Providing more coverage than the basic Medicare plan, Medicare Advantage Plans take care of many medical expenses that you may experience and does so at a great value to the consumer. Let’s look at how to compare Medicare advantage plans and find out which one is best for you, and how to easily enroll!
Compare Medicare Advantage Plans
Enrolling in Medicare Advantage Plans
You can’t just apply for an Advantage plan whenever you like and expect to be accepted. It doesn’t work quite like that. There is a specific period each year known as Open Enrollment when all the Medicare plans are made available to everyone who is eligible. If you qualify for a medical plan, then you are guaranteed to be able to sign up for the plan of your choice during this period.
It only comes around once a year and lasts for about a couple of months. Once the period is expired, you have to wait until Open Enrollment next year to sign up for this plan again. You will usually only be able to change plans or change coverage during Open Enrollment. So, if you don’t like the plan you signed up for, you may have to wait until its term is up and Open Enrollment comes around again to do something about it.
Compare Medicare Advantage Plans
How to Enroll in Medicare Advantage Plans
Medicare has made it fairly simple to sign up for Medicare Advantage plans. You can’t get them through Medicare directly, though. You have to go to a third party- a private insurance company- in order to purchase an Advantage Plan.
You may already know of some of these companies or have insurance through them already. They include insurers like AARP, Mutual of Omaha, Aetna and others. These sell the plans that Medicare has already detailed and set up. The insurance companies can choose the price of the plans, and they can choose some aspects of coverage. But the base coverage is always decided by Medicare.
We’ll look at the coverage in just a moment, but first let’s look at how you can purchase this plan. Going through private insurance companies means that there is no set price for Advantage plans. You could get roughly the same coverage for wildly different prices, if you are looking at two different insurance companies and their Advantage plans.
This is why you will want to compare prices and coverage on each plan. Source as many quotes as you can and see who has the best price. As the same time, look at what is being covered and how it compares to what you need. Once you sign up for an Advantage plan, you are basically locked into it until the term is up ( usually a year ).
If you are 65 and as US citizen, then you are likely eligible for Medicare Advantage. If you are not sure if you meet the eligibility requirements, you can always talk to an insurance agent or Medicare directly about what it takes to qualify.
Medicare Advantage Plans - Coverage
Now let’s look at what these plans cover. There is no set Advantage coverage that is standard across the board. What is standard is the basic coverage. All the Advantage plans have to cover Part A and Part B of Medicare as well as urgently needed care and emergency care. That takes care of emergency room visits and similar services that may not be covered by Original Medicare.
That’s just the base, starting coverage, though. There is lots more that most Advantage plans cover. They may not be required to cover more than that, but they typically do. The most common addition coverage is for Medicare Part D, which is prescription drug coverage. This takes care of lots of common prescription drug expenses. It doesn’t cover all the drugs on its list of coverage completely, but many of them are fully covered.
You may also receive coverage from your Advantage plan for wellness programs, for dental, hearing, vision and the like. Regular checkups can be covered under your Advantage plan, as can other expenses not have listed here. It really varies from one insurance company to the next, and they can change up their coverage from year to year. They have to keep the basic coverage that Medicare mandates, and only Medicare can change that, but everything else can be changed up every so often. So, once you sign up for an Advantage plan, your coverage will be locked in for the full term, be it a year or a couple of years. However, once your term is up, you may find that the coverage on your plan has changed, and you may want to go with something else.
Compare Medicare Advantage Plans
Compare Medicare Advantage Plans
When it comes to comparing Medicare Advantage plans you will find there are a number of options in your area. Sorting out the different plans, benefits, and premiums can take a lot of work. But…
We Make it Easy for you!
Using our website we can easily help you determine which Medicare Advantage plan is the best fit. Just a few of the options that might be available in your area are below.
Humana Medicare Advantage plans
Medicare Advantage plans provide you with coverage that goes beyond the basic coverage for Medicare parts A and B that you get with the Original Medicare plan. The Humana Medicare Advantage coverage is going to be one of the more popular versions of this plan, and it is offered just about everywhere in the United States.
Which plans Humana offers and how much it charges for them will vary depending on where you live. The plan availability will be based on whether Humana has a network in that area or not. Their most common type of Medicare Advantage plan operates as an HMO, which means that you can only be covered for medical care if you stay on the network for healthcare. Going off the network, except in an emergency, will result in you paying for all the healthcare expenses on your own.
Humana may offer a PPO plan in some areas as well, which provides you with greater coverage, letting you receive coverage even off its network. As you might imagine, that kind of plan will cost you more. It is also rarer, as fewer and fewer Medicare Advantage plans are offered with PPOs due to the rising cost of insurance because of the Affordable Care Act.
United Healthcare Medicare Advantage plans
Partnering with AARP, United Healthcare offers several medical insurance plans, and one of the most popular ones for the coming year is going to be United Healthcare Medicare Advantage . This will be a set of plans that replaces Original Medicare by covering Medicare parts A and B for you while providing additional coverage.
Many Medicare Advantage plans cover you for prescription drugs under Medicare Part D and for many of the checkups you could get throughout the year, such as for hearing and vision.
Medicare Advantage plans are based on a network for coverage, and if you go with the most common type of network plan- the HMO- you will only receive coverage on United Healthcare’s network. Going outside their network for healthcare facilities means that you must pay all the medical expenses on your own, except in the case of some emergencies.
Less common is the PPO type of plan, which sees you receiving coverage anywhere you go for medical care, even outside of United Healthcare’s network, the catch is that this kind of plan will cost more, and it will only cover you partially when you are off the network.
Medicare Advantage Plans Aetna
Most seniors who sign up for and compare Medicare Advantage plans will choose one of the larger insurance companies to get their coverage through. Aetna Medicare Advantage coverage is going to be very popular in several states, because their plans are often some of the most highly rated according to Medicare’s star rating system.
This system rates coverage plans based on how well they perform and how much value they provide to the consumer. Medicare Advantage is only sold through private insurance companies like Aetna, and this kind of plan is a replacement for Original Medicare, offering you coverage for Medicare Part A and Part B, as well as for prescription drugs and many other common expenses. How much you are covered for by a given plan will depend on the individual Advantage plan.
Every Medicare Advantage plan is limited by its insurance company’s network. There are different types of plans based on the way the coverage works on that insurance company’s network. The most common is the HMO-type, which allows you to receive full coverage for your plan solely within the network. Less common is the PPO-type of plan, which gives you full coverage in the network and partial coverage if you go off it for medical care. This kind of plan will cost more than the HMO, since it covers you in more locations.
Medicare Advantage Plans AARP
Once you become eligible for Medicare Advantage plans, you should be looking at what is available and comparing them. These plans can save you money on healthcare cost and provide additional coverage to what you get with the basic Medicare plan. AARP Medicare Advantage plans are likely to be some of the more popular ones for the coming year, as AARP is among the largest and most respected insurance providers for this type of plan.
Medicare Advantage will replace your current Original Medicare plan, covering you for the Medicare Part A and Part B expenses, while adding on coverage for a number of other medical expenses that are common for most seniors. How much extra coverage beyond the basic Part A and Part B coverage you will get with an Advantage plan depends the insurance company that sells it.
You can only get this kind of plan through a private insurer like AARP. Where this coverage is available to you will depend on AARP’s coverage network, which is quite large in most areas of the country. If you go with the HMO network type of plan, then you only get your coverage you are paying for if you receive your medical care at a network facility. Going off the network means you end up paying for the healthcare costs on your own. Less common is the PPO type of plan, which covers you fully on the network and partially off the network.
Medicare Advantage Plans Blue Cross
If you are looking for an affordable way to get more coverage for healthcare expenses than the basic Medicare plan provides, you should look into Blue Cross Medicare Advantage . The Medicare Advantage plans offered by Blue Cross are not just affordable for most seniors, but they are also highly rated by Medicare for their performance and value, in most cases.
Blue Cross plans are subject to the insurance company’s network, as are any Medicare Advantage plans, that means that where you can get coverage from and how much coverage you get is based on where Blue Cross has an active network. There will be some medical facilities that do not accept Blue Cross, and they would eb considered off its network.
Blue Cross offers an HMO type of plan in most areas of the country. This allows you to get your full coverage while on its network. If you go off the network, you don’t get any coverage and you have to pay for everything yourself. They may also offer a PPO type of pan, which gives you full coverage in Blue Cross’ network, but only partial coverage if you go off the network, and you will have to pay more for this kind of network plan.
Compare Medicare Advantage Plans
Do You Need a Medicare Advantage Plan?
It’s worth noting that Medicare Advantage plans offer a lot of coverage. We have touched on this already, but this is the kind of coverage that is best reserved for people with ongoing medical problems or for people who are in poor health. If you visit the hospital or doctor’s office multiple times throughout the year, then this kind of plan may be right for you. You should consider what your coverage needs are and then compare that to what the Advantage plan offers.
When you compare Medicare Advantage plans to see if you can find one that fits your needs well. If all of them seem excessive for you and see like they would cover you too much, then you can always find a different plan with less coverage. You can get much of the coverage in separate pieces by buying separate plans. Part D is available on its own, and Original Medicare can be purchased separately, and it includes coverage for Medicare Part A and Part B.
Look at your Medicare Advantage options once you hit 65 and see if it might be a good choice for you. If it fits your coverage needs well, it can save you considerable money on healthcare.
