Categories
Medicare Medicare Enrollment

Do You Have to Sign Up for Medicare at 65 If You Are Still Working

Do you have to sign up for Medicare at 65 if you are still working? Can you delay Medicare enrollment if you’re still working? That’s what we’re going to talk about in today’s video, hope you stay tuned.

My name is Jamie from meetjamie.com. I’m an independent insurance broker. I help people all over the country understand how the Medicare program works and find the coverage that fits their needs. Best of all, my services are 100% free, so if you have any questions, leave a comment below or reach out to me. I’ll leave my phone number and website in the description of this video.

So when it comes to trying to decide about taking Medicare at 65 if you’re still working, obviously the topic can be a little bit confusing, so in this video we’ll explore the details of whether or not you have to sign up for Medicare at 65. So, first let’s just talk about the Medicare program in general terms.

What is the Medicare Program?

So Medicare is a Federal Health insurance program primarily for people age 65 and older, but it’s also available to certain people under 65 who have certain disabilities. It’s divided into four parts, Part A, which is hospital insurance, Part B, which is medical insurance, Part C, which is Medicare Advantage, and Part D, which is prescription drug coverage.

Is Medicare Enrollment Automatic?

Here’s the first and most important thing that you need to know. If you have already taken Social Security prior to your 65th birthday, you are going to be automatically enrolled in Medicare.

If you have not taken Social Security prior to turning 65, then you have to decide if you are going to enroll in the program at 65. Now, there is a seven-month window where you can do that around your 65th birthday. It starts three months before the month of your 65th birthday, includes the month of your 65th birthday and the three months following.

Should I Sign-Up for Medicare I’m Still Working?

So, let’s get to the question at hand. Do you have to sign up for Medicare at 65 if you are still working? The short answer is no. You don’t have to sign up for Medicare if you’re still working and you can continue to receive healthcare coverage through your employer. Now, here’s the thing, there are some things that you want to consider before you make that decision.

The most important thing you can do at this juncture of your life when you’re getting ready to transition to Medicare and you’re trying to decide which path you’re going to take, whether you’re going to continue with your employer coverage or Medicare, is you want to reach out to the HR person at your employer, whoever handles your medical benefits and you want to have a conversation with them, and here’s the reason why. There’s a high probability they’ve talked to many other people before you about this exact scenario, and they can be a great resource. That and an independent insurance broker can also help you, like myself.

The other thing that you want to consider is how big is the company that you work for? If your employer has more than 20 employees, then they’re obligated to give you the same coverage that they would give any other health … any other employee, excuse me. If the company or the employer that you work for has less than 20 employees, then you’re probably going to want to look at signing up for Medicare, but again, the best thing you can do initially is have that conversation with an HR person at your employer and a Medicare insurance broker like myself.

So, then it becomes a matter of once you know those key things about your employer and how they handle people on Medicare and what size the company is and all of that, then you can start to investigate, okay, if I stay on my employer’s health insurance, what does that get me? So in other words, what is the premiums? What are the co-payments? Is there co-insurance? Are there deductibles? Is there a maximum deductible for the year? Are there networks?

The reason why is that some people have very rich medical benefits from their employer, but for some people Medicare is going to be a much better option, and in many cases it can even cost you less than your employer plan. So there is some investigating and some research that you have to do, and the good news, again, is you don’t have to do it alone. There are people that can help you at your employer, other agents and brokers who’ve walked many, many, many other people through this as well.

So let’s say that you go through the whole process and you decide, I’m going to keep my employer coverage, I’m going to delay your Medicare enrollment. Then what you have to keep in mind is that once you decide to retire, or once you lose that benefit from the employer and then you want to go apply for Medicare, you will get what’s called a Special Enrollment Period, meaning you’ll be granted the same rights that you would’ve been granted at 65.

What is Creditable Coverage for Medicare?

Now, the important thing to know is that you will have to provide Medicare with verification that you had credible coverage, and that’s another reason why you really want to investigate and find out what your employer insurance is. Does Medicare deem it credible coverage? Because then if you delay enrolling in Medicare, and let’s say you get laid off or you retire, or the option is no longer available to you, and then you want to transition fully to the Medicare program, you’re going to want to make sure that you can provide verification to Medicare that you have had credible coverage from your employer.

It’s important to note that even if you’re not working at 65, you still have to enroll in Part B during your initial enrollment period to avoid late enrollment penalties. Now, again, this is if you did not sign up for Social Security when you were eligible. Again, that’s a seven-month window, three months before the month of your 65th birthday, the month of your 65th birthday, and three months after.

Medicare Enrollment after 65

So once you have made those decisions, then you can decide if you transition completely to Medicare, do you need to add a Medicare supplement or are you going to go down the path of Part C, which is Medicare Advantage? That’s for a different video.

Just remember that when it comes to signing up for Medicare at 65, and you are going to continue working, you don’t necessarily have to sign up if you have credible coverage that you want to keep from your employer of over 20 employees. I know it’s clear as mud.

Then another great resource to look into this further is to pick up a Medicare & You guide, or you can download it on the website. It’s just called the Medicare & You Handbook, and it has all the details in there as well. If you’d like a copy of that, I’d be more than happy to send you an email with that link.

So if you do enjoy videos about Medicare, make sure you subscribe to the channel, like this video, share it with a friend, and again, if you have any questions about Medicare enrollment, leave them in the comments below. Thanks so much for watching, have a great day.

Categories
Medicare Medicare Supplement Plans Medigap

2024 Medicare Supplement Plans in Minnesota: Plans & Rates

How much are Medicare supplement plans in Minnesota in 2024? That’s what I’m going to answer in today’s video. So please stay tuned. My name is Jamie from meetjamie.com. I’m a licensed insurance agent specializing in Medicare. I love helping people here on my YouTube channel understand how the Medicare program works and then connect them with the coverage that fits their needs. Best of all, my services are completely free. And so if you have questions or want to get in touch with me, again you can do that right through my website, meetjamie.com. I am based out of Minnesota, so I’m pretty familiar with the Minnesota Medicare supplement plans. If you haven’t seen some of my other Minnesota Medicare supplement videos here on my channel, I’m just going to do a quick refresher before I share the rates with you. So hold tight. So if you haven’t seen some of my other videos here online, this is a 2024 Medicare supplement plan in Minnesota chart.

Minnesota Medicare Supplement Plans 

So Minnesota does things just a little bit differently than the rest of the country, but this chart gives you a breakdown of how the Medicare supplement plans work here. And so, as you can see, it starts with the basic plan, and there are some riders that you can add. So the Part A deductible rider is highly recommended because that deductible in 2024 is $1,632. You can also add the Part B excess rider. This is not applicable in Minnesota because Minnesota providers are not allowed to add excess charges, but if you were to go somewhere else outside of Minnesota that had them, you could be exposed to those charges. Also, another rider is the preventative services not covered by Medicare. And then I’ll also draw your attention to a little bit of a gap here on foreign travel coverage. So then, if we look at the extended basic plan, what you’ll see here is those riders are included.

Extended Basic Medicare Supplement Plan (Similar to Plan G)

So the Part A deductible is covered. The Part B excess is covered. Again, that’s not applicable in Minnesota but could be somewhere else. And then the preventative services not covered by Medicare are included. I didn’t show it to you on the screen today, but these little two asterisks right here indicate additional skilled nursing facility coinsurance that is not included with the basic plan. So that’s just something to know. 

Copayment Medicare Supplement Plan (Similar to Plan N)

The other thing I’ll draw your attention to, because I’m only going to talk about the first three Medicare supplement plans today, is what’s called the copayment plan. This is similar to Plan N, and you can see that there are a lot of similarities. There are a couple of differences. One of them being the Part B coinsurance. So what is that? So with this copayment plan, again, similar to Plan N, you could have a copayment of $20 at the doctor’s or $50 at the emergency room.

Also, the excess charges are not covered on the copayment plan. Also, the preventative services are not covered under the copayment plan. And then you can see here that this also has a gap in foreign travel coverage. So if you travel outside the country, that’s actually something you’re going to want to think about, is just being able to have that coverage there. Okay, so let’s talk about rates. And in the next slide, I’m going to actually give you some sample rates. Now, keep in mind, that the sample rates that I’m going to give you are for a male non-tobacco user in Hennepin County. These rates vary by a few different factors. So again, if you want a customized quote for you in your area, you can reach out to me through my website. So here are the rates, and I just put them in order similar to the supplement comparison chart.

Medicare Supplement Plans in Minnesota Rates

So as you can see here, the basic plus all the riders, and I took three of the top carriers in Minnesota, is going to be 254 up to 287. The extended basic is going to be 230 up to about 250. There are a couple companies that are even higher than that. And then the copayment plan, which again is similar to Plan N. Look at this price, that’s a great price, $156. Now, just remember, you may have a copayment at the doctor or the emergency room. But again, just to refresh you here, it’s very, very similar to the extended basic. Again, the Part B excess charges don’t apply here. The preventative services wouldn’t be covered, but that’s capped at $120. And then, if you’re not planning on going outside the country, you wouldn’t really worry about that coverage being there.

So quite a bit of savings here between the copayment plan and the basic plus the riders. That’s almost $100 there in premium. So that’s about $1,200 a year. So there are some options here. Again, if you have questions about Medicare supplement plans in Minnesota, I’m happy to answer your questions. You can reach out to me again through my website, meetjamie.com. One other thing I’ll mention before I close out this video is that one of the things that I’ve noticed with a lot of the people that I talk to here in Minnesota is that a lot of agents that they talk to only represent one company. I would recommend working with a broker who represents at least four to five companies to help you get the most competitive rates.

Why Work With a Medicare Insurance Broker in Minnesota

Some agents, just choose to only represent one company because it just streamlines their business. But in my opinion, that’s not necessarily beneficial to you because you can shop these rates all year long. Supplements are shoppable all year long. You can compare, you can apply, you can change if you qualify for medical underwriting if you don’t have some sort of special enrollment period. But there are options available to save some money in Minnesota on your supplement plan and put it towards a nice trip to Florida, Arizona, California, Mexico, or wherever you want to go. So hope you found this video helpful. If you did, please just hit the like button, say hello in the comments, make sure you subscribe to the channel, and share it with a friend. Thanks for watching. Have a great day.

Additional Resource: https://www.shiphelp.org/about-medicare/regional-ship-location/minnesota

Categories
Medicare Medicare Advantage Plans

Why Are People Leaving Medicare Advantage Plans?

Why are people leaving Medicare Advantage Plans? In this video, we’re going to talk about that, so please stay tuned. My name is Jamie from MeetJamie.com. I’m an independent insurance broker. I help people all over the country understand how the Medicare program works as well as I help them find the coverage that fits their needs.

The Appeal of Medicare Advantage

In today’s video, I want to talk about why are people leaving Medicare Advantage plans.

So those of you who may not be familiar with Medicare Advantage, Medicare Advantage is another way to receive your Medicare benefits. As far as the parts of Medicare go, it’s known as Part C of Medicare, and it’s very appealing to many people because of the additional benefits that it provides that Original Medicare doesn’t. Things like vision coverage, dental coverage, hearing coverage, gym membership. Some of them even give you meals, and there are flex cards and all kinds of things now. So they’re marketed very heavily, especially in the fall around the Annual Enrollment Period for Medicare. And there are many people who signed up for a Medicare Advantage plan, and so you may be wondering or maybe researching and saying, “Well, it sounds really good, why would people leave?” So we’re going to talk about that today.

The Disadvantages of Medicare Advantage Plans

So one of the primary reasons leading to people leaving Medicare Advantage is the limited networks that they have to stay in. So when you have a Medicare Advantage plan, usually it’s an HMO or a PPO, and you have to agree to stay within that plan’s network of providers. So this would include your doctor, any specialist that you go to, clinic, hospital, those types of things. So if you sign up for a Medicare Advantage, please make sure that the agent that you work with is double-checking that your providers are all in the network, because there’s nothing worse than signing up for a plan, going to your doctor’s office and having them tell you, “we don’t take this plan.”

Medicare Advantage Network Restrictions

Why are people leaving Medicare Advantage plans Network restrictions are one of the big reasons why people leave a Medicare Advantage plan. If you have Original Medicare, which is your A and B, you can go anywhere in the country that accepts Medicare, and that is a very, very large network, as you can imagine. So I would say the number one reason that people leave Medicare Advantage plans or want to leave a Medicare Advantage is because of the limit in the network.

Medicare Advantage Annual Changes

Another big reason is the changes that happen every year. So if you have a Medicare Advantage plan, every year the provider has to send you the details of the changes within your plan for the coming year, and there are always changes, whether it’s how much a service is covered, how a drug is covered, even the provider, again, going back to the network, if the network changes.

Every year as an agent, I see news stories all the time about providers who stop accepting Medicare Advantage plans. So one of the big reasons is that there are changes every year, and so every year it’s important if you have a Medicare Advantage plan, look for that letter in the mail. It usually comes in early fall, or late summer. You want to read over that, understand, okay, what changes are happening with my Medicare Advantage plan?

Medicare Advantage Out of Pocket Costs

Another big reason is that a lot of people signed up for a very low monthly premium Advantage plan, so let’s say you do what’s called a $0 Medicare Advantage plan, the low premium of zero is very appealing to you, but the problem is, or the challenge is that there’s out-of-pocket expenses and there’s a maximum out-of-pocket that each Medicare Advantage plan has for the whole year. And depending on which Medicare Advantage plan you choose, it could be several thousand dollars. So yes, you may pay little to no premium, but you would have other costs like co-payments, and co-insurance deductibles. So if you’re watching this video and you have a plan, or if you have an experience with Medicare Advantage, I would love to hear from you in the comments below.

Medicare Advantage Limited Providers

The other reason, a big reason why people leave Medicare Advantage plans, is depending on where you live, the limited geographic coverage. So typically when I talk with people, I want to understand where they live, because if you are in a larger metro area, a large city, then there are a lot more providers and the Medicare Advantage plans companies, compete very heavily for your business, so it’s beneficial to you. If you start getting into more rural areas, then you can start having a challenge of where you can go and where you can be seen, and it requires a little more due diligence to find providers that will take your plan.

Medicare Advantage Prior Authorizations

Another big reason is the complexity of the rules, regulations, and prior authorizations of the requirements of each plan. So there’s nothing more frustrating than having to go to the doctor, go to the clinic, go to the hospital, you’re dealing with an illness or a sickness, and then have to have a conversation with your insurance company about what was provided and what wasn’t provided and why it was provided or why it wasn’t provided. So that’s another thing to consider.

And then the last reason I’ll say is that a lot of people just plain didn’t know what they got when they signed up the first time. Someone called them on a phone, this is why you should be very careful when people call you about Medicare or Social Security or anything like that because I’ve talked to people, who said, “Someone called me and they said I needed to change my plan, and I did.” They didn’t even know what they got. And they did some research, they educated themselves and they realized, “Oh, I signed up for this plan, that’s not what I wanted. I wanted a Medicare supplement plan that would go along with Original Medicare. I didn’t even know that was an option.” I’ve had people tell me that. And so people do some research, they figure it out and they say, “I’d like to go back on original Medicare and get a supplement if I can?”

How to Switch Back to Original Medicare

The one thing to always keep in mind is that if you’re outside your Open Enrollment for a Medicare Supplement plan and you want to go back on Original Medicare and get a supplement, you’re most likely going to have to go through medical underwriting. There are a few exceptions to that, but most likely you’re going to have to go through medical underwriting to qualify for that Medicare supplement plan. So it’s not just a matter of, I’ve had this Advantage plan for a while now, I wanted to go over to a Medicare Supplement. You want to keep that in mind. So if you do have some health issues, whoever you talk to, whatever agent or broker you talk to, you want to tell them that and they’ll be able to tell you in fairly short order whether or not they think you’re a good candidate to apply for a supplement going through the medical underwriting.

Again, this is just a video about why are people leaving Medicare Advantage plans. I always want people who watch my channel to do their own research. I want to help educate them to the best of my ability, because as a beneficiary, being educated is the most important thing. When people come to me initially, they say, “What’s the best plan? What’s the best company?” And I always want to slow down the conversation and say, “Do you understand how the program works?” so that you know what you’re getting when you sign up for a plan.

That’s all for today’s video, I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, be sure to subscribe to my channel, hit the like button. If you have questions about Medicare, feel free to leave a comment below. If you’d like to chat with me on the phone, I’ll leave my contact information in the description of this video as well. So, thanks for watching. Have a great day.

If you have questions about Medicare, feel free to give me a call at 1-800-974-0552.

 

Categories
Medicare Medicare Advantage Plans Medicare Supplement Plans Medigap

How to Switch Back to Original Medicare

If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, you may be wondering how to switch back to Original Medicare.

My name is Jamie from meetjamie.com, and I help seniors navigate the Medicare program and find the coverage that fits their needs.

Can I Switch Back to Original Medicare From Advantage?

A common question that we get is, can you go back to Original Medicare once you’re on a Medicare Advantage plan? The answer is yes, but there is one thing that you’ll want to keep in mind.

Original Medicare has a 20% gap in coverage, and most people who have just Original Medicare add a Medicare Supplement Plan.

If you want to go from a Medicare Advantage plan back to Original Medicare and you would like to add a Medicare Supplement plan, you may have to answer health questions and go through medical underwriting.

When Is the Best Time to Enroll in a Medicare Supplement Plan?

Typically, the best time to get a Medicare supplement plan is when you first turn 65.

That’s not to say that you won’t get accepted. It’s just something that you want to keep in mind when you are considering going back to Original Medicare.

When Can You Switch From Medicare Advantage to Original Medicare?

There are a couple of different times each year that you can switch from a Medicare Advantage plan back to Original Medicare. One is during the Annual Election Period from October 15th through December 7th. During that time, you can change to any plan that you like. It’s literally like an open enrollment. However, what’s confusing to some people is there’s also a Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period from January through March, and in that enrollment period, if you’re on a Medicare Advantage plan, you can choose to go back to Original Medicare and enroll in a drug plan. It’s at that time you would also be able to apply for a Medicare Supplement plan if you wanted.

That’s what I have for you in this video about moving from a Medicare Advantage plan to Original Medicare.

If you have more questions, leave a comment below, you can call me using the toll-free number at the bottom of the page, or there’s a link where you can visit my website as well. If you like these videos, be sure to hit the thumbs up. It helps us reach more people. Subscribe to the channel.

If you have questions about Medicare, feel free to reach out to me at 1-800-974-0552.