About 'home health care medical supplies'|North Texas Medical Supply Company Owner Indicted For Health Care Fraud Now Also Charged With Immigration Fraud
Medicare health plans in 2010-do you need Medicare Advantage coverage to get the most out of your Medicare benefits? In my years of working in Medicare customer service, I have been asked that very question more times than it is possible to count. The short answer is, "no," you do not need a Medicare health plan, not in 2010 or in any year. However, would a privately managed Advantage Plan best serve your needs? That is a different question altogether, and the answer depends on understanding just exactly what a Medicare health plan is and what your insurance needs are. To help figure out whether a health plan is best for you, keep in mind that Advantage Plans are insurance policies, and that the purpose of insurance is risk management. People seek out insurance for essentially two basic reasons: peace of mind and to solve a problem (or problems). Ask yourself these two questions: What health risks are you most concerned about and what problem are you trying to solve? The answers to these questions will help you figure out whether Medicare health plan coverage would work for you and which plan to join. Medicare Advantage Plans-or health plans, the two terms mean the same thing in the Medicare system, are privately managed health care plans that provide coverage for the same core services established by Original Medicare. Advantage Plans are an optional way to receive your Medicare coverage. The privately managed plans are sold in the form of health maintenance organizations (HMOs), preferred provider organizations (PPOs), private fee for service programs (PFFSs), medical savings accounts (MSAs), and Cost plans, to name a few examples. When you join a Medicare health plan, you authorize that insurance company to manage your Medicare doctor and hospital benefits and to process and be the single payer of your claims. Some Advantage Plans may also offer extra benefits not ordinarily available in Original Medicare, such as hearing aids, routine physical exams, dental services, reading glasses, and routine transportation. Three important points to consider when deciding whether or not to join a health plan concern providers (doctors and hospitals), pre-authorization, and service area. First, are your health care providers in the plan's network or otherwise able to submit claims to the insurer? Before you join any plan you must find out if your providers can submit claims to the Plan. If the answer is no, then you would pay the charges out of your own pocket. The second point concerns pre-authorization. In general, Advantage Plans require pre-authorization for services before making payment. If you do not get pre-authorization, then in most cases the plan will not pay. Third, Medicare health plans can only provide only care within their immediate service area. Please take the time to find out if the Plan has providers in your area-you don't want to join and find out you must drive 50 miles to get to the nearest doctor. If you plan on traveling or are a "snowbird"--changing your residence depending on season, you may not be able to get the care you need if you have an Advantage Plan. I don't want to scare you-I talk to many Medicare beneficiaries every day who love their Advantage Plans, but as with any product sold on the open market, as a buyer you must beware because if you make a mistake in judgment, you will bear full responsibility for the consequences. When you are considering a health plan, you want to be sure to find out the costs of copayments for doctor visits, the costs of inpatient hospital care, skilled nursing facility care, outpatient services and surgery, ambulance services, emergency room visits, lab fees, and x-rays and other radiology services, and durable medical equipment. If you think you might require chiropractic or physical therapy, be sure to ask representatives of the plans in which you are interested for the costs and whether there are any limitations on service. I would also suggest you ask about out-of-pocket maximums. Some Medicare health plans establish a maximum limit on how much you pay for doctor and hospital benefits and that, in turn, could save you money for certain types of services should you reach a catastrophic level of coverage.. Most Medicare Plans include drug coverage, so you want to find out the costs of the prescription plan, such as the premium, deductible, copayments and whether or not you will enter the coverage gap. Be sure to verify that your medications are on the Plan formulary. Finally, be sure to pay special attention to the costs of services you are most interested in or anticipate needing the most. This may require a bit of research, but you can then compare cost-sharing information with Original Medicare. Original Medicare, in contrast, is the Medicare program managed by the Federal government and was first signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. The Original Medicare program is a fee for service program, which means that medical providers bill Medicare for each service or supply you receive. There is no pre-determined network of providers (doctor, hospitals, and other health care providers). You simply go to any doctor or hospital enrolled in the Medicare program anywhere in the United States. Payment to providers is based on a fee schedule established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS, which is the more formal name for the federally managed Medicare agency). Medicare does not pre-authorize services but relies on the claims submitted by providers to establish medical necessity before payment can be made. When you are enrolled with Original Medicare and need drug coverage, any Medicare beneficiary with either Part A or B or both can join a Medicare stand-alone (prescription only) plan that works parallel to Part A and/or B. As an aside, I'll mention that I talk to many Medicare enrollees who think that the only way to get drug coverage is to join a Medicare Advantage Plan, and that is 100% incorrect. You have a choice-you can receive drug coverage through a stand-alone plan or within the package of benefits provided by an Advantage Plan. When you have other creditable coverage, such as through an employer group health insurance, a retiree coverage, the VA, or Tricare, then you do not need to join a Medicare plan, as there is an exclusion for individuals with non-Medicare creditable coverage. Original Medicare consists of Part A and Part B. Part A covers inpatient hospital charges, home health care, skilled nursing facility care, inpatient mental health care, and care in long term hospitals. Part B covers doctors' services, medical supplies, and equipment, and hospital outpatient care. Each part of Medicare has its own deductible and coinsurance costs. The kind of care you receive determines which part of Medicare the claim is sent for processing, how it is processed, how much is paid, and what your share of the costs will be. To wrap up, although your options within the Medicare program can seem complicated and confusing, there are a few relatively basic steps you can take to determine whether coverage by a Medicare health plan in 2010 (or any year) or through Original Medicare is best for you. First, identify the health needs and concerns most important to you. Second, as much as possible, find out how the insurance determines payment and how much it is likely to pay on the kinds of services you may need the most. Third, examine the basic rules that govern the use of the policy such as pre-authorization, service area requirements, and limitations of kinds of coverage and access to providers. For more information on the options available to you in the Medicare program, you can call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Sources Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Medicare & You 2010, www.medicare.gov |
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