Your Medicare enrollment decision is whether to use original fee-for-service Medicare, whether to include a Medigap plan to cover the 20% of costs that Medicare does not cover, or a Medicare Advantage plan. Most of the 64 million people enrolled in Medicare in 2019 use the original program, but 34% are in Medicare Advantage plans provided by private insurance companies. Another important decision is Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage – whether that is a stand-alone plan, or wrapped into a Medicare Advantage plan.
While Medicare Advantage plans often include extra benefits, including some level of dental, vision or hearing services, gym memberships, etc., the trade-off is that Medicare Advantage enrollees must use health care providers within their networks, or pay more for out-of-network services.
Enrollees in original Medicare with the Medigap supplement have access to a much wider range of providers, including specialized medical facilities with a national reputation. Original Medicare participants with the Medigap supplement do not need to navigate the referral requirements and prior authorization steps required by many Medicare Advantage plans.
Click on the link below to see a presentation by the National Retiree Legislative Network (a non profit group in Washington DC representing a wide variety of retiree groups nationwide):
www.nrln.org/documents/Medicare%20Enrollment%202019.pdf
