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The basics of what a Medicare Advantage Plan is.
Medicare Advantage Plans or Part C of Medicare our relatively new plans that the government has structured as an alternative to a Supplement. Generally speaking, when you turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare Parts A & B, you also have the option of purchasing a Medicare Advantage Plan or a Supplement. Traditionally you only had the option of purchasing a supplement, which will be discussed in another post, now you have the alternative of purchasing an Advantage Plan. So how do you know if you qualify for an Advantage Plan? You have to live in the service area of the plan, which only makes sense because you want to make sure the plan offers Dr's and hospitals that are in your area and convenient to use. You also have to already have Medicare Parts A & B. And, you cannot have End-Stage renal disease. If you have End-Stage renal disease companies usually have a specially designed plan that offer services that better serve someone with that disease. So what is a Medicare Advantage Plan? Medicare Parts A & B claims are processed by the government and they wanted to offer an option that would outsource this. Advantage Plans do just that. When you have an Advantage Plan and go to the dr. or hospital you no longer offer your Medicare (red, white & blue) card, instead you use your Advantage Plan card because the company you have chosen will now handle all your claims for you. Advantage Plans by law have to offer coverages as good as or better then original Medicare. When the government was deciding how these plans would be set up one of the guidelines the government gave the companies is that they had to provide coverages as good as or better then what they were currently offering so that no one looses anything by going to an Advantage Plan. Now most companies offer better coverages then original Medicare because they want you to see the value of purchasing their plan. The point being though, is that you don't loose anything by purchasing an Advantage Plan, you only gain coverages. The question now becomes what coverages are most important to you. All Medicare Advantage plans charge a copay for the coverages they provide but this is where most companies begin to differ. Each company offers different copays for different coverages. Typically the options are pretty similar but you want to look carefully at your options because you may want a lower copay on dr. office visits where someone else may want a lower copay on diabetic supplies. This is where you want to find a plan that best suits your needs. Each plans premiums, or the amount you pay to the company each month varies so you want to find a plan that not only offers the coverages that are suited to you but also want to find a plan that is affordable to you. Typically because you are now sharing the cost of the services you receive, the premiums for these plans are less then what you would see for a supplement plan. This tends to make these plans more appealing to people.
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Contributor's Note
This article is meant to be just a basic overview of Medicare Advantage Plans. More detailed information will become available.
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