Making sure that you have the right medical coverage can be a stressful task – and particularly so in later life when ensuring that everything is covered is extremely important. Enrolling in Medicare is, of course, essential – but there’s then the second step of navigating all the options available. Here are four simple pieces of advice to help you find the plan that’s right for you and your circumstances.
1. Keep Shopping Around
Don’t just let your plan roll over from year to year. Prices are likely to fluctuate and the best plan for you may well change between one year and the next. Compare your plan to the alternatives to see what the best options are and always remember to check the ratings on other plans.
2. Make Sure Your Prescriptions Are Covered
When looking at new plans, it’s always worth keeping a close eye on whether your prescriptions are covered at the best rate – if they’re not, then the ongoing expense could present a big hit to your wallet. Failing that you can always ask your doctor if generic alternatives are available.
3. Consider Medicare Advantage
An increasing number of seniors are signing on for Medicare Advantage (MA). This caps yearly out-of-pocket expenses for hospital insurance and outpatient services, as well as adding dental, vision and hearing coverage to your plan. All of this makes it an extremely attractive option. It may be becoming harder to get onto these plans but if you can then the hard limit on out-of-pocket expenses could save you a lot of money. Also, remember that you may eligible for support on Medicare premiums among other costs – so make sure to do the research.
4. Check Your Doctor Is In-Network For Your Plan
As well as checking out the monthly premiums for your plan, you should make sure that your doctors and hospitals are included in the plan’s network. If they’re not, then it could prove to be extremely inconvenient for you – and you should probably consider another plan. To find out what plans they do accept, just contact billing and they should be able to help.