Medicare Advantage Plans Have Open Enrollment Until December 7

Have you just realized that Medicare doesnt cover too many of your health care expenses

? If you are currently enrolled in Medicare, now is the final chance to enroll in one of the Medicare Advantage Plan for 2012. Open enrollment ends December 7. Until you look, you can't predict how many insurance companies will offer these plans where you live. Since there could be several options, you may want to start investigating your options as soon as possible.

You only have until December 7 to decide whether you want one of the Medicare Advantage Plans to provide your Medicare benefits. This year the open enrollment period is earlier than last year. This way, they can make certain that those who sign up will have benefits in place by January 1. If you find that your new plan doesn't work as well as the Medicare coverage you left, you can switch back to traditional Medicare between January 1 and February 14 next year. You can add a stand-alone prescription drug plan at the same time to get your prescriptions covered.

What's Good About Medicare Advantage Plans?

There are two main reasons why people select Medicare Advantage Plans. With one exception (End Stage Renal Disease), Medicare Advantage Plans accept people with any health problem. That's called guaranteed acceptance. The other reason is one we mentioned already - Medicare Advantage Plans can be very inexpensive. Certain plans may not cost any more than what you're paying for Medicare Part B. In that case, they'd be $0.

Next year, which is when your Medicare Advantage Plan coverage will begin anyway, Advantage plans will cover the same preventive health care services with no out-of-pocket costs as Medicare already does. As long as you can find a doctor who accepts Medicare's pre-determined payment amount, you'll have no co-pays or co-insurance and you won't have to meet a deductible when getting preventive services from in-network providers.

Since it's getting harder to find doctors who work with Medicare, these Advantage plans may be helpful. They have existing provider networks just like standard HMO and PPO plans. Medicare Advantage Plans usually add on extra benefits that Medicare doesn't have, such as help with eyeglasses or hearing aids. Most Advantage plans also pay for certain prescriptions. Not all medicines are covered, though, to confirm whether the medicine you need is covered before you enroll in an Advantage plan.

Do Medicare Advantage Plans Have Disadvantages?

While having a network of providers can be an advantage, you're typically restricted to using those providers unless you experience an emergency. If you need a specialist who is not a covered provider, you won't have any coverage to see that doctor through Medicare, either. Medicare Advantage Plans essentially replace your Medicare coverage.

Medicare Advantage Plans are going through a lot of change right now. Next year, they will be graded for quality on a 5-star rating. Those that earn the highest rating, will have open enrollment all year long. So far, few plans have made the cut, but hopefully more will step up next year.

by: Wiley Long

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