Could Medicare supplements in California be any more mystifying?

I will never not remember the day my Mom asked if I could help her in picking out her Medicare supplement. In truth how tricky could something like this be? Well, take your worst visit to the DMV and multiply it by 50.

How does the government imagine that anybody can comprehend this? After years of instruction and know-how in the corporate world I assumed I had observed it all, apparently not.

It all started with the torrent of junk mail that started arriving nearly 6 months before she turned 65. Letters from Secure Horizons, postcards from Blue Shield, small gifts from Blue Cross and notepads from SCAN. Initially it was somewhat amusing but it got old real fast.

Followed by the unceasing barrage of calls from each and every insurance company in the state of California. You would believe somebody had just come into a substantial amount of money! Next the various ideas from uncles who all understood that this Medicare plan or that Medicare supplement was the only way to go. The guy at the store even appeared to suppose that he and no-one else understood what the top Advantage HMO in California is?

I was dumb enough to suppose that we could contact the government to find help. Let me assure you, that is not an option. We had meetings with too many sales people to recollect. Believe it or not, they all held something unique! So after a large amount of frustration and an accidental meeting we accomplished our goal. The next information is a brief outline of the fundamentals.

Original Medicare is composed of Part A and B. Part A covers hospital and B addresses doctor's visits. The difficulty is that the two parts only cover up to 80%, so something needs to be put in place to cover that 20%. In addition, there are co pays, deductibles and co-insurance. There are several coverage options you can select from to take care of this. You enroll in one of these programs 3 months earlier than you become 65, then it will go into effect the first day of the month you were born.

Then we do have Part D which will not be offered by Medicare, but instead through private insurers. Part D is thought to be elective. The snag is that if you don't join one, you will receive a late enrollment penalty. For each month that you don't have a Part D drug plan you will pick up a 1% penalty. 72 months = 72%.

It mainly comes down to two options. One can get a Medicare insurance Supplement and additionally find a Part D. These will both have a monthly premium. The advantage to this selection is lack of restrictions. You can visit any doctor in the U.S. that takes Medicare. You have no co-pays or coinsurance. The downside is the per month charge that has the possibility to increase year after year.

The other choice is to select one of the Advantage HMO's in California. This option is also branded as Part C. They consist of benefits for A, B and D of Medicare all in one. These plans vary by county. A few plans have no month to month payment. Certain plans have particular co pays and others include hardly any. These are more often than not HMO's so you really should try to only see docs in the plan's network.

You do hold the right to switch your Medicare Advantage plan or Part D each year. This time is between Oct. 15 - Dec. 7. Medicare insurance policies are somewhat different. These are guaranteed issue as soon as you first enroll in Medicare. After that you may or may not be able to acquire one.

We were about to just give up in frustration when we had the chance to chat with a friend of our neighbor. She was visiting from Oxnard. She appeared to own an unusual understanding of not just the Medicare program but the varied plans. We were shocked. It took her all but 5 minutes to explain what had taken us six months to realize.

She had the success of contacting an individual Licensed Healthcare Specialist who worked with a brokerage. These folks work with each insurer in the state. They only work with Medicare insurance. And since they represent many plans they don't care who you choose if they are sure that you've gone with the best choice for your specific situation. They are more like advocates than sales agents.

The greatest thing? They do not charge a penny for their counsel.They are compensated directly by the insurance offerers. The cost to someone is just the same as if going directly to the insurer. I just wish I could have recognized at an earlier time that people like this were accessible to me.

Our tale finally ended up really well. I do know that the next instant someone inquires of me I know exactly what say to them.

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