What is Medicare Advantage Plan?
The Medicare Advantage plan has been in operation in the
United States, serving a significant population. It is available under the
Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), Medical Savings Account (MSA) or Private
Fee-for-Service (PFFS) plans.
Medicare Advantage Plan can be said to be a type of Medical
Health Plan usually offered by a private entity which signs a contract with
Medicare to provide people with all part A and part B benefits. Once someone
joins a Medicare Advantage Plan, they will notice that majority of Medicare
services offered through this plan are not paid under Original Medicare. The
most common service offered here is the prescribed drug coverage.
Who is eligible for a Medicare Advantage plan?
An important question that many ask is ‘Who is eligible for
a Medicare Advantage Plan?’ This question can only be answered by describing
the people who qualify to join a Medicare Advantage Plan. To join Medicare
Advantage plan basically, means you are ready to use the private contractors
for your Medicare. These include HMO, PPO and the MSA plans.
To join the Medicare plan, you should be:
- A resident in the service area that you wish to enroll in Medicare. With this plan, you can be able to get more information regarding the respective service area. To pick a plan. Therefore, you need first to confirm whether that plan is available in the specific state or county.
- Have part A and part B. For you to qualify for the Medicare Advantage plan, you must have already taken part A, and part B. Medicare Advantage Plan is basically part C, which can only be achieved after successfully obtaining the perquisites.
- Someone who does not have the End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD).
- When am I eligible for Medicare Advantage Plans?
- For you to qualify for Medicare Advantage Plan membership, you must have had both plan A and plan B. You can only join this plan at certain times. It is, therefore, important to note these specific periods.
- You can register in a Medicare Advantage Plan during the following periods;
- During the General Enrollment period. The General Enrollment Period (GEP) is between January and the end of March every year. Having signed up during this timespan simply implies that your Medicare Advantage Plan medical cover officially commences on the first of July that same year. The period between April and June that same year also allows you to enroll in a private health plan.
- During a specific Registration Period for part B in case, you qualify for it. Someone may take long before enrolling in part B, However; there will be no penalties for the same if you have any health insurance through your spouse’s current occupation.
Special Enrollment Period (SEP) is given while you are on
the job or lose the coverage issued by the employer. With a SEP, you are
legible to sign up for Medicare Advantage Plans three months before the
commencement of your plans A and B. This period only elapses when you have
these two plans.
How can I join a Medicare Advantage Plan?
After comparing and making a final decision on which
Medicare Health plan to join, you can then follow a simple process to get
yourself enrolled for one.
Follow this simple procedure to join online:
- Search and use the Medicare's Plan Finder
- Go online and get the Medicare of your choice on their website.
- Check on the paper enrollment form and fill it. You can do this by contacting the plan, the fill in the form and return it.
- Search the plan name and call them for any more directions
