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Should you switch Medicare plans?(money)(Buyers Guide)
It's decision time for the millions of Americans enrolled in Medicare. The question: Should you stay or should you go? The alternative to traditional Medicare--154 private health plans collectively called "Medicare Advantage"--just became a lot more attractive. This year, the Medicare Modernization Act began giving the plans, mostly Health Maintenance Organizations, $1.3 billion, which is now being used to cut costs, upgrade benefits, and widen health-care choices through increased provider lees.
The government's aim is to entice more enrollees to join private plans in the hope that competition among them will curb Medicare spending, although studies show that Medicare HMOs haven't done a good job of curtailing costs in the past.
Whether the HMOs will cut healthcare costs for Medicare's 36.4 million recipients not in private plans--89 percent of enrollees--is also not clear. As we discovered, the plans' potential big savings come with equally large risks.
PROS AND CONS
The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services trumpets that of the 4.6 million Medicare members in Advantage plans, 3.7 million have better benefits in 2004. But depending on where you live and the services you use, you may save little of nothing at all. People in many areas don't even have access to private plans.
Then there are the risks. Your new insurer could decide to drop out of the Medicare program, leaving you without coverage. HMOs have done it before, and there is nothing to prevent them from doing it again. Since 1999, some 2.5 million Americans nave had to scramble to find new coverage after insurers have pulled the plug.
Worse, your plan could suddenly reduce benefits. If, as a result, you decide to return to traditional Medicare with a Medigap policy to supplement it, you may end up losing drug coverage. If you switch back within a year of joining an HMO--or if your insurer stops covering your area of you move--you nave a right to resume your drug coverage with the same Medigap provider. However, if that policy is no longer available, you're not guaranteed coverage in another plan that ...
- Traditional Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage Plans: Allsup Finds Knowing the...
- Press release article from: Business Wire November 3, 2008 700+ words
...playing it safe by choosing traditional Medicare. But those with a disability...to understand how limited traditional Medicare coverage can be for them...can choose to enroll in a traditional Medicare program or a Medicare Advantage...
- TRADITIONAL MEDICARE: PROVIDERS CAMPAIGN FOR `A SECURE ALTERNATIVE'.
- Magazine article from: Modern Healthcare Jaklevic, Mary Chris May 31, 1999 700+ words
...their campaigns to promote traditional Medicare coverage over coverage through...pieces and radio spots call traditional Medicare ``a secure alternative...senior citizens not to give up traditional Medicare. HCFA regional administrator...
- Payments to HMOs higher than traditional Medicare costs.
- Newspaper article from: Health & Medicine Week April 26, 2004 700+ words
...the same patients in the traditional Medicare program, an advisory panel...some areas, payments exceed traditional Medicare costs by more than 20...plans lure seniors away from traditional Medicare by offering more services...
- As retirement age approaches - traditional Medicare or managed Medicare?
- Magazine article from: Long Island Business News Goldberg, Carol April 21, 1999 700+ words
...age must decide: stay with traditional Medicare or opt for a managed Medicare...out-of-pocket costs of traditional Medicare coverage, such as the...should shop carefully." Traditional Medicare coverage includes basic Medicare...
- Medicare Advantage puts traditional-medicare recipients at a disadvantage:...
- Magazine article from: Medicine & Health April 23, 2007 700+ words
...benchmarks well above the cost of traditional Medicare signals that the program...that are more costly than traditional Medicare." MA plans currently spend...health outcomes than the traditional Medicare program," explained Peter...
- CAPG Study Demonstrates Value of Medicare Advantage over Traditional Medicare.
- Press release article from: Business Wire June 12, 2007 700+ words
...Advantage as compared to traditional Medicare. The study has been submitted...of Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare in meeting the increasingly...that is not possible through traditional Medicare. "We encourage everyone...
- Former Pennsylvania Blue Cross Subscribers Return to Traditional Medicare.
- News wire article from: Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, PA) April 4, 2001 700+ words
...seniors opted to return to traditional Medicare -- the basic federal program...told they could return to traditional Medicare, find another Medicare supplement...plans can be more costly than traditional Medicare, many seniors might simply...
- Traditional Medicare Benefit Information Soon to be Available Online to Doctors...
- Press release article from: PR Newswire May 9, 2008 700+ words
...information for people with Traditional Medicare coverage. It's made possible...Medicaid plans. The addition of Traditional Medicare information is another giant...and benefit information for Traditional Medicare beneficiaries is another...
- RediClinic Now Accepting Traditional Medicare.
- Press release article from: PR Newswire June 13, 2007 700+ words
...Medicaid Services to accept traditional Medicare in all RediClinic locations...RediClinic locations now accepting traditional Medicare include 17 locations in H...their coverage. "Adding traditional Medicare coverage is an important...
- Traditional Medicare a better deal.(POLICY & PRACTICE)(Report)(Brief article)
- Magazine article from: Internal Medicine News Sullivan, Leanne November 15, 2007 700+ words
Private Medicare Part D plans have higher administrative...lower drug rebates, compared with traditional Medicare, according to a report released in...costs) were almost six times those of Medicare (1.7%), and will reach $4...
