• About Us |
  • Follow Us: 
theinsurance411.com logo

The Insurance 411

What you need to know about insurance

  • Homeowners Insurance
  • Auto Insurance
  • Life & Health Insurance
    • All Life & Health Topics
    • Affordable Care Act (ACA)
    • Group Disability Insurance
    • HSAs
    • Life insurance
    • Long Term Care Insurance
  • Personal Insurance Basics
  • Specialized Personal Policies
    • All Specialized Personal Policy Topics
    • Boat Insurance
    • Motorcycle Insurance
    • Travel Insurance
    • Umbrella Insurance
  • Essential Property and Liability Insurance
    • All Property & Liability Topics
    • Business Income Insurance
    • General and Auto Liability
  • Specialized Insurance Policies
    • All Specialized Prop & Liability Topics
    • Credit Risk
    • Cyber Insurance
    • Directors & Officers
    • Employment Practices Liability
    • Environmental Liability
    • Professional Liability
    • Surety
    • The Basics
  • Workers’ Compensation Insurance
    • All Workers’ Comp Topics
    • Claims Management
    • Controlling Costs
    • Loss Prevention
    • Regulations
    • The WC Basics
  • Employee Benefits
    • All Employee Benefit Topics
    • Affordable Care Act – “ObamaCare”
    • Benefits Management & Compliance
    • COBRA
    • Dental Insurance
    • Group Disability Insurance
    • Retirement Plans
    • Vision Plans
    • Voluntary Benefits
Top Personal 411 Stories
  • | End-of-Life Planning
  • | Ten Reasons to Buy Long-Term Care Insurance Now
  • | Airbnb and VRBO – Know The Risks
  • | Ten Tips to Make You a Better Healthcare Consumer
  • | How Your Credit Score Affects Insurance Costs

The FAQs about Medicare Advantage Plans

April 14, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Medicare Advantage plans can take the place of Medicare Part A, Part B and Part D. 

  1. What are Medicare Advantage Plans?

Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are a kind of Medicare health plan offered by a private company in contract with the federal Medicare program. Also known as ‘Part C,’ the MA plan provides you with all your Part A (hospital insurance) and Part B (medical insurance) benefits. If you enroll in an MA plan, all of your Medicare services will be covered through the plan and will not be paid for under Original Medicare.

In order to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan, you must meet all of the following requirements:

  • You are eligible for Medicare Part A and Part B
  • You are not suffering from end-stage renal disease (ESRD)
  • You live in an area in your preferred plan’s coverage area.
  1. How Do Medicare Advantage Plans Work?

There are several different kinds of MA plans:
       

  • Medicare Medical Savings Account (MSA)
  •          

  •   Private Fee-for-Service (PFFS)
  •          

  •   Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)
  •         

  •   Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)

Regardless of the plan’s structure, the federal government’s Medicare program pays a fixed amount each month for your medical care to the private insurers that provide your MA plan. Each MA plan is different and thus has a different fee structure. Medicare requires every Medicare Advantage plan to meet certain minimum coverage requirements. However, every plan has its own list of rules that determine how services are delivered to a customer, such as whether you need referrals to see specialists or you can only visit doctors within the insurer’s network. These rules change on an annual basis as required by the contract between Medicare and the private companies.

  1. Do Medicare Advantage Plans Cover Prescription Drugs?

Most Medicare Advantage plans include coverage for prescription drugs. If you use certain prescription drugs on a regular basis, you’ll want to pay particular attention to the plans’ formularies, or list of covered drugs. If a particular plan has lower premiums than another but doesn’t cover a prescription you use, you could lose thousands of dollars per year.

In cases where MA plans do not offer drug coverage, you can join a Medicare prescription drug plan (Part D). If your MA plan does not offer drug coverage, double check to make sure. If your MA plan offers drug coverage and you opt for a Medicare prescription drug plan, you will be returned to Original Medicare and disenrolled from your current MA plan.

  1. How Can I Join, Switch or Drop a Medicare Advantage Plan?


Switching Medicare Advantage Plans

Just join your preferred plan during the enrollment period. Your old enrollment will automatically discontinue when your new plan’s coverage begins.


Switching to Original Medicare

Call 1-800-MEDICARE or contact your current plan.


Switching When You Have Other Coverage

You can use your employer coverage along with your MA plan, but in some cases joining an MA plan could cause you to lose your employer coverage. And if you lose coverage for yourself, you will also lose coverage for your dependents and spouse. Always be careful about making such decisions, because once you lose employer coverage, you might not get it back.

  1. What Should I Do if My Plan Stops Participating in Medicare?

Health plans can decide to leave the Medicare program at the end of the year. If your plan leaves Medicare, you will automatically be returned to Original Medicare if you do not join another MA plan. You will receive all services covered by Medicare but you will have to join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan for drug coverage. You will also have the right to buy a Medigap policy.

Filed Under: Life & Health Insurance Information   •  Medicare

[wp_ad_camp_3]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Read more ⤵

  • Business Insurance
  • Personal Insurance
  • Newest Personal Articles
  • All Personal Topics
  • Recommended Articles
    • Despite Its Low Cost, Most Consumers Don’t Buy Cyber Risk Insurance
    • Quick Guide to Renters Insurance
    • Not Your Granddad’s Life Insurance Policy
    • Car Insurance Policy Basics

Most Popular

  • Obesity and Life Insurance: Extra Pounds May Cost You More
  • 4 Ways To Use Life Insurance for Charitable Giving
  • Critical Illness Insurance Insures More than Just Your Health!
  • How To Protect Yourself from Dog Bite Liability Claims

Attention Insurance Agents

If you are looking for quality insurance content for your own customized newsletter, please visit Smarts Publishing:
https://smartspublishing.com

Business Insurance 411

  • Essential Property and Liability
  • Specialized Policies
  • Workers’ Compensation
  • Employee Benefits

Personal Insurance 411

  • Homeowners Insurance
  • Auto Insurance
  • Life & Health Insurance
  • Personal Insurance Basics

Read More

  • Business 411 Articles
  • Personal 411 Articles
  • Top Stories Business
  • Top Stories Personal

The Daily Blog

  • Newest Business Articles
  • Newest Personal Articles
  • Most Popular Business
  • Most Popular Personal

Copyright ©2019 TheInsurance411.com

  • Home
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us