By Mark Zdechlik Minnesota Public Radio
Dec 7, 2018 Updated Dec
8, 2018
A change in federal law is forcing hundreds of
thousands of elderly Minnesotans to replace their health plans that supplement
Medicare coverage.
Medicare Cost is the national health insurance
program for people age 65 and older and some disabled people. Many buy
supplemental insurance to help pay the portion of health costs Medicare does
not cover.
About 350,000 Minnesotans are losing their
Cost plans. And at an advanced age, they now have to sort through options that
would be complex and confusing for anyone.
“Beneficiaries that previously never did
anything during open enrollment now have to make a change for the first time in
many, many years, if ever,” said Minnesota Board on Aging Health Policy analyst
Kelli Jo Greiner.
The board’s Senior LinkAge line is having
trouble keeping up with demand for help, she said.
“It’s not only confusing, it’s very
frustrating.”
Greiner said the best way to get through is to
call during specially extended hours — Monday through Thursday between 4:30
p.m. and 6 p.m. She said a lot of people calling the Senior LinkAge line are
angry about being forced into different coverage.
“They love their Cost plan. They don’t want to
make a change. They want to stay with it, but I think they’re starting to
understand that this really is a critical time for them to make a change so
they have coverage Jan. 1,” Greiner said.
Cost plans pay for medical bills at any
Medicare-approved provider — there’s no specified provider network. Medicare is
trying to cut back on Cost plans to save money. Cost plans are going away in
areas where there are at least two Medicare Advantage plans to choose from. But
Advantage plans specify a provider network.
The Minnesota Council of Health Plans said its
members are also busy helping customers make the switch, said Jim Schowalter,
president of the trade organization that represents Minnesota’s major health
insurers.
“The phones are literally ringing off the
hooks because it’s a big deal for seniors in Minnesota,” he said.
State officials say insurers are automatically
enrolling about half of the Minnesotans losing their Cost plans in Advantage
plans. The rest — some 175,000 seniors — are on their own to find a
replacement.
“That is the group we’re most concerned with,”
said Greiner.
Medicare enrollees who don’t find a Cost plan
replacement by the end of the year will only have the stripped down original
Medicare coverage starting Jan. 1. There won’t be a monthly supplemental
premium to pay, but they’ll be responsible for any expenses Medicare doesn’t
cover after that.
“Come January, they’re going to go to the
doctor [or] end up in the hospital and have this huge bill,” Greiner said.
People caught in that unfortunate situation
will have until the end of February to enroll in an Advantage plan. But they’d
still be on the hook for any expenses Medicare doesn’t pay before their new
coverage kicks in.
There is another option beyond an Advantage
plan called a Medigap plan. It’s generally more expensive than an Advantage
plan because its provider network is wide open. That’s what Kristine Lund, 53,
of Savage selected. She’s disabled, on Medicare and thoroughly annoyed.
“What I found now is still not as good as what
I had with the Cost plan,” she said.
Lund said her new plan increases her monthly
premium by about 40 percent. Lund’s advice is to shop carefully.
“And ask exactly what they cover because a lot
of them have skimped on the coverage now,” she said.
Help finding a plan is available at Medicare.gov and
also regionally through the Senior LinkAge line in Minnesota and the various
health insurance companies.
Schowalter said Cost plan holders who need to
switch and haven’t done so yet should not put it off any longer.
“Now’s the time to get some background. Make
sure you have a plan and have some conversations about what kind of Medicare
you want next year,” he said.
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