The government's healthcare program for seniors is designed to
keep costs reasonable. But wrong moves on your part can raise them.
Maurie
Backman (TMFBookNerd) Jan 10, 2020 at 7:22AM Author Bio
Millions of senior citizens depend on Medicare
to pay for their healthcare services during retirement.
But if you're not careful, you could make wrong moves that cause you to miss
out on important benefits, or leave you paying more for them. Here are a few
major Medicare mistakes to steer clear of in the coming year.
1. Enrolling late
Medicare eligibility begins at age 65, but you
actually get a seven-month window to enroll initially. That window begins three
months prior to the month of your 65th birthday, and ends three months after
it. If you don't sign up for Medicare on time, you not only risk going without
coverage, but you also risk paying more for Part B coverage throughout
retirement.
Though Medicare Part A, which covers hospital
care, is free for the vast majority of enrollees, those who want Part B --
which covers "medically-necessary services" such as doctors' visits,
tests, and outpatient care -- must pay a monthly premium. But if you decide to
skip Part B for a while to save some money, you could wind up costing yourself
a lot more.
Specifically, for every full 12-month period
that you're eligible for coverage but don't take it, your monthly premiums when
you do enroll will rise by 10%, and you'll pay those higher premiums for life.
As such, the financially wise course of action is to sign up for Medicare Part
B during your initial enrollment period.
Keep in mind that the rules are slightly
different if you're covered by a group health plan through a job (yours or your
spouse's) when you reach 65. In that case, you don't have to sign up during the
aforementioned seven-month enrollment period. Rather, you'll get a special enrollment period that will kick
in once you separate from your employer or lose your group health coverage --
whichever happens first.
2. Not changing your
Advantage plan while you have the opportunity
Some seniors choose a Medicare Advantage plan -- aka, Part C --
as an alternative to original Medicare. There are plenty of good reasons to get
an Advantage plan -- many offer coverage for more services than original
Medicare, and depending on circumstances, your out-of-pocket costs could be
lower.
But of course, there's always a trade-off for
lower prices, and in this case, it's that Advantage plans put some restrictions
on which doctors and hospitals you can visit, and they may require you to get
preapproval for some services.
Because they are privately administered, not all
Advantage plans are created equal, so if you find yourself unhappy with the one
you've chosen -- say, because it limits you to too narrow a network of
providers -- it pays to switch. But you don't need to wait until Medicare's
annual open enrollment period, which begins in October, to change your
Advantage plan. There's a relatively new Medicare Advantage open enrollment
period that runs from Jan. 1 through March 31. During this time, you can swap
one Advantage plan for another, or even drop Advantage completely and switch to
original Medicare. Be sure to explore your options early on in the year;
otherwise, you may have to wait quite a while to change your plan.
3. Ignoring Medicare's
free preventive care services
Though there are plenty of costs you'll have no
choice but to cover once you're signed up for Medicare, the program does offer
a number of free preventive health services for
enrollees. And if you don't capitalize on them, you'll not only potentially put
your health at risk, but also possibly create a scenario where you'll be stuck
paying for expensive diagnostic services or treatments out of pocket.
Medicare's free preventive care services run the
gamut from annual wellness visits to depression screenings to alcohol and
obesity counseling. They also include diagnostic services like mammograms, and
yearly flu shots.
If you're a senior, you probably can't afford to
spend more money than necessary on healthcare. Avoid these Medicare mistakes,
and you won't have to.
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