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2019 Medicare & Health Insurance
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The best insurance is being able to grow your own food. |
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It's that time of year again. It's time to think about whether you need an annual review for your health insurance.
If you are on a Medicare prescription drug plan and taking expensive medications, it's probably a good idea to call me with that information or send it by secure email. If you would like a free secure email account to send me documents, email me to let me know and I can set that up for you. Please don't send personal information by regular email. It's not secure and it's easily hackable.
If you are taking more than three medications or expensive Brand Name medications, it's a good idea to do a review every year and I am glad to do it. If you aren't sure, it's definitely a good idea.
Call the office at (360) 834-0200 for help.
If you get voicemail, make sure to let me know the best time and way to contact you.
Please let me know if you have moved or are changing emails since we last talked so I can match you up to the correct information.
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The good news is that overall, in 2019 Medicare plans got cheaper and richer in benefits. There is also a new plan or two available in most parts of the state if your needs have changed or if you are wondering if there is something better out there. Generally, the answer is maybe. Let me know.
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It's All Online
If you haven’t already, please register on your insurer's web site.
For instance, on your company's web site you can:
Find network providers
See an explanation of benefits for visits with providers
Get drug information, including pricing
Make a request with customer service
Manage your relationship in a secure environment
Almost all companies also have a smartphone app. |
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Speaking of online, something that insurers have been talking about for a couple of years and now have fully implemented is a new benefit, telemedicine. It's now included in almost all plans. This is a doctor visit on Skype, your cell phone, pad, or computer for as cheap as free (included in plan at no cost) or the primary pay co-pay. This year everyone offering this coverage has contracted networks. This is an easy to use benefit that could save you a lot of time, money and travel for more routine care. Telemedicine also has prescribing benefits in case you need help at the pharmacy, and mental health benefits.
If you haven't seen information about this from your insurer, let me know and I will send that to you.
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Dental Insurance
Western states have struggled to keep dental plans on the market in recent years but that has changed. You can now purchase dental in Washington that had almost zero plans a couple of years ago with benefits as high as no limit. Obviously, the less you pay the fewer the benefits and more inflexible the network choices become. Dental isn't like most other insurance because it offers a limited discount in most cases, but with a dental HMO like Willamette Dental you can receive as much coverage as you need from one of their local offices for a little more than it costs to be in a dental PPO or open network plan. The other good news about dental is that it generally costs about the same as you would pay out of pocket for bi-annual checkups and cleanings so the extra coverage for restoration is a bonus. Dental disease is one of the underlying causes for several chronic illnesses.
Check out my web site to look at and enroll in dental plans.
https://seniormarketservices.com/dental.html
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Service Area Reductions and Enrollment 2019
Health insurance plans are annual contracts, subject to change or even be discontinued. Medicare works directly with insurers to negotiate and establish contracts. Each state insurance commissioner uses state law and rules to moderate plans with everyone else. This year saw more contract changes than we have seen in a long time. While Medicare insists on brand new contracts when there are new service area reductions and expansions, states are a lot more flexible. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan and are subject to a service area reduction, your coverage will end on December 31.
Your coverage will be cancelled if you are in a plan whose contract was not renewed. The most common reason for Service Area Reductions this year is service areas being segmented or adjusted. For instance, PacificSource Medicare broke up it's coverage of the Portland metropolitan area to create a new rating area by separating Clark County from Portland which required new contracts for both rating areas. People experiencing service area reductions must enroll in new coverage to have coverage on January 1.
Another example is that Premera Blue Cross (non-Medicare), will no longer be in the same counties as LifeWise Health Plan. Washington Healthplanfinder is planning on walking people across to a similar plan if you are subject to a service area reduction, but you should update your account and check out your options anyway to retain control of the choices. You may end up with a company that doesn't cover your providers, even though there may be a plan in your area that does. Please call for help with this.
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Healthplanfinder participants,
including wahealthplanfinder.org and healthcare.gov, should remember, you are legally responsible for the information given to exchanges and insurers and you should be checking this information for accuracy no less than once a year, and more if you are self-employed or have seasonal employment.
Please, please as soon as humanly possible, look at any correspondence in any form that you get from the insurance exchanges and insurers between now and the end of the year, until you have confirmation that you are enrolled in the plan of your choice. Communications from insurers at this time of year may contain important information about regarding cancellation of your coverage if they don't hear back from you within a couple of weeks.
Open enrollment for non-Medicare health insurance starts November 1 and ends December 15. The states are telling us that unlike other years, December 15 is a hard end date and there will not be further extensions as in years past.
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Remember, if you ever need help with your health insurance, run into any kind of problem or would like some ideas related to health care planning please get me involved. |
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