Insurance – Citizens Report

The Different Parts Of Medicare Open Enrollment

CitizensReport — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 18:14:07 +0000

Medicare beneficiaries should be aware that open enrollment season, a three-month period that offers options to change or add to existing health care plans, has finally begun.

The annual open enrollment period for Medicare allows Americans to revise their insurance plans during Oct. 15 to Dec. 7.

Medicare plans have a variety of different parts. It’s important to know the basics of each one.

Participating In Open Enrollment

Open enrollment begins in October and ends in December.
Image: Cusd

Each year, the terms and costs of Medicare plans chance drastically. Millions of beneficiaries could save large amounts of money with better plans that offer more coverage in the new year.

If one in five people choose to select a new Medicare plan, there would be a significant shift. Because Medicare is difficult to understand, most people don’t bother with changing plans.

For existing patients, the current plan will automatically renew… even if it’s not the best fit.

An Alphabet Of Plans

Medicare is broken up into different parts identified by a letter.
Image: Boomer Benefits

Original Medicare, or Part A, includes hospital insurance. Part B is for doctors, outpatient expenses and medical equipment. Medicare Advantage plans include both Parts A and B.

Medicare Advantage plans fall under Part C, whereas Medicare prescription drug plans are classified as Part D.

The free annual guide Medicare & You 2016 will help to clear up the difference kinds of coverage for each part. For people with private insurance, the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) and Evidence of Coverage (EOC) documents will also provide important information. Being familiar with the documents is an instrumental part of selecting a plan.

Making A Decision

Image: Sexual Health Men

The plans are split into a few basic choices. The Original Medicare beneficiaries may also purchase a Medigap policy. These supplemental policies fill the holes in the Original Medicare plans.

Because Original Medicare only covers 80 percent health expenses, patients will have to pay for the rest out of pocket. This can be very expensive for patients with serious conditions that require hospitalization, surgery or other costly treatments.

During open enrollment, beneficiaries can add Medigap “letter” plans. The coverage for each letter plan is identical, meaning that all A plans are the same, all B plans, and so on. The only difference is the premiums.

If you’ve already passed the beginning eligibility period for Medicare, the plans may be pricier because guaranteed issue rights to Medigap have expired. Private insurers no longer have to sell beneficiaries a plan regardless of health status or age. It’s possible that beneficiaries could be forced to pay higher premiums or deal with coverage limitations based on pre-existing medical conditions.

Original Medicare beneficiaries may also purchase a Medicare Advantage plan or change their current Advantage plan. For this specific plan, patients cannot be forced to pay higher premiums or face rejections because of current medical problems.

The only catch is that if you choose to switch to Medigap, you can’t keep a Medicare Advantage plan. The two plans can never overlap, so patients should be sure about making the switch because they will lose their guaranteed issue rights.

While 70 percent of patients have Original Medicare plans, and 30 percent are covered by Medicare Advantage, all beneficiaries can alter their Part D prescription plan during open enrollment.

Take the time to understand the different options during Medicare enrollment to receive better coverage for a cheaper price.

The post The Different Parts Of Medicare Open Enrollment appeared first on Citizens Report.

Census Confirms A Declining Number Of Uninsured Americans

CitizensReport — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 18:08:42 +0000

New census data shows the percentage of uninsured people in the United States has declined from 41.8 million in 2013 to 33.0 million in 2014.

The annual health insurance report was released last week, confirming the prediction that the number of uninsured people living in the United States had declined.

The report, released by the U.S. Census Bureau, generally matched other insurance-related surveys from the past year.

Accurate Predictions

The policy changes that took place in 2014, including Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act, extended health care coverage to millions of Americans.
Image: Hive Wallpaper

The report, released on Sept. 16, was based on survey data detailing changes in income, poverty level and insurance coverage in 2014. The data was gathered from the 2015 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

There was no significant difference in household income or official poverty rates since the last survey was conducted, but researchers did confirm the amount of people without health insurance has declined. The data was separated by age, household income, race and other demographics.

The 2013 report of Health Insurance Coverage In The United States showed that 42 million people, or 13.4 percent of the population, had no health insurance. In comparison, about 271.4 million people were covered. Out of the insured group, about two-thirds were privately covered by their employers or through the individual market.

The most recent report shows that the percentage of people without health insurance coverage for the entire 2014 calendar year was 10.4 percent. The number of people without health insurance declined to 33.0 million from 41.8 million in the last year.

The percentage of people with health insurance in 2014 was 89.6 percent, higher than 86.7 percent in 2013. Employment-based insurance covered the most people, ranking at 55.4 percent, followed by Medicaid at 19.5 percent, Medicare at 16.0 percent, direct-purchase at 14.6 percent, and military health care at 4.5 percent.

The report includes data on the Affordable Care Act and how it has impacted the insurance market this year. The act has allowed 10 million people to attain coverage, in addition to the millions of Americans who received insurance through Medicaid.

“Over time, changes in the rate of health insurance coverage and the distribution of coverage types may reflect economic trends, shifts in the demographic composition of the population, and policy changes that impact access to health care. Several such policy changes occurred in 2014, when many provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act went into effect,” according to the report.

Conflicting Data And Racial Inequalities

The report notes that racial differences in uninsured populations still exist, with Hispanic groups ranking the lowest in health insurance coverage.
Image: Barista Net

There are a number of conflicting surveys that show millions remain uninsured or underinsured, specifically non-white populations.

In June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the National Health Interview Survey. It showed that 36 million people, or 11.5 percent of the population, was uninsured in 2014. April’s Gallup-Healthways Survey showed that 11.9 percent of the population was uninsured in the beginning of 2015.

From 2013 to 2014, the overall number of insured increased for all races. The increase was comparable for blacks, Asians and Hispanics at more than 4 percent.

In 2014, 92.4 percent of non-Hispanic whites were covered. In comparison, 88.2 percent of blacks and 90.7 percent of Asians were covered. Hispanics had the lowest rate of health insurance coverage at 80.1 percent.

In addition, the state of Texas housed the highest number of uninsured individuals at 19.1 percent. This may be because undocumented immigrants are still largely uninsured. Because of their status, they are ineligible to receive premium subsidies or buy on exchanges.

“In 2014, the uninsured rate of noncitizens was over three times that of the native-born population (31.2 percent for noncitizens compared with 8.7 percent for the native-born population),” the report states.

Although fewer people are uninsured, many may still be underinsured. While most plans pay deductibles and co-payments to cover preventative tests, some consumers are forced into high-deductible plans with a lot of out-of-pocket payments.

Trading a lower monthly premium for a higher deductible seems to be a trend, but high-deductible exchange plans still affect insurance affordability.

Experts were hopeful that the most recent census would show more individuals are covered, but there is no doubt that many Americans are still in need of health care or burdened by medical debt.

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Who did Obamacare deny?

CitizensReport — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 18:31:05 +0000

BANGOR TOWNSHIP, MI (CBS DC) – A family of four, whom all have disabilities, claims they were denied insurance with the Affordable Care Act and will have to shell out thousands of dollars for medial care.

Ken and Melissa Davert along with their 15-year-old twins Austin and Michaela all suffer from disabilities. The twins and their mother have a disease which makes their bones extremely fragile called osteogensis imperfecta while Ken has cerebral palsy.

The family says that they’ll be paying nearly $8,000 more per year for medical care after being denied coverage through Obamcare, The Bay City Times reported. The parents receive their income from Social Security disability payments and also have health insurance through Medicare.

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