Finding the best medicare insurance according to your personal insurance needs

You can choose a Medicare Advantageo plan during the annual open enrollment period or when you’re first offered Medicare when you turn 65.

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If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, you’ll also receive your annual notice of change (ANOC) from your plan. Medicare Advantage plans are required to tell you of any changes for the upcoming year before the Medicare open enrollment period that runs each year from Oct. 15-Dec. 7. If you don’t make changes during that time, you won’t be able to switch until the next open enrollment period unless you face a qualifying life event. A qualifying life event includes a spouse’s death, retirement or change of job.

Don’t ignore open enrollment, advises Pamala McIntire, a benefits consultant for Reames Employee Benefits Solutions in Daytona Beach, Fla. The notice will tell you of any changes in the plan’s costs, benefits, coverages or service areas and rules for the upcoming year.

If you are OK with the changes, you don’t have to do anything. But if you’re dissatisfied or want to change to a different Medicare Advantage plan, open enrollment is the time. It’s also time for people with Original Medicare to change to a Medicare Advantage plan and vice-versa.

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Medicare plans vary on who handles your claims. With Original Medicare, the government pays your healthcare providers for your Part A and/or Part B benefits.

Medicare Advantage plans are a type of Medicare offered by private companies. The companies contract with Medicare to provide you insurance. Most Medicare Advantage plans are health maintenance organizations or preferred provider organizations.

However, some Medicare Advantage plans are private fee-for-service plans.

The vast majority of Americans have access to at least 10 Medicare Advantage plans. This means you can often find a plan that best suits your situation.

Medicare Advantage plans have lower premiums

The advantage to buying a Medicare Advantage plan is that you likely pay less in monthly premiums than you would for supplemental plans, called Medigap, and traditional or Original Medicare, says Tracey Fults of Medicare 411 Company in Rockford, Ill.

Medicare Advantage premiums have fallen over the past few years. For 2019, the average monthly premium will drop 6 percent to $28. About half of Medicare Advantage enrollees don’t pay any premiums.

The cost of the plans can vary depending on where you live.

The trade-off to a low premium is that you might have higher deductibles and co-insurance when you need healthcare. Also, you will pay more or may not have any coverage if you use doctors and hospitals that aren’t part of your Advantage plan’s network.

There are about 3,700 Medicare Advantage plans across the country and 22.6 million people are expected to have Medicare Advantage coverage in 2019. That’s about 36 percent of Medicare beneficiaries.

Starting in 2019, Medicare Advantage members will have more access to supplemental benefits. About 270 plans that provide coverage to nearly 1.5 million enrollees will have expanded benefits, including adult daycare services, in-home support services and home-based palliative care.

Plans will also have other additional benefits, such as reduced cost sharing for people with diabetes and congestive heart failure.

Not all Medicare Advantage plans will have these supplemental benefits, so check to make sure to ask the plan about supplemental benefits before enrolling. In the coming years, more Medicare Advantage plans will have these kinds of add-ons.