Plans for Medicare Advantage
Whether you’re brand new to Medicare or have been a participant for years, now’s the time to check out what’s available and lock in your benefits for 2021.
“Medicare Advantage is changing. It’s highly competitive,” said Brandon Fryar, president of Presbyterian Health Plan. “Insurance companies are offering more and more benefits.”
They’re offering more plans to choose from as well, with about 2,100 more Medicare Advantage plans operating in 2021 than in 2017.
“It’s important for Medicare beneficiaries to obviously have choices in their healthcare coverage so there are multiple plans out there,” said Janice Torrez, incoming president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico.
Medicare’s open enrollment period for next year’s coverage began Oct. 15 and runs through Dec. 7. The official U.S. government site for Medicare, medicare.gov, is one of the best places to get information.
People who want to keep the plan they already have do not need to re-enroll. But Fryar advises against that. Although it may be tempting, he suggests Medicare enrollees review their plans and stay up-to-date on all that Medicare Advantage offers such as expanded dental, vision and chiropractic care.
“Medicare Advantage provides you a lot of supplemental coverage relative to traditional Medicare,” Fryar said. “You should explore it if you haven’t.”
One benefit that’s gaining popularity is telehealth and virtual care options.
“As we’re all working through the challenges of COVID, we want to ensure that we have a very strong telemedicine benefit,” Torrez said.
All Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico’s Medicare Advantage plans offer telemedicine with a zero co-pay.
“Members will be able to access the benefit through a mobile app, online video or even telephone,” she said.
Fryar said it’s exciting to see members more willing to engage with virtual healthcare options such as participating in online visits with their doctor or making calls to Presbyterian’s 24/7 nurse advice line.
“We have 90-plus percent satisfaction ratings when people take part in virtual care,” Fryar said. “So while you’ll see some initial reluctance, in a lot of cases after the visit, they’re generally very, very pleased.”
`In addition to more plans and a renewed focus on telehealth, Medicare Advantage average monthly premiums will be the lowest since 2017.
“This year is just a good news story,” Torrez said. “Everything we’re doing is focused on enhancing our benefits and looking for valueadded opportunities to offer to our members.”