Shopping for Medicare Plans

By Tanner Doudna

One of the deciding factors for many considering retirement is the available health insurance options. We often see people considering working until age 65 just to keep their employer provided health insurance until Medicare kicks in. There are four main parts to Medicare¹:

Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) helps cover:

• Inpatient hospital care, skilled nursing facility care, hospice care, and home health care.

Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) helps cover:

• Services from doctors and other health care providers, outpatient care, home health care, durable medical equipment, and some preventive services including certain vaccines and cancer screenings.

Medicare Part C (also called Medicare Advantage):

• Includes all benefits and services covered under Part A and Part B provided by Medicare approved private insurance companies, may include extra benefits and services for an extra cost, and usually includes Medicare prescription drug coverage (Part D) as part of the plan.

Medicare Part D (Medicare prescription drug coverage):

• Helps cover your prescription drug costs, is run by Medicare-approved private insurance companies, may help lower your prescription drug costs and help protect against higher costs in the future

Medicare will be the primary health insurance for most Americans in retirement, and it is a decision that should not be taken lightly. Most people don’t pay for Part A of their Medicare coverage and everyone pays for part B, but your rate is determined by your income. Between October 15^th and December 7^th is the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP). This is when you have the opportunity to change your Medicare Advantage and/or Part D Prescription plan. Make sure you are paying a reasonable amount for the appropriate amount of coverage YOU need by consistently re-evaluating your coverage.

While there are some excellent local providers that can help you pick out the right plan, TrustWell has partnered with Chapter as a resource for our clients to get great help shopping for Medicare plans. Like TrustWell, Chapter is independent and not tied to a specific insurer. Chapter is able to search every Medicare Supplemental and Advantage plan available to you and can be contacted by email at trustwell@askchapter.com. While we are not affiliated with Chapter and can point you to many other great providers to help with this process, we are excited about their alignment with us in doing what is best for you. Whether you are new to Medicare or have been on it for years, we encourage you to proactively shop for the right Medicare plan for your financial and physical health. 

¹https://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Find-Your-Provider-Type/Employers-and-Unions/FS1-Intro-to-Medicare.pdf