Deborah Zanelotti, Medicare Insurance Agent

Answer: I wouldn't say worry but stay aware of any changes with your Med Adv plan by reading any correspondence received from your carrier and in a timely manner. If there is a change, of no fault of your own, you will have SEP (Special Enrollment Pd) but for a short window. Your particular situation would need to be discussed with a licensed agent familiar with your rights should your carrier discontinue the plan you are enrolled in.

Answer: Most states have prescription assistance, for example, Maryland has a program called SPDAP, Senior Prescription Drug Assistance Program. It will automatically enroll you into the "Extra Help" program, if you qualify. You can go to your states website and type "Medicare" in search and follow the prompts from there. You can also see if you qualify for help if you follow this link to Medicare...

https://www.medicare.gov/basics/costs/help

Answer: Yes they are but I have noticed over the years that they're trying to make improvements. It may be slow, but I see changes so I believe they are listening to the Medicare Beneficiaries about how hard and confusing their system is to get information.

Answer: When Social Security is being collected by the husband and wife, when one passes, the highest check of the two will continue. Your check will continue as usual but if his was higher, the difference won't begin until the proper the paperwork is filled out.

Answer: Once you qualify for Social Security Disability, you will be automatically enrolled into Medicare, after 2 years of the effective date.

Answer: If you are collecting Social Security Disability Income (SSDI), you do nothing and it will automatically switch at your "Full Retirement Age", most are now between 66 & 67

Answer: Yes, as long as you are a US citizen or lawful permanent citizen, but you'll pay the Part A premium.

Answer: I like educating people on Medicare based on their specific situation. Knowledge is power and once they understand how it effects them personally, they can be more confident in their decision.

Answer: You need to listen to every prompt given, as annoying as it might be, because each one will take you closer to the department you need. Once there, if they say they will need to transfer you, after they've tried to help you, ask politely to be transferred to a Manager and get their name and Id#. The only other way is to go to Medicare.gov and try to find your answer there.

Answer: I had a client that was paying for their Part B premium and didn't need to be. They thought because they retired they needed to but their spouse was still working and the one holding their health insurance plan. I explained what they would need to do to disenroll from Part B, they would not have a penalty and when the spouse decided when they were going to retire, to reach out to me so I could give them the proper forms to have filled out to confirm "creditable coverage" as so not to have to pay a penalty. They saved thousands of dollars because the spouse did not retire for at least another 10yrs. Medicare is a spiderweb of scenarios and an experienced agent will identify any issues with the proper questions, if they treat each client individually.

Answer: Most Medicare Beneficiaries are not properly educated, for many reasons, on what choices they have based on where they live (zip code/county). They often listen to friends, family, etc. and what they have and think it will be the same for them. Everyone is different and need to be treated as such by an experienced licensed agent. Other times it's because they can't afford the Medigap policy as time goes on. They are health insurance plans and will increase over time unfortunately but if you live in a "birthday rule" state, you can shop those premiums based on that states rules.

Answer: Most will get it confused with the Skilled Care and Hospice coverage. Medicare will never cover Long Term Care.