Medicare Plans
Medicare Mistakes To Avoid
From Wellington to Boynton Beach, the Medicare mistakes we see tend to repeat. Most of them start with a missed deadline, an assumption nobody checked, or a decision made off a mailer.
Here's what to watch for.
- Some of these can't be reversed
- One careful review prevents most of them
- Missed deadlines cost more than plan choices
The big ones
Seven mistakes that cost people money
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1. Letting your Part B window pass
Without coverage from a job you or your spouse still hold, delaying Part B adds a penalty you usually keep paying as long as you have Part B. Run the Part B penalty calculator before you decide to wait. -
2. Going without drug coverage
No prescriptions today doesn't mean no penalty. Go 63 days or more in a row without creditable drug coverage after your Initial Enrollment Period, and Medicare adds a charge to your Part D premium for as long as you have drug coverage. -
3. Picking a local network when you leave for half the year
An Advantage plan built around local doctors may cover only emergency and urgent care up north, and most plans must end your membership after more than six months outside the service area. Ask how a plan handles travel before you enroll. -
4. Judging a plan by its premium
A $0 premium plan that puts your medicines on a high tier can cost more by December than one with a modest monthly premium. -
5. Missing the Medigap window
Your guaranteed-issue Medigap window opens with Part B and lasts six months. Florida has no birthday or anniversary rule, so once that window closes, an insurer can ask health questions before accepting you. -
6. Signing up from a TV ad
National commercials run the same pitch in every state. An ad can't tell you whether a plan includes your West Palm Beach cardiologist or the hospital you'd use.
7. Skipping the yearly check
Plans can change networks, drug lists and copays every January 1, and last year's answer may not hold. A quick look during each Open Enrollment catches most changes before they cost you.
Also worth knowing
Smaller slip-ups worth catching early
Joining a separate Part D plan while you're in an Advantage plan that already covers drugs can drop you from the Advantage plan. Cancelling a Medigap policy with plans to get it back later can backfire if you can't pass the health questions. Forgetting to mention a spouse's job coverage can let a Special Enrollment Period come and go unused. And moving to Florida while keeping an Advantage plan from your old state can leave you without doctors nearby who take it.
None of these are hard to avoid once someone is watching for them, and a licensed insurance agent can help you keep track. New to Medicare? Start with the Medicare overview and the Medicare checklist. Free, unbiased counseling is also available from SHINE at 1-800-963-5337.
Free review
Find out where you stand
Think you may have already slipped up? A licensed insurance agent can look at your coverage, your enrollment dates and your medicines, and tell you what can still be done. Ask for a callback during office hours, or call 561-000-0000.
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A licensed agent will call you during business hours, Mon-Fri, 9:30am-6:30pm ET. If you'd rather not wait, call 561-000-0000 now.
Think you've already made one?
Many can be fixed if they're caught early. Call for a free look at where you stand.