Joseph Meyers, Medicare Insurance Broker

Answer: Yes Medicare will cover all of these preventative screenings at once. Medicare and most Healthcare wants you to have the best chance at being healthy you can!

Answer: Changing where you live can affect your Medicare coverage. Sometimes your plan might not work in your new location, because of network restrictions.

Moving also will give you access to special enrollment periods.

You may be able to get a Medicare Supplement Plan with no Health underwriting. Which could be very beneficial. You may even be able to save money because rates are different in a different state.

Answer: A Medicare prescription drug plan also called Part D is where you would seek coverage for lowering the cost of your blood thinners.

Answer: In 2025 the part D maximum out of pocket exposure was $2000 and in 2026 it will be $2100.

This means after a part D enrollee spends $2100 they will not have any cost for ANY pART D prescription.

Answer: Medigap plans are a better choice for a rambling man or woman, because they do NOT use restrictive networks.

Medigap plans also have a monthly premium that can and often do slowly increase over the years. This happens because medigap companies charge higer rates as their members age.

Medigap plans appeal to folks because of the predictability of a steady monthly premium and very low extra out of pocket expenses usually regardless of health complications or status.

Also, many states have guaranteed acceptance with NO health questions when a client is first joining Medicare or turning 65.

Gauging whether you may have made a "mistake" is a personal conversation and decision everyone will have to decide on their own. From my business experience a medigap enrollee may want to look at other coverage options when their monthly premium payment for the medigap plan reaches $300-$500 per month. But everyone has their own budget so this may not fit all!!

Answer: My personal goal or wish would be that everybody has the chance to sit down or speak with a professional, licensed and morally sound broker.

The opposite side of the coin could involve an agent over selling secondary benefits of a plan or perhaps overstating how this plan is "the best".

The most important parts of helping a client with their Medicare plan should be; does the client understand the plan they are choosing & are doctors and prescriptions IN NETWORK.

Answer: What a great question Medicare advantage, much like life is an adventure worth living. You never know what is around the next corner, much like your health!

Most people that are on a part C that plan because of the attractive $0 monthly premium, heck some of those plans even decrease the amount of your monthly Part B premium.

The $0 monthly cost is part of the trade off. Advantage plans have copays for most every service or procedure outside of preventative medicine.

You most certainly will pay to see a specialist ($25-$50) , xray, scans and some labs. Choosing a medigap or medicare supplement plan is one way to avoid the surprises, another way would be to couple your advantage plan with a hospital indemnity plan to help cover the largest copays associated with MAPD.

Answer: Sometimes offers seem to good to be true, to guarantee medicare advantage benefits are legit you have a few options;

¹.You Can look at the condensed summary available on www.medicare.gov

².You could find a trustworthy local agent(like me) to sit down with face to face, to go over the plan in detail.

³. You could find a summary of benefits or Evidence of Coverage online or request one from the insurance carrier.

Answer: Original Medicare will only pay for your medical services in a foreign hospital under a few very obscure situations:

*You’re in the U.S. when you have a medical emergency, and the foreign hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat you.

• You’re traveling through Canada without unreasonable delay by the most direct route between Alaska and another state when a medical emergency occurs, and the Canadian hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat you. Medicare determines on a case-by-case basis what situation qualifies as “without unreasonable delay.”

• You live in the U.S. and the foreign hospital is closer to your home than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat you, regardless of whether you have a medical emergency.

A medicare supplement plan will provide emergency coverage of up to $50k at 80%.

But the majority of any situation you find yourself in while on foreign soil, medicare will not help you until you return home. Where you will then work to get reimbursed.

Answer: A scope of appointment form or SOA is a required form all licensed agents are expected to get signed and reviewed by possible clients, the form spells out what will be discussed at this appointment.

Call centers can be outside the U.S. Basically they don't have to follow the rules and regulations legitimate agents follow.

Answer: Dental is jot covered by original Medicare, UNLESS MEDICALLY NECESSARY.

It is much more likely you will be paying a dental professional to pull your teeth amd set you up with dentures

Answer: Other than not talking to me first....a few possible mistakes could be made:

1. Not using medicare.gov to compare all plans against your medications.

2. Not checking your drug coverage every year, by comparing new plans or if you were prescribed new meds

Answer: In Michigan (where I primarily help ppl) when turning 65 or leaving credible work group coverage you are granted guaranteed acceptance into a medicare supplement plan(medigap)

Outside of that situation there will be health questions and underwriting to determine acceptance into a supplement (medigap) plan

Answer: Social security is your monthly income payments based upon your 20 best years of employment income.

Medicare is the health insurance that most Americans earn from working 40 quarters (or 10 full years)

You contact the same government office (SSA) to enroll in medicare or start your social security payments.

Now back to the question...

Most people will need to enroll in Medicare part B when they turn 65 or are planning on coming off of credible employer group coverage. If you are still working after 65 check with your HR department as to the specifics about whether you need enroll in part B.

Answer: My favorite answer would be because they didn't seek the knowledge and guidance of a licensed Agent.

But the real answer is because they didn't enroll for coverage when they needed to.

When you are medicare eligible you need to have your Part B start within 3 months of turning 65 or dropping credible employer coverage.

Part D rx coverage is similar but needs to be placed within 63 days of becoming eligible for Medicare

Answer: Part D providers offer a very large number of prescription medicines but the part D insurance companies require that you are using the medication for its intended use and many times these diabetic drugs such as ozempic are not going to be covered if you are using them for reasons besides being diabetic

Answer: They are not allowed to offer incentives to induce enrollments. I advise prospects and clients to be wary of offers like this.

Answer: They are not allowed to deny you access to a drug just because a generic is not available. But the part D insurance company will have tiers and pricing for all of their covered prescriptions within their formulary.

If the brand name rx you need is not in their formulary then there is a formulary exception process and/or step therapy process you may have comply with.

Answer: I was surprised to find out that each person in the u.s. accrued about $14,500 per year in Healthcare costs or appx $4.9 trillion across the whole USA.

Answer: When having lab tests done check with your Advantage plan agent or customer service center to ensure you are staying IN NETWORK! Also ask the medical provider ordering the labs if these are standard, common and preventative tests or if they are more rare. The insurance company can also help with pricing if they have all the information.

Answer: I help folks in Michigan and after your initial enrollment into Medicare here, you will have to health qualify for Medigap (supplemental) plans. With our health, you never know what is around the corner. If serious health issues wiping out your savings is a concern... and it should be. Medigap plans are the safest option.

Answer: Part D plans with higher monthly premiums are normally more beneficial in having coverage for expensive specialty drugs. You may also save on copays and deductibles

Answer: Find a local trusted insurance broker whom can answer your questions and explain things in easy to understand terms. If you are more of a do-it-yourself person I would highly encourage you to read through the Medicare and you book and also use the tools available on medicare.gov website

Answer: One of the most important things a senior could know before choosing a Medicare Plan is that they are making a decision for their health insurance for the rest of their lives. For example, in Michigan only during your initial enrollment period do you get guaranteed acceptance into a medigap plan. You are getting health insurance not extra grocery $$