Medicare Advantage Plans
With the passage of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Medicare beneficiaries were given the option to
receive their Medicare benefits through private health insurance plans, instead of through the original
Medicare plan (Parts A and B). These programs were known as "Medicare+Choice" or "Part C" plans. Pursuant
to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, "Medicare+Choice" plans were
made more attractive to Medicare beneficiaries by the addition of prescription drug coverage and became
known as "Medicare Advantage" (MA) plans.
- Medicare Advantage Plans are health plans that are part of the Medicare program. If you join one of
these plans, you generally get all your Medicare-covered health care through that plan. This insurance
may include prescription medication coverage.
- Medicare Advantage Plans include: Medicare Health Maintenance Private Fee-for-Service Plans (PFFS),
Medicare Special Needs Plans.Organizations (HMOs), Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs).
- When you join a Medicare Advantage Plan, you use the health insurance card that you get from the
plan for your health care. In most of these plans, generally there are extra benefits and lower
copayments than in the Original Medicare Plan. However, you may have to see doctors that belong to the
plan or go to certain hospitals to get services.
- To join a Medicare Advantage Plan, you must have Medicare Part A and Part B. You will have to pay
your monthly Medicare Part B premium to Medicare. In addition, you might have to pay a monthly premium
to your Medicare Advantage Plan for the extra benefits that they offer.
- If you join a Medicare Advantage Plan, your Medigap policy won’t work. This means it won’t pay any
deductibles, copayments, or other cost-sharing under your Medicare Health Plan. Therefore, you may want
to drop your Medigap policy if you join a Medicare Advantage Plan. However, you have a legal right to
keep the Medigap policy.
Although we prefer Original Medicare, Standardized Medicare Supplements and stand alone Prescription
Part D plans for our clients, we will certainly sell Medicare Advantage plans when appropriate. For all
your senior health insurance choices consider Rosenheck and Co.