Page 22 - Healthcare News 2021 Senior Planning Guide

Weighing the Options
How to Fill the Gaps in Your Medicare Coverage By ANDRE GABRYJELSKI
Most retirees know Original Medicare is a health plan managed by the federal govern- ment that covers some, but not all, medical
and hospital bills. However, depending on your life- style and your personal health, this coverage might not be enough to meet your needs. For this reason, many health-insurance carriers offer a wide variety of plans to cover services that Medicare does not cover.
Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement plans are a popular option for seniors looking to tailor their healthcare coverage to their personal needs — but with so many options available, knowing which plan best suits those needs can be difficult.
Navigating Medicare
In the Medicare space in particular, we are serving
a unique population, many of whom are individuals who have lives full of family and loved ones who may be grown or growing up. They may feel at the pinnacle of their career or are winding down and enjoying the excitement of looking ahead to the future. Whatever their life circumstances, we often find that they have one thing in common — they are surprised to find
out how much there is to learn about their health- benefit options. It’s a whole new world, and it can be confusing.
What makes it so confusing? It comes down to understanding not only what Original Medicare covers, but how additional coverage — Medicare Advantage or Medicare Supplement plans — can help save money on expenses that Original Medicare (Part
A and Part B) does not cover. Medicare Part A covers hospital care, and Part B covers medically necessary and preventive services.
We are part of a high-quality health system as a subsidiary of Baystate Health and have many high- quality providers in our network across Western Mass. So people who look at Medicare Advantage (Part C) and Medicare drug coverage (Part D) plans are looking at the benefits that Original Medicare doesn’t cover, and usually leave retirees paying out of pocket.
What Private Medicare Plans Cover
With HMO (health-maintenance organization) plans, benefits usually include vision and hearing benefits, fitness reimbursements, and a dental allowance. In general, PPO (preferred-provider organization) plans and Medicare Supplement plans are about flexibility — about the peace of mind of having coverage when you travel to visit family, spend your winter in a warmer place, or even plan on going overseas, but still need access to the same high-quality providers locally.
With so many different options to choose from, I advise retirement-age individuals to consider both short- and long-term needs when selecting a
Medicare
Continued on page 34
“Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement plans are
a popular
option for
seniors
looking to tailor their healthcare coverage to their personal needs.”
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22 AUGUST 2021
SENIOR PLANNING GUIDE
HEALTHCARENEWS