Wellness

[Tinkrbl44]

A friend of mine has been on hold for ages with her Medicare Plan B and Plan D companies and can't get to a human being, so, she frantically called me.  

I don't know the answer to her question.

She likes her policies and wants to keep what she has ... no changes.   Does she have to:

1 --- Formally renew her coverage, OR

2 --- Do nothing and the company will just keep billing her every month?

If it matters, we're in California.    Anyone?

TIA!!

[151949]

Ok - I would not bet my life on this because medicare is different everywhere but for us , our experience has been , if we just don't do anything then our coverage will continue unchanged for the next year.

[proudlyfromNJ]

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@151949 wrote:

Ok - I would not bet my life on this because medicare is different everywhere but for us , our experience has been , if we just don't do anything then our coverage will continue unchanged for the next year.

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Same with us.

[Upnorth1]

I agree with you. Do nothing and it stays the same except if there is a price increase, but that would automatic. We just went through this. Our cost per month went up, but we are not changing so we did nothing. We have BCBS supplemental. 

[namaste000]

Medicare Part D (drug plan) is a little more complicated.

Each year all of the companiies providing Part D drug coverage can make as many changes (or not) to their Part D plan.  Each plan has a formulary or list of all of the drugs they are offering under their plan for the next year and what tier (1,2,3,4,etc) each drug will be and what each will cost.

So you really need to check on medicare.gov.  If you enter all of your drugs and dosages then the medicare website will show you all of Part D plans starting with the cheapest annual cost (includes premiums and the cost of your specific drugs).

Therefore, even if you loved your Part D in 2016 it may not be the best plan for you in 2017.  In fact, there are many changes in many plans this year.

You can change your Part D plan during Open Enrollment which ends tomorrow Dec 7. 

[Moonchilde]

I'm also in CA and making no changes. I don't think you need to do anything. My Part B is through an insurance agency. They haven't notified me of any rate changes, and the paperwork I've been getting from the company and my part D company has just been the usual, nothing about rate increases, etc. I would also assume that if there *were* increases, they would just tell you, and if you do nothing, i.e. don't cancel, you go on as before.

[Evie2004]

It probably does depend on each company, but our Anthem Sr Advantage plan had sent us a letter, telling us that if we want the SAME coverage for 2017, to do nothing...they will send us our new card by 1/7/17.

She should check for any similar correspondence, for her peace of mind.

[Desertdi]

I receive a letter from my supplemental plan around September, advising me of any changes........including  the rate, for the coming year.