Page 20 - Florida Sentinel 2-28-20

Health
There Is A Difference In The Choices
To give you an example of the types of co-pays you may find, here are some details of
in-network services from a popular Humana Medicare Advantage Plan in Florida: Ambulance - $300 • Hospital stay - $175 per day for the first ten days Diabetes sup- plies - up to 20% co-pay • Di- agnostic radiology - up to $125 co-pay Lab Services - up to $100 co-pay Outpatient x- rays - up to $100 co-pay • Therapeutic radiology - $35 or up to 20% co-pay depend- ing on the service • Renal dialysis - 20% of the cost
As this non-exhaustive list of co-pays demonstrates, out- of-pocket costs will quickly build up over the year if you get sick. The Medicare Advan- tage plan may offer a $0 pre- mium, but the out-of-pocket surprises may not be worth those initial savings if you get sick.
“The best candidate for Medicare Advantage is some- one who’s healthy,” says Mary Ashkar, senior attor- ney for the Center for Medicare Advocacy. “We see
trouble when someone gets
sick.”
Switching Plans
While you can save money with Medicare Advantage when you are healthy, if you get sick in the middle of the year, you are stuck with what- ever costs you incur until you can switch plans during the next open season for Medicare. At that time, you can switch to a traditional Medicare plan with Medigap, but Medigap can then charge you a higher rate than if you had initially enrolled in a Medigap policy when you first qualified for Medicare.
Most Medigap policies are issue-age-rated policies or at- tained-age rated policies, which means that when you sign up later in life, you will pay more per month than if you had started with the Medigap policy at age 65. You may be able to find a policy that has no age rating, but those are rare.
If you are having issues with your Medicare Advantage Plan, like high deductibles, high co-pays, or provider not covered under the new plan,
you have options, but you must act now. Medicare recip- ients can make one change to their Medicare Advantage plan during the year, but must do so before March 31st, 2020. If you decide to change plans here are a few steps:
– Get a list of your current medications
– Get a list of your current doctors
– Call 1-1800-MEDICARE (1- 800-633-4227)
The Bottom Line
Shop very carefully if you are thinking of using a Medicare Advantage plan. Be sure to read the fine print and get a comprehensive list of all co-pays and deductibles be- fore choosing one. Also, be sure to find out if all your doc- tors accept the plan and that all the medications you take (if it’s a plan that also wraps in Part D prescription drug cov- erage) will be covered. If the plan doesn’t cover your cur- rent physicians, be sure that its doctors are acceptable to you and are taking new pa- tients covered by the plan.
PAGE 8-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2020