you may have access to a state pharmaceutical program in which you are able to enroll that also counts as credible coverage. If you get your perscriptions through the VA or you are still able to be on an employer insurance coverage this also counts as well.

Answer: This is a tricky question as there are no 100% sure fire signs that a MA or MAPD is good or bad it all depends on the situation that you are in. Some important details to look at and to confirm when choosing a Medicare Advantage Plan are if your doctors are in network with the plan, how the plan covers your perscription drugs, if the deductible and Max out of Pockets are within you as well as the overall copay amounts for your doctors visits and any tests or surgeries that you have coming up. Another one to make sure is that the plan you are looking at is availble in your area, if a friend who lives in a different area is recomending a plan you may not be able to sign up for it as the availability of plans is limited ot your specific area.

Answer: Medicare Parts A and B (Orignial Medicare) were only meant to cover a portion of your medical expenses. Medicare Part A to help cover inpaitent Hospital Stays and Part B to help cover doctors visits and other procedures however there are gaps that are left. The first being overall cost, Original Medicare only cover 80% of the medicare approved cost of the procedure leaving you with the other 20% of the cost without any max out of pocket meaing your medical bills can skyrocket out of control. Additionally Original Medicare does not give you any perscription drug coverage, dental, vision (unless diabetic), hearing, or long term care.

Answer: Long term care insurance can be a tricky and expensive process, and at times an annuity can be an option. There are many different ways to pay for long term care, but it is hard to say without knowing the exact case and condition, as different companies have different requirements for underwriting. The best next step would be to reach out to an agent and know exactly what options they offer and if any would be the best options for you.

Answer: When there are no available Advantage Plans in your area, it opens the door to explore alternatives like Medicare Supplements to cover your health costs. Some people don't know the difference, so it starts the conversation on all the options and not just what an agent wants to sell.

Answer: Medicare agents who are licensed with multiple companies give you access to all of the available plans and options within your area and have the knowledge to walk you through all the different plan options. They also provide non-biased information so you feel confident and comfortable with the choices that you are making in regards to your Medicare Health Insurance Coverage. A Medicare agent also costs you, the client, nothing and is there to answer any questions you may have and will do the digging and hard work for you.