{"id":358,"date":"2018-10-04T12:15:49","date_gmt":"2018-10-04T12:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/?p=358"},"modified":"2018-10-23T13:07:36","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23T19:07:36","slug":"medicare-open-enrollment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/medicare-open-enrollment\/","title":{"rendered":"Medicare Open Enrollment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Untitled-3.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 32px;\"><strong><em><span style=\"margin: 0px; background-color: #ffffff; color: #4f81bd;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: center;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px; font-size: 48px; color: #4f81bd;\"><strong><em>Medicare open enrollment begins<\/em><\/strong><\/span><span style=\"margin: 0px; font-size: 16px;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"margin: 0px; font-size: 48px; color: #4f81bd;\"><strong> \u200e10\u200e\/\u200e15\u200e\/\u200e2018<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0px 0px 10.66px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0px 0px 10.66px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">What is the annual Open Enrollment Period (OEP)??<\/span><\/strong><\/span><span style=\"margin: 0px;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0px 0px 10.66px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">It is the time of year that every person over the age of 65 receives lots of extra mail and hears many confusing radio and TV commercials.<span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Such an exciting time of year!<span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Oh, but there is an actual purpose to this event people refer to as Medicare season.<span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0 <\/span>The Open Enrollment Period runs from <strong>October 15<sup>th<\/sup> through December 7<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0px 0px 10.66px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\"><strong><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0px 0px 10.66px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px; font-size: 18px;\"><strong>What Changes Can You Make During the 2019 Medicare Open Enrollment?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Do nothing and your current Medicare coverage will automatically renew in 201<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Enroll in, leave or change your Medicare Part D drug plan<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Switch from Traditional Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Switch from a Medicare Advantage Plan back to Traditional Medicare<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 48px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Change from one Medicare Advantage Plan to another<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">Good Reasons to Change Your Plan<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 28px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">You may be\u00a0wondering: what\u00a0<em>would<\/em>\u00a0be a good reason to change your Part D plan or Medicare Advantage plan in 2019? Here are some of the most common reasons that plans change during Medicare Open Enrollment:<a href=\"http:\/\/www.allins.com\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 433px; height: 315px; float: left;\" title=\"Health Insurance\" src=\"http:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Untitled.png\" alt=\"Medicare opens October 15\" longdesc=\"Set your appointment now for Medicare!\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 40px; text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Your plan is dropping one of your important medications next year.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Your\u00a0Annual Notice of Change letter will specifically list any changes to its drug formulary for next year.\u00a0The plan must disclose if they are dropping any medications. They must also tell you if a medication is moving to a more expensive tier for next year. If you take a brand name medication now that won\u2019t be covered the next year, you may want to\u00a0change during the OEP to another drug plan that will.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 40px; text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Your Medicare Advantage plan is dropping your doctor from its network.<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0Unlike Medigap plans, Medicare Advantage plans have a network of doctors. If one of your doctors is leaving the plan\u2019s network, you can use the Medicare OEP to switch to another plan that your doctor still participates in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 40px; text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Your plan has a drastic change in premium.<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0Please note that the key word here is \u201cdrastic.\u201d Inflation happens to medical insurance plans just like it does to auto insurance plans. If your auto insurance goes up $3\/month next year, would you go to the hassle of changing it? Probably not. Likewise, if the only thing changing on your drug plan is a small increase in premium, you probably won\u2019t have to switch. But if your drug\u00a0plan goes up $20\/month, you might look to see if any other plan is cost effective.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 28px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">Here is a handy checklist of things to think about during this OEP:<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"left: 616.14px; width: 453px; height: 203px; background-color: #8db3e2;\" align=\"right\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\"><span style=\"text-align: justify; letter-spacing: normal; text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;\">During open enrollment we have extended our hours to ensure we help each customer.<\/span>\u00a0 <span style=\"text-align: justify; letter-spacing: normal; text-decoration: none; background-color: transparent;\">If you want to set up a time to meet, we are available for standard business hours of 8:30am to 5:00 pm, evening and Saturday times are available by appointment only.<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 28px 48px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Do you have a Medicare Advantage Plan?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 28px 48px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Are you aware of the changes for 2019?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 28px 48px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Do you want to switch plans or carriers?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 28px 48px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Do you need to re-enroll for 2019?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 28px 48px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Are you happy with your prescription drug coverage?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 28px 48px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Do you need extra coverage?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 28px; text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><span style=\"margin: 0px;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\">Have you heard from your Medicare insurance agent this year?<span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Do you have a Medicare insurance agent?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">You might be wondering why is have a Medicare insurance agent important<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">; <em>it is important, so you always have an advocate working on your side.<span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Medicare insurance agents go through training each year to be able to compare many different products, so they can help advise their clients accurately about changes and new benefit offerings.<\/em> <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">You might think it is completely normal to never hear from your agent since they originally signed you up; <\/span><\/strong><em><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Sadly, that is how most agents operate.<span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0 <\/span>We at Alliance Financial &amp; Insurance are not like most agents.<span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0 <\/span>We communicate with our clients throughout the year and send out letters announcing open enrollment changes and offer to sit down together to walk through the changes together.<span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">You might say to yourself, I can call my insurance company customer service if I have a problem; <\/span><\/strong><em><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Insurance agents have different lines of communicates that we can utilize to help get problems resolved for our clients.<span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0 <\/span>By being the go to for problems throughout the year, means that we stay in contact with our clients and provide the level of customer service that each Medicare member deserves. <\/span><\/em><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">Are you worried it will cost you more money to have any insurance agent?<span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/strong><em><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">There is NO charge to utilize the services of an agent.<span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0 <\/span>If you are not happy with your current agent, it costs you nothing to switch agents.<span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0 <\/span>The process is very simply to make a change.<span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0 <\/span>If you are not happy or don\u2019t have an agent, give us a call\u2026. <\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 28px; text-align: center;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px; font-size: 18px;\"><span style=\"margin: 0px;\">\u00a0<\/span>If you need help and want to talk to our Medicare Specialist, please give Chris a call <strong>616-897-1515 Ext. 119.<\/strong><span style=\"margin: 0px;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 28px; text-align: center;\"><strong><em><span style=\"margin: 0px; text-decoration: underline; font-size: 32px; color: #4f81bd;\">WE ARE ALWAYS HERE TO HELP!<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"background: white; margin: 0px 0px 28px; text-align: center;\"><strong><em><span style=\"margin: 0px; text-decoration: underline; font-size: 32px; color: #4f81bd;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.allins.com\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"width: 336px; height: 116px;\" title=\"Health Insurance\" src=\"http:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Untitled6.png\" alt=\"Alliance Insurance\" width=\"548\" height=\"187\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 Medicare open enrollment begins\u00a0 \u200e10\u200e\/\u200e15\u200e\/\u200e2018 \u00a0 What is the annual Open Enrollment Period (OEP)??\u00a0 It is the time of year that every person over the age of 65 receives lots of extra mail and hears many confusing radio and TV commercials.\u00a0 Such an exciting time of year!\u00a0 Oh, but there is an actual purpose [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aealth-insurance"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":531,"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358\/revisions\/531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}