NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Seniors looking to make adjustments to their Medicare coverage during the annual open enrollment period, which takes place every fall from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, are turning to the Internet more than ever to find information.
This past July, Medicare marked its golden anniversary. President Lyndon Johnson established the Medicare system on July 30, 1965, when he signed the Social Security Amendments, and while much has changed over the past 50 years, the program’s main objective has stayed the same:
To provide American seniors aged 65 and older with low-cost, comprehensive health care.
How Medicare executes its mission, however, has evolved in recent years to reflect the digital age in which we live.
These days, seniors looking to make adjustments to their Medicare coverage during the annual open enrollment period, which takes place every fall from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, are turning to the Internet more than ever to find information, compare coverage plans and pick the type of Medicare program that best suits their personal needs.
Current Medicare beneficiaries have until the Dec. 7 deadline to make changes to their plans, such as switching from traditional coverage to a Medicare Advantage plan; selecting a different private insurance provider for their Advantage plan, or making changes to their Part D prescription drug coverage.
Any changes made to their plans go into effect Jan. 1.
Health economist Gail Wilensky, who directed the Medicare and Medicaid programs in the early 1990s, has seen a shift in the way Medicare distributes information — and in the way seniors receive it.
“There’s a lot of information that’s available, but it depends on how comfortable seniors are navigating around the websites,” Wilensky says.
Knowing what to ask, as well as whom to ask, are two key questions seniors need to think about during the open enrollment period, especially if they’re considering making changes to their current Medicare coverage.
“At this time of year, seniors are inundated with mailings from different plans,” says Patricia Barry, author of “Medicare for Dummies” and features editor of AARP Media.
“My advice is to toss the lot because they’re only promoting their own plans, and that plan may not be the best one for you. Only by comparing them can you find out which is the best one for you,” she says.
One piece of post Barry says seniors should definitely hold on to is the Annual Notice of Change letter they should have received from their current Medicare plan provider by late September.
“By law, the plan has to say how it will change in the coming year, if it does at all. Most people toss this; they don’t read it. They should. What they should do is compare their own plan with what is being offered by other plans in their own area for 2016.”
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Current Medicare beneficiaries have until the Dec. 7 deadline to make changes to their plans.
The reason people should compare plans is simple: they can change every year, Barry says.
“The real reason for comparing plans is to avoid really nasty surprises in January if you stay on the plan you’ve got. It won’t always happen, but it does. Every January I get emails from people who are outraged, saying, ‘My co-pay for my drugs went up three times. Why?’
“Well, the reason is that they didn’t find out what the plan was going to charge them for those drugs each year,” she says.
There are several tools, both online and off, that seniors can use to analyze coverage plans. Both Wilensky and Barry recommend visiting Medicare.gov, which features digital calculators that allow you to input your particular insurance and prescription drug needs and compare plans.
“This is all confidential,” Barry says. “(Seniors aren’t) putting in any information that can identify them. So it is anonymous.”
Seniors can also call 1-800-MEDICARE to have a customer representative compare insurance plans on your behalf and mail you the results.
New York-area residents can contact the New York State Office for the Aging to utilize its Health Insurance Information, Counseling and Assistance (HIICAP) program, which provides free information, counseling, assistance and advocacy on Medicare, private health insurance and related health coverage plans.
Family, friends and organizations for the aging, as well as local churches and synagogues, are other resources seniors can turn to for help understanding their Medicare options.
Right now, 10,000 Internet-savvy seniors are turning 65 every day, according to AARP, but few of them fully understand the ins and outs of how Medicare operates.
“The fact is that although people get this chance, very few people take advantage of it,” says Barry, who frequently fields questions from confused seniors for her Ms. Medicare column on aarp.org.
Wilensky says there’s an easy solution for seniors whose apprehension about enrolling or altering their Medicare coverage stems from a lack of information or understanding.
“They shouldn’t be shy about asking for help,” she says. “Health insurance is a complicated business, but there are people who want to help. You’ve just got to say something.”