Medicare advantage plan that covers dental

[moh malekpour]

I have been on medicare part A and B since 2008 and that has been the only plan that I have had all these years. Any time that I visited my Doc I paid my 20% share and my drugs costs were very low but I need some dental help and I am trying to find a plan that covers dental, vision and part D.
I have received several insurance literature on my mail from different insurance companies such as Scan, Kaiser Permanente and others asking me to join their plans but I want to make sure that they cover what I want. Where is the best place to get information about these plans?. I am also AARP member but I have never used their services. Are they good source of information and helpful or they want to sell their own services? I appreciate any suggestion, idea, direction, or recommendation.

 

[Mack]

Hi Moh,

Welcome!

The best place to find a plan for Medicare Advantage, or Medicare Supplement, or Medicare Prescription Drug coverage is at the Medicare.gov Medicare Plan Finder at:

https://www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan/questions/home.aspx

It is easy to use, just put in your information and it will show you all the plans that are authorized to sell coverage for your location. Use the "personalized search" for best results.

 

[moh malekpour]

Thanks Mack.
I searched and found 28 of them that are offering Medicare advantage plans in my area but I selected 3 of them with rating 4 out of 5 stars and looked at their services and costs. All 3 offer H, C and D but they have different costs.
The first one has $6,700 out of pocket spending limit and $1,000 estimated annual health and drug cost
The second one has $3,400 out of pocket spending limit and $1,500 estimated annual health and drug cost
The third one has $2,000 out of pocket spending limit and $1,900 estimated annual health and drug cost
I am confused about their out of pocket and annual costs that how do they work. What are they? How and when they are applied?
Currently I am on Medicare alone plan and my out of pocket for doctor visit has been $66 for this year. I have two prescription drugs that are both generic. One of them costs $10 for every 3 months without help from plan D. The other one is a little more expensive.

 

[Mack]

Thanks Mack.
I searched and found 28 of them that are offering Medicare advantage plans in my area but I selected 3 of them with rating 4 out of 5 stars and looked at their services and costs. All 3 offer H, C and D but they have different costs.
The first one has $6,700 out of pocket spending limit and $1,000 estimated annual health and drug cost
The second one has $3,400 out of pocket spending limit and $1,500 estimated annual health and drug cost
The third one has $2,000 out of pocket spending limit and $1,900 estimated annual health and drug cost
I am confused about their out of pocket and annual costs that how do they work. What are they? How and when they are applied?
Currently I am on Medicare alone plan and my out of pocket for doctor visit has been $66 for this year. I have two prescription drugs that are both generic. One of them costs $10 for every 3 months without help from plan D. The other one is a little more expensive.

Hi Moh,

I would also look at plans rated 3 star. I have had 3 star and 4 star and not noticed any difference in the level of service. The ratings are determined by many different things, some of which are important to me, and some of which are not. You can examine the rating system within the Medicare.gov site.

Medicare Part C (aka Medicare Advantage) is a different animal than original Medicare. Some include drug coverage, and some do not. Some offer additional services beyond what Medicare provides and some do not. You will need to contact each company whose plan that you are interested in to see what they cover. The downside to Medicare Advantage is that you have to use the doctors and hospitals that are members of their plan and those are usually limited to your geographical area.

If you are 65 or older and are not currently in a Medicare Advantage plan, and you have not enrolled in a Part D prescription drug program then you should consider getting Part D because the longer you wait the more you will be penalized by Medicare (in the form of higher premiums) for the Part D. Just because you don't take any (or many) drugs now don't mean that 10 years from now you might need expensive drugs and if you wait until then to enroll in Part D your premiums will be pretty high. Currently you can get a stand alone Part D program in most areas for less than $20 per month for the cheapest plans. It would be worth it to have a cheap plan just to avoid the penalties later.

 

[mattspits]

Moh,

You are playing with fire by having only Medicare and nothing else. You have not seen high out of pocket costs because you are only using the physician services. The problem with original Medicare is that there is no Maximum out of pocket! The out of pocket spending limit you are seeing on the Advantage plans is a good thing. Ideally, you would want one with the lowest possible amount. This however is less relevant because the majority of seniors will never hit the limit due to the low copays the plans offer. You can ignore the estimated annual health and drug cost because they do not know what your health will be like next year. Just concentrate on monthly premium, drug copays, and finally the other copays for provider services. You also want to make sure the plan you are looking for has your providers and facilities in network!

 

[moh malekpour]

Thanks mattspits,
I did a personalized search in plan finder and I got 3 options
1-prescription drug plans with original medicare
2-medicare health plans with drug coverage
3-medicare health plans without drug coverage.
I selected #2 option that offers 28 plans. They are basically offer the same thing. They all have $0 monthly premium for drug and health. they have $0 annual drug deductible and $0 health plan deductible.
they have $1.15 - $3.50 for drug copay/coinsurance
they have estimated annual drug costs between $0-$18.
they have different out of pocket spending limits that I have no idea what does it mean.
I only have 2 prescription drugs that are generic and are on their formulary but two of them have a restriction on my eye drop that they say is not preferred generic.
My primary doctor is with two of them that I am thinking to choose
One of them is Blue Shield plus choice plan HMO. I know they are well known health insurance company but I don't know about their services.
The other one is Citizen Choice health plan. I don't know anything about this one either.
I have no idea if they have any copay/coinsurance for doctor visit or not. I may have to call them up and ask them.
Is there anything else that is hidden and I should know before I sign up with one of these plans? I appreciate any advise and help that I can get from anyone who has been with any of them and knows how do they function.

 

[mattspits]

Yes,

You should be reviewing their summary of benefits. A summary of that information like copay amounts is on the medicare site where you were looking. You will want to compare copays for the items you anticipate using. If you let me know your zip code or city/state, I will shoot you a link to their summary of benefits.

matt

 

[moh malekpour]

Thanks Matt, I already enrolled and waiting for my card to arrive.

 

[Maxtor]

I think some of medicare plans offer extra protection, such as perspective, hearing, dental, and general examinations and other health and fitness programs. Most advantage plans include Medical health insurance prescribed drug protection.