How Often to Shop Your Medicare Options

I had a client that just called me yesterday, 

“I wanted to thank you again. It turned out that I needed the money you saved me on my Medicare Supplement to pay my car registration. It saved me. Thank you again.” 

I respond, “Now you see why I tell my clients they need to review their rates every year, right?”
“Yes,” She said, “And we’ll be talking next year. Thank you again!”

This client, like many of our other clients, was new to us, but not new to Medicare. She picked up a policy somewhere and let well enough alone. No one cared enough about her to follow up and make sure they update their coverage as things change.

A common misconception is that if you leave your policy alone, your policy will leave you alone as well. That’s not true policies go through changes every year. Rates might change, coverage might change … they might even close out your old policy and transfer you to a new policy. Many things can happen.

You should have someone in your corner helping you take a look at the changes coming up to your new policy. Let’s look at some different policies and how they can change: 

Medicare Advantage

Because of the complexity of Medicare Advantage plans many things can change from year-to-year. The Price can change, but often the companies will control price by changing other elements of the policy like out-of-pocket maximums, doctors’ networks, and other ancillary benefits. 

Medicare Supplements

Medicare Supplement benefits are governed by state law and are not allowed to change unless they are changed across the board for every company. A ‘Plan G’ with one company acts the same as a ‘Plan G’ with any other company. Price is the only real reason to change. Price is the only thing a carrier gets to choose. Medicare handles the claims process as well as the provider network. Since the benefits are regulated by the state, price is the only difference between carriers. Supplements should be re-priced every year.

Part D Prescription Drug Coverage

Drug coverage does change year to year. Preferred pharmacies, price, and formularies (the list of covered drugs) can change every year. Most importantly, the prescriptions you’re on can change from year-to-year. This makes it exceedingly important to not only verify your existing coverage isn’t changing, but to also make sure changes to your prescriptions are accounted for.

It’s not hard to find a Medicare plan, but as we’ve experienced, it can be hard to get someone who cares about you enough to follow up every year and make sure your policy is still working for you each year. 

Our agents are not just here for today, but for tomorrow as well. We will walk you through your next policy, but we’ll also be there for when you have questions in the future.