Journalist Philip
Moeller answers your questions about health, aging, and retirement.
Phil is the author of the book, “Get What’s Yours for Medicare,” and co-author of “Get What’s Yours: The Revised Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social
Security.” Send your questions to Phil.
Medicare recently overhauled its online Plan Finder,
which is the primary tool that anyone with a private Medicare health or drug
insurance plan should use to compare the costs and coverage options of plans
that will be offered to them next year.
These changes are important to the nearly 22
million people who have Medicare Advantage plans and more than 45 million with
Part D drug plans.
Medicare says the new Plan Finder offers many improvements. However, some Medicare
counseling groups are concerned that consumers will be confused by the new tool
and will have only a short time to adjust to it before the start of Medicare’s
annual enrollment period, which begins Oct. 15 and extends through Dec. 7. More
than 60 million people with Medicare will then have the ability to choose new
plans that will take effect Jan. 1.
I’ve taken the new Plan Finder, which was
launched in August, for a “test drive” and think it will wind up being a big
improvement. But I share the concerns of counselors who fear that this year’s
open enrollment experience may be confusing to not only Medicare beneficiaries
but also to the insurance brokers and nonprofit counseling agencies that will
be helping people make their annual enrollment selections.
Counselors who help people with Medicare
enrollments say they will need training themselves on the new tool. This might
wind up saving time in the long run, but it will make this year’s open
enrollment season more challenging and time consuming for counselors and
beneficiaries.
The Medicare Rights Center has a largely
favorable response as well, but said in a letter to Medicare that it hopes the
agency can make additional improvements before Oct. 15. “The needed changes
include improving the sort and summary features to account for data of
importance to users, such as drug cost and formulary information, and
clarifying potentially confusing language and displays,” the Medicare Rights
Center said.
The old Plan Finder, which was discontinued at
the end of September, let users save their list of prescription drugs as a
password-protected feature. This saved information has not been carried over to
the new tool, according to Marvin Musick, a Medicare insurance broker in
Kansas.
“This is a major disruption, and we wish we
had a good answer for why the government made this unnecessary change,” he
recently wrote in an email to clients.
Getting easy access to this information will
still be possible, however, because the new Plan Finder is designed to pull
information from a person’s My Medicare online account. People should either set up
this account or, if they already have one, check to make sure it is populated
with details of their prescription drug needs and other details about their
current Medicare Advantage and Part D plans.
If this is done, this information will be
available automatically to anyone using the new tool who logs on to their My
Medicare account when prompted. This feature made it easier for me to use Plan
Finder, but I can empathize with anyone who finds it daunting to set up this
feature.
It’s
especially important that Medicare beneficiaries take the time to read and
understand how their existing Medicare plans are changing next year.
When I used the new tool, it also lacked the
ability to show me total plan costs when comparing plans. A spokesman for
Medicare says this capability will be addressed before open enrollment begins.
Given these changes, and with open enrollment
beginning in less than two weeks, it’s especially important that Medicare
beneficiaries take the time to read and understand how their existing Medicare
plans are changing next year.
All private Medicare insurers were required by
the end of September to send what’s called an “Annual Notice of Change” to
existing customers. It is supposed to provide details on any major plan changes
that will take effect next year. Insurers also must provide people with a much
larger companion document called an “Explanation of Benefits,” which includes a
detailed explanation of what a plan covers. Medicare also recently updated its
annual Medicare & You guide for 2020 plans.
Keep in mind that open enrollment lasts more
than seven weeks, so don’t be in a rush to pick your 2020 plans. Even
selections made on Dec. 7 will take effect next Jan. 1. As always, there are
certain to be important changes in 2020 plan offerings and costs, so give
yourself extra time this year to navigate the new Plan Finder and make an
informed decision about the best package of Medicare coverage next year.
If you have questions about the new Plan
Finder, or any other aspect of open enrollment, please let me know.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/making-sense/these-tips-can-help-you-navigate-medicares-updated-online-tool
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