Do These 3 Things If You Want To Get More Out Of Your Medicare Coverage

Do These 3 Things If You Want To Get More Out Of Your Medicare CoveragePhoto byCanva

With good reason, everybody wants to get “more” from their coverage. And, we are here today to make sure that happens. Just follow these three easy steps to make sure you get the most from your Medicare coverage:

Read the Summary of Benefits

The Summary of benefits gives you a basic idea of how the plan works. By taking the time to read it, or asking your broker to go over it with you, you will get a quick idea of how the plan works, what it covers, what it doesn’t cover, and the expected out of pocket costs related to the plan and procedures.

This is a somewhat mundane task, so be sure to take your time, and ask questions.

Make sure your doctor accepts the plan, and your Rx is covered.

A plan may seem great on the surface. In fact, it could have all the bells and whistles that you would like. However, if your doctor that you want to keep seeing doesn’t accept the plan, or your most expensive prescription is not covered, then the plan is really all that great.

Somes insurance plans stuff a lot of fluff into the plans to make them seem better than they really are. But when you start digging into the hospital and doctor networks, you find out that the closest dermatologist is 40 miles away, and that some of the most common and most expensive prescription drugs are not covered. If that’s the case with a plan you are looking at, you may want to recalibrate your expectations and look at plans that may offer coverage you can use in a time of need. The plan may seem a little more boring, but in a time of need, you will be happy you made that decision.

Don’t Follow the Crowd

There is a lot of advertising in the Medicare space. Much of it pushing plans with a lot of freebies, but also a lot of scare tactics telling you that “you will die if you choose the wrong plan.” Don’t let the noise sway your judgement. Focus only on your needs, and your budget.

What is right for your neighbor, may not be what is right for you. You neighbor, brother, sister, mom, dad, etc. All have different needs than you have. There is no blanket answer when it comes to insurance. Be sure to have a custom-built plan just for you.

In Summary

Your decision on your Medicare coverage is never final. Remember that you can always change your plan during the Annual Election Period (AEP) every year. AEP runs annually from October 15 – December 7. Be sure to consider your options every year, and to check whether or not there will be changes to your current plan.

Insurance can be a complicated subject and is not everyone’s cup of tea. As a result, using a professional Medicare insurance broker is always a good idea.