CHRIS CONNELL: Consider changes in Medicare annual enrollment

Medicare’s annual enrollment period is about to begin, running from Oct. 15-Dec. 7. What is it for? Who needs it?

Annual enrollment is your opportunity to make a plan change if you are on an advantage plan or standalone drug plan.

Why would you want to make a plan change? No. 1, new advantage plans are available for 2024 in south Georgia, some with richer benefits, like Giveback Plans, where the carrier pays a portion of your monthly Medicare payment. So instead of Medicare pulling $164.90/month out of your social security, the carrier pays a portion of that for you (and gives you less dental and vision instead).

Plus, your current advantage plan likely has some changes from last year. The biggest change I see among all carriers for this market is the cost of co-pay for daily hospitalization. The average advantage plan in our area in 2023 had about $300/day hospitalization co-pay for the first five days. Those are going up in 2024 to seven or eight days for most plans.

(There are separate “co-pay protection plans” you can purchase for about $40/month that would give you that money, plus the money for your $300 average ambulance co-pay and $375 average outpatient surgery co-pay. I always advise them for my clients.)

The other big reason you’d want to make a plan change is if you have a doctor that is not “in-network” for your plan. The final big reason is if you were prescribed new drugs in 2023, it could be that a different plan would provide you with lower co-pays on your new set of drugs.

A common mistake with seniors is they stay in the same plan because they are afraid to make a change. A licensed Medicare broker is free to the public and can assist in the comparison of someone’s current plan versus what else may be possible for them. Take advantage of annual enrollment and upgrade your plan if you can.