{"id":11177,"date":"2020-10-09T15:06:34","date_gmt":"2020-10-09T20:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/?p=11177"},"modified":"2022-02-11T09:52:20","modified_gmt":"2022-02-11T15:52:20","slug":"tips-on-talking-to-your-parents-about-medicare-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/tips-on-talking-to-your-parents-about-medicare-coverage\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips on talking to your parents about Medicare coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For many people, their first experience with Medicare is helping their parents navigate coverage.<\/p>\n<p>The annual open enrollment time for Medicare is nearing. Now is the time to get up to speed on the options and decisions your parents face. Open enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7.<\/p>\n<p>Government insurance can be confusing at first, but there are some things you can do to help ensure your parents have the coverage that best fits their needs.<\/p>\n<h2>Understanding open enrollment<\/h2>\n<p>There are many sources of information available. But going straight to the source <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medicare.gov\/\">on their official website<\/a> can help you understand the decisions your parents need to consider during open enrollment. This is when your parents can compare, shop and enroll in a plan for next year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGoing with generic traditional Medicare is usually not the best option,\u201d said\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/providers.osfhealthcare.org\/provider\/Mark+A.+Meeker\/1464914?name=Mark%20A.%20Meeker&amp;sort=relevance%2Cnetworks#provider-details-experience\">Mark Meeker<\/a>, DO, vice president of Community Medicine for OSF HealthCare. \u201cThere are advantages to Medicare Advantage programs.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>What can be done during open enrollment<\/h2>\n<p>Open enrollment for Advantage plans (Part C) and prescription drug coverage (Part D) allows you to do the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Change from Original Medicare to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medicare.gov\/sign-up-change-plans\/types-of-medicare-health-plans\/medicare-advantage-plans\">Medicare Advantage<\/a> plan or vice versa<\/li>\n<li>Switch Advantage plans<\/li>\n<li>Switch from an Advantage plan that doesn\u2019t offer drug coverage to one that does offer drug coverage or vice versa<\/li>\n<li>Join a Medicare prescription drug plan or drop your drug coverage completely<\/li>\n<li>Switch from one drug plan to another<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can find Medicare plan information or compare plans by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or by visiting\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.medicare.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Medicare.gov<\/a>. You can find additional resources from the Medicare Rights Center, an independent source of Medicare information and assistance, at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medicareinteractive.org\/about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Medicare Interactive<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Stick with their trusted providers<\/h2>\n<p>Most people your parents\u2019 age have a long-time doctor they trust with their care.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf your parents have a long-term relationship with a physician, it\u2019s important that they make sure their physician <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/billing\/insurance\/plans\/\">participates in the plan they choose<\/a>,\u201d Dr. Meeker said. \u201cIf not, find a plan their physician participates in. Or they should at least make sure there is a physician in the network they\u2019d be comfortable seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>What do your parents need?<\/h2>\n<p>There are questions you should ask your parents regarding the type of coverage they need based on their current health condition.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do they need prescription drug coverage?<\/li>\n<li>What can they afford?<\/li>\n<li>What health conditions do they have that require disease management?<\/li>\n<li>Do they want benefits like dental, vision, hearing and well-being perks?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cLook for any coverage gaps that may exist for any of your parents\u2019 ongoing chronic disease management or expensive medications they are taking,\u201d Dr. Meeker said.<\/p>\n<h2>Contact a Medicare expert<\/h2>\n<p>When doing your research, Dr. Meeker suggests taking advantage of free government information guides, such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medicare.gov\/medicare-and-you\">Official U.S. government Medicare Handbook.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlso, a good health insurance specialist can really assist in special circumstances. Just be careful with any sales bias,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The good news is the government funds a resource in every state. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shiptacenter.org\/\">Senior Health Insurance Program (SHIP)\u00a0 <\/a>is a free, nationwide health insurance counseling service for Medicare beneficiaries and their caregivers. SHIP provides unbiased, one-on-one counseling and assistance.<\/p>\n<h2>Just be there for your parents<\/h2>\n<p>Handling your parents\u2019 insurance coverage will be time-consuming and anxiety-producing, but it\u2019s an important time in their lives.<\/p>\n<p>Their health care coverage decisions may affect their health and financial stability, now and in the future.<\/p>\n<p>Start the conversation with them today and encourage them to choose the coverage that will be best for them, now and in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Your first experience with Medicare might be helping their parents navigate coverage. Here are some tips to help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":11189,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[129,116],"tags":[887,925,582,477],"coauthors":[688],"class_list":["post-11177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miscellaneous","category-pediatrics","tag-aging","tag-billing-insurance","tag-caregiver","tag-patient-communication"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Tips on talking to your parents about Medicare | OSF HealthCare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Help your parents navigate Medicare by knowing the options they face during the annual open enrollment period.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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