How could Medicare options in California be any more complicated?

I will never forget the time my Mom asked if I could help her choose her Medicare plan. I had no idea what I'd agreed to. Well, take your scariest visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles and multiply it by 100.

How in the world does the government imagine that anybody can understand this? After years of teaching and skill in the office I assumed I had observed it all, actually not.

It all began with the onslaught of letters that began arriving about 6 months before she turned 65. Mail from AARP, postcards from Health Net, small gifts from Anthem Blue Cross and brochures from SCAN. Initially it was sort of interesting but it got old real fast.

You really could not believe the volume of telephone calls. You would assume someone had just come into a significant sum of cash! Followed by the various ideas from friends who all thought that this Medicare Advantage plan or that Medicare supplement was the only choice that makes sense. The guy at the store even appeared to believe that he alone understood what the only worthwhile Advantage HMO in California is?

I was dumb enough to suppose that we could contact Social Security to get help. Let's just say that is absolutely not an option. I had discussions with too many saleswomen to recollect. Believe it or not, they all thought something else! So after a large amount of frustration and a chance encounter we achieved our target. The next information is a short outline of the basics.

Original Medicare is composed of Part A and B. Part A addresses hospital and Part B insures physician's visits. As Medicare just covers up to 80% it truly is your responsibilty to work out how to pay the remaining 20%. Also, there are co pays, deductibles and co-insurance. There are quite a few insurance plans you can select from to take care of this. You join one of these programs 3 months sooner than you turn 65, and it will start the very first day of the month you were born.

Then you have Part D which is absolutely not offered by Medicare, but as an alternative through private insurance companies. Part D is said to be elective. The hitch is that if you won't enroll in one, you will receive a penalty. For every month that you do not own a Part D plan you will receive a 1% penalty. 72 months = 72%.

Somewhat simply it comes down to two core selections, let's discuss the 1st. One can obtain a Medigap plan and in addition acquire a Part D. These will both have a monthly premium. The benefit to this alternative is self-determination. You can visit any general practitioner in the U.S. that participates in Medicare. You have no copays or co insurance. The draw back is the per month rate that has the possibility to go up year after year.

The other option is to decide on one of the Advantage plans in California. This option is also known as Part C. They consist of benefits for A, B and D of Medicare in one package. These plans vary by county. Selected plans have no monthly premium. Certain plans contain specific co pays and others have hardly any. They may be by and large HMO's so you should try to only see physicians in the plan's network.

Every year during AEP you get the opportunity to change your plan This time is between October 15th to December 7th. Supplements are a little different. They're guaranteed issue at the time you initially enroll in Medicare. Following that you may or may not manage to get one.

At the summit of our frustration we happened to visit with our neighbors relative. She was just in from Paso robles. She appeared to own an inordinate understanding of not only the Medicare program but the varied choices. We were surprised. It took her just about five minutes to clarify something that had taken us six months to learn.

She had the luck of contacting an independent Licensed Healthcare Specialist who worked with a brokerage. These people work together with each insurer in the state. They only work with Medicare coverage. And seeing as they represent many programs they don't care who you select as long as you have picked the best option for your exact situation. They're more educators than salesmen.

The best thing? They never charge anything for their counsel.They're just compensated directly by the insurance offerers. The price to somebody is exactly the same as if they went directly with the insurer. I only wish I could have recognized at an earlier time that people like these folks were available.

Our tale eventually turned out just fine. I do know that the next moment anyone asks me I know exactly what to share with them.

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