Medicare is Offically Letting People Have a Do-Over Until March

Healthcare has got to be the most important thing that everyone must prioritize in their lifetime. Everyone wants to have that kind of security when it comes to dealing with healthcare since it could be painfully expensive for most people. In the United States, there is a health insurance program that is available for Americans known as Medicare. It was started a couple of decades ago.

They provide health insurance for those who are qualified for it as well as to younger Americans with some disability that are determined. This health insurance program is actually funded by the payroll tax as well as the gender United States Treasury. There are now over 58 million individuals who are insured by Medicare and 49 million senior citizens above it. There different kind of plans that Medicare offers, just like the Medicare Advantage Plan, and recently there was an announcement that could either be good or bad for you.

Grab The Do-Over

The open enrollment period for Medicare closed the last 7th of December, which is literally over a month from now. However, there was an announcement that has been made wherein they said that there will be an open enrollment once more that is happening between the 1st of January till the end of March. This is specifically for Medicare Advantage Plan. It is very difficult to determine what kind of plan you would think is best suitable for you.

The Original Medicare is basically the most flexible one of all since if you have it then you’ll be able to use it to choose your own health care providers. Despite that, it can be a little too complicated when it comes to receiving your benefits, which is why most people think it is best to have the original Medicare along with the Medicare supplement plan so that the copayments, as well as the deductibles and prescription drugs, will be a part of it.

What most people don’t really know is that the Medicare Advantage plan offers a one-stop shopping since it could combine all of the prescription drugs, but this would also mean that you must only see one healthcare provider.
This do-over is for those people who think that they are in the wrong Medicare plan.

There are a lot of people who realize that their doctors are not a part of the network or that their medications aren’t exactly covered. Some people, however, don’t particularly like the customer service so they would like to change it. Those who are in Medicare Advantage Plan may also grab this opportunity to switch to the original Medicare.

It was also reported that until the end of March, those who have missed the initial enrollment for Medicare, may grab this chance to enroll even if they didn’t qualify for an exclusion. Those who can’t exactly make it will have to wait until the 1st of July to enroll again.

Despite all the change that you can make, there are still some restrictions. Just like when you plan on moving to a different Medicare plan, then you cannot exactly have it changed or switch it till the next fall enrollment.

Do you have #Medicare along with other health insurance? If so, you may be wondering “who pays first?” See how Medicare coordinates with your other coverage: https://t.co/uNpLmgcBfk pic.twitter.com/Ff0bXA4QqW

— Medicare.gov (@MedicareGov) January 9, 2019

Pros and Cons

Some health insurance experts believe that there are actually a few pros and cons when it comes to switching to another program or plan for Medicare. What people need to remember is that every single Medicare plan comes with a maximum out-of-pocket limit depending on the total costs that you will spend every single year on healthcare.

When the limit has been reached, then that obviously means that you will not be spending a single penny, but each plan has a different limit that has the possibility to change every year. That could be one disadvantage for you since it can be quite confusing once you keep in switching from plan to plan.

One advantage, however, would be the choice of the new plan benefitting you since that means you don’t need to suffer being in a plan that you personally don’t want to be a part of or that you could fix a mistake by trying the other plans. Unfortunately, you wouldn’t know what is actually suitable for you unless you try them out. Expect major changes though since every plan is different.