William Murray, Medicare Insurance Broker

Answer: Like most service providers, the greater their experience, integrity & resources are the qualities that define advantages/disadvantages.

Brokers/agents usually give you more choices.

Listen for whom they are most interested in helping, you or themselves.

Contacting insurance companies directly limits your options to only that specific companies' plans. That is a disadvantage.

Answer: I like to recommend Medicare.gov to "Find Health & Drug Plans."

By entering each of your drugs, dosages, frequencies taken/quantities & pharmacies preferred, you can research the lowest costs plans for your specific menu of prescriptions and which pharmacies have the lowest prices for your specific menu.

If you'd like a guide to walk you through the steps, I'd be happy to assist.

Answer: The Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) has no influence on enrolling in Medicare Supplement plans.

The AEP is for changing Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans.

However, you are allowed to apply for a Medicare Supplement plan any time throughout the year.

If you don't qualify for the your 6 month Open Enrollment Period after obtaining Part B, or qualify for one of several guaranteed issue situations available, you'll have to answer health question.

Answer: Annual Physicals are NOT A COVERED MEDICAL EXPENSE under original Medicare A & B.

By definition, Medicare Supplement Plans A - N also DO NOT COVER Annual Physicals because Supplement Plans cover some part of what Medicare covers.

Preventative visits and Annual Wellness visits are covered.

If you have Original Medicare and a Supplement plan be certain to request annual or wellness visits, specifically.

Annual Physicals are covered by some Medicare Advantage Plans, usually at $0 cost.

Be certain to review the Summary of Benefits of the plans you are interested in.

Compare coverage with your friend to find out why her's didn't cost, but yours did.

Answer: Most of the information is an attempt to entice you to make a call by promising a lot of $0 costs to you for a lot of different benefits.

It's true that there are a lot of $0 cost benefits available, but not all on one plan. Every plan has a certain amount of benefits for $0 cost depending on each plan's own actuarial analysis of costs.

Generally, more $0 or low cost benefits are more available to folks who qualify, because of lower incomes, for extra help or who qualify for Medicaid.

(Medicaid is what we used to refer to as "welfare".)

To sort through the information, look for advertisements which talk about finding the right plan for your specific situation, not the plans promising a lot of $0.

Look for someone more interested in answering your questions, helping you feel comfortable, making sure you can keep your doctor and get the care you need.

Look for someone who will work for you at your speed, not someone pushing you to buy.

It's you who is important, not me.

Answer: I don't mean to be evasive on this subject, but Medicare prohibits agents from using superlatives, like best, most, lowest and so on, to describe plans' details.

That being said, if the AARP Medicare Supplement Plan by United Healthcare is not, then I don't know which is.

The AARP by UHC is very highly advertised/recognized nationally. I have heard doctors and members praise their cost reimbursement timeliness. Their rates are competitive.

Rating plans can vary tremendously because the nation is packed with smaller regional plans which makes it difficult to rank them without knowing what service area an inquirer is interested in.

A good agent will often improve a members perspective in the insurance carriers quality of care by the quality and availability of service offered by the agent.

Some questions are answered best by telephone or in person.

Answer: The one worst decision which came 1st to my mind is for someone to decide not to enroll in Medicare Prescription Drug coverage because they don't take any prescriptions on a regular routine maintenance basis and don't see any reason, at this time, why they would use the coverage.

Answer: "Medicare covers medical nutrition therapy services if you have diabetes...and a doctor refers you for services. Only a Registered Dietitian or nutrition professional who meets certain requirements can provide medical nutrition therapy services. If you have diabetes, you may also be eligible for diabetes self-management training...You pay nothing for medical nutrition therapy preventative services because the deductible and coinsurance don't apply."

You can find this information on page 45 of the Medicare and You 2025 publication, which you can find on Medicare.gov.

Answer: Whether you missed your initial window for enrolling in Original Medicare Part A & B, or if you missed your initial window to enroll in a Medicare Supplement, Advantage or Prescription Drug Plan, you would need to contact me and plead your case to them.

They are the only ones who may backdate effective dates.

Answer: Finding which plans are available in your area is the first solution.

Determining which of those plans you can use with your choice of doctors and other providers will narrow your choice of plans.

Making certain your prescriptions are covered will narrow the choices further.

The reputation and star ratings of the plans should be the next consideration.

Lastly, how do you feel about the company providing the plan.

This still may not narrow your choices to 1 plan. So, it is my opinion that the final reason for your choice is that size matters.

If you think you need more information than that, then we should have a conversation so I can answer your specific questions.

Answer: Being a Medicare Agent since 2009 has given me an opportunity to help more than 2,000 seniors make the choices that connects them with plans that match their unique healthcare needs.

Educating seniors in the workings of Medicare and Medicare plans has given them peace of mind that they have control over making choices that they feel comfortable with.

It is and should be their choice.

And, that is the most important part.