There has been a lot of talk in Congress about raising the eligibility age on Medicare to age 67 to save costs. This has been talked about for years, but it faces a lot of opposition in Congress. According to the article “Raising Medicare Age Would Save $148 Billion, CBO Says” by Meghan McCarthy and [...]
Archive for the ‘medicare supplements’ Category
Medicare Open Enrollment Extension for Some
Today, December 7th, is the end of the open enrollment period for Medicare recipients. Susan Jaffe from the KaiserHealthNews.org website reports that extensions are being offered to people who are unable to enroll due to wait times, but only by three days. A spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid claims that extensions will [...]
SeniorBlue Select
Wellmark recently announced that their Medicare supplement plan SeniorBlue Select would be discontinued as of Dec 31. Nearly 4,000 members are enrolled in the plan that supplements Medicare benefits. SeniorBlue Select was closed to new business about three years ago, but about 3,900 members remain on the books. The plan was popular because it offered [...]
MediBlue HMO by Empire BCBS
There is just over 1 week left in Medicare Open Enrollment. If you live in NY state and are still shopping for a Medicare health plan, the MediBlue HMO suite of plans offered by Empire BlueCross BlueShield are worth taking a look. MediBlue HMO Essential is a Medicare Advantage Plan without Prescription Drug Coverage. MediBlue [...]
Change In Medicare Open Enrollment Causing Confusion
Stuart Millard, a Certified Financial Planner, who heads Senior Insurance Solutions in Massachusetts says most people are confused by Medicare and very few are aware of the changes in open enrollment. According to the article “Key Change Could Screw Up Your 2012 Medicare” by Susan Ladika on FoxBusiness.com, many seniors are very accustomed to waiting [...]
Reminder: Medicare Open Enrollment Starts Earlier This Year
Many Medicare beneficiaries are not aware that open enrollment starts this Saturday, October 15th and runs through December 7th, 2011. Between Medicare enrollment and Medicare supplement information, seniors are feeling overwhelmed. Medicare.gov has done it’s best to educate consumers on the important dates they should know to help them plan. As of October 1, new [...]
Medicare Changes Surprise Seniors
A recent survey shows that about two-thirds of seniors are unaware that the Medicare enrollment period has been moved. This could end up costing them if the information doesn’t get to them in time. The Medicare enrollment period opens October 15th instead of November. If beneficiaries do not enroll by December 7th, they will have [...]
Medicare Excluded From First Round Cuts
The debt deal has been worked on for weeks now and it looks like Congress has come to an agreement. The debt-ceiling compromise will have short term as well as long term effects on all Americans according to the article “Students, Seniors May Feel Impact of Debt Deal” by Sandra Block of USA Today. The [...]
Medicare Supplement Insurance Doesn’t Cover Everything
Health care reform is causing big changes to Medicare and Medicare supplement insurance over the next few years but one thing will most likely remain: misconceptions about Medicare. The article “Retiree Money Myths: Where Thinking Goes Wrong and How to Plan for a Better Retirement Reality” by Dave Carpenter on Green Field Reporter, states that [...]
Health Insurance Rates Vary for Elective Surgery
You may be surprised to hear that elective surgery in the United States varies greatly based on where you live, and which doctors they are seeing according to the article “When it Comes to Elective Surgery, Where You Live Matters” on Kaiser Health News. A recent study from Reuters finds a large regional variation in [...]
