Meet Medicare in 2021.

Do you have employees over age 65?

Medicare options have evolved. Plans available for eligible employees and retirees… are not your grandmother’s Medicare plans!

What we mean is the options for coverage have changed throughout the years since Medicare plans were first offered. Medicare Advantage Plans in 2021 are a good example of changing times. Beneficiaries are looking for richer coverage to replace their group plan benefits. On Oct.1  CMS, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,  released some eye-opening details about the Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription plans for 2021, and we have to agree, they are totally cool! 

Evolving Medicare plan offerings are some of the reasons we want to ensure employees understand Medicare so that they can consider it as another healthcare benefit option while still working. 

If the math and coverage make sense, having a team to help you compliantly transition interested employees to Medicare plans can be simple. 

Meet Medicare in 2021

2021 Plan choice highlights include:

• 1,600 prescription drug plans to choose from that will offer insulin at no more than a $35 monthly copay beginning in January 2021.
• Average 2021 premiums for Medicare Advantage plans are expected to decline 34.2 percent from 2017 – some states will see even lower Medicare Advantage premiums. Some plans continue to have zero premiums! 
• More plans to choose from – that means more plans to meet individual needs – with 2100 more Medicare Advantage plans which mean over 4800 choices!

What are Medicare Advantage plans: 

Medicare Advantage Plans, a type of Medicare health plan offered by private insurance companies contracted with Medicare, are growing steadily in popularity. By enrolling in these plans (sometimes called Part C or MA Plans) beneficiaries essentially trade original Medicare (Parts A & B) for these plans with more inclusive coverage. Medicare Advantage plans offer the benefits of Part A and Part B and usually include prescription drug coverage also. Medical services to providers, therefore, aren’t paid by Original Medicare but by the insurance companies instead. So private insurance companies can address the options beneficiaries are asking to have included via Medicare Advantage plans. So the benefits feel more like their employer plan.

 Important Date Coming up:

Medicare Annual Election Period begins on October 15, 2020, and ends on December 7. You will see ads competing for airtime annually at this time of year. During this election period, current Medicare enrollees can switch their existing Medicare Advantage Plans and Prescription Drug Plans. Why? Because they don’t have to medically qualify to enroll in those plans so they can make a change every year to meet their changing needs. Very much like open enrollment with employer plans.

How we can help your employees see Medicare as an option:

• We can compare employee group plan costs to Medicare plans. Sometimes the math makes sense to transition while employees are still working- Many employees don’t know they have the option to leave their group plan and transition to Medicare when they turn 65 and keep working.
• Budget management- Perhaps an employee needs to evaluate a change for coverage in managing medical costs for a chronic condition? 
• Medicare curiosity and education-Want to see what plan options are out there with Medicare Advantage Plans for 2021? We can even provide a dedicated link to workshops on basic Medicare hosted by our educational arm 123easyMedicare.

An aging workforce can benefit from having ready access to partners trained to guide with Medicare so open discussions can help them. 

Our team has the rockin’ answers to keep your benefits rollin’ so your employees continue to see how cool you are for giving them more benefit options and guidance too!

Why not add this partnership to your team?

Consider the options of working with a team of Medicare experts to guide Medicare discussions with your employees. 

With our partnership, you support these opportunities for them:

• Could save them from paying for more coverage than they need, 
• Avoiding Medicare pitfalls later when they are making an exit plan, 
• Readies employees to transition to Medicare when it’s appropriate for them, and 
• Provides a partner to non-biasedly represent ALL the Medicare plans in an area.

Best of all… our services are free to you and your employees. Cool, right?

Create a compliant Medicare benefit support plan.

Give your employees personal guidance from a team of experts that will follow them after they retire.

Ready to get started?
Check out our blog weekly for new resources, and helpful tips and tricks to build your Medicare transition strategy.

Your Medicare Transition Partner
– Lora