Medicare Enrollment Periods What do they really mean?

You are able to enroll in or change your Medicare plan during one or more of the following enrollment periods:

•Initial Enrollment Period (IEP)
•Medigap Open Enrollment Period
•Annual Coordinated Election Period (AEP)
•Medicare Advantage Disenrollment Period (MADP)
•Special Election/Enrollment Period (SEP)

This is the time to enroll in Medicare for the first time if you are turning 65. It is your birthday month (unless your birthday falls on the first of the month, then your birthday month is the previous month) plus the 3 months prior to your birthday month and the 3 months after your birthday month.
Medigap Open Enrollment Period is the period of time when an insurance company cannot:

•refuse to sell you any Medigap policy it sells;
•make you wait for coverage to start (pre-existing exclusion may apply)
•ask you any health questions to determine your rate
Medigap Open Enrollment lasts for 6 months. It begins on the 1st day of the month in which you are BOTH age 65 and older AND enrolled in Medicare Part B. This period cannot be changed or repeated.
October 15 through December 7 each year. New coverage becomes effective January 1.

You can do the folowing:

Return to Original Medicare from a Medicare Advantage (MA) or Medicare Advantage with Prescription Drug (MAPD) plan.
Enroll in a MA or MAPD plan
Enroll in a Part D Prescription Drug plan
Change MA or MAPD plans
Change Part D Prescription Drug Plan
January 1st thru February 14 each year. Your Original Medicare benefits will become effective the first of the month following disenrollment from your Medicare Advantage plan. Your Prescription Drug coverage will become effective the first of the month after your application has been received.

You can do the following:

Return to Original Medicare from a Medicare Advantage (MA) or Medicare Advantage with Prescription Drug (MAPD) plan.
Enroll in a Part D Prescription Drug plan if disenrolling from a MA or MAPD plan
Apply for a Medigap (Medicare Supplement) policy (medical underwriting may be required

New Preventive Care Benefits From Medicare

Beginning January 1, 2011, you will pay nothing for -- a one-time review of your health, education -- If youʼve had Part B for longer than 12

100% Coverage for*

:

➡

Bone Mass Measurement

➡

Cervical Cancer Screening, including Pap Smear tests and Pelvic Exams

➡

Cholesterol and other Cardiovascular Screenings

➡

Colorectal Cancer Screening (except for barium enemas)

➡

Diabetes Screening

➡

Flu shot, Pneumonia shot, and the Hepatitis B shot

➡

HIV Screening for people at increased risk or who ask for the test

➡

Mammograms

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disease

Medical Nutrition Therapy to help people manage diabetes or kidney

A few important notes:

•

“Welcome to Medicare”

and counseling about preventive services, and referrals for other care if needed.

Yearly “Wellness” Exam

months, you can get a yearly wellness visit to develop or update a personalized

prevention plan based on your current health and risk factors.

Decoding Deficit Reduction and Medicare

Decoding Deficit Reduction and Medicare                   

There has been much discussion over the past year about "deficit reduction," but the complexity of the topic and the jargon that is used make it difficult to understand the impact that deficit-reduction proposals would have on real people. Over the next few weeks, the debate will intensify as Congress considers budget legislation that may incorporate or trigger many of these proposals.
                   
Most discussions about deficit reduction go hand in hand with discussions about how to slow spending in "entitlement programs" such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. However, there is a difference between slowing spending, as the Affordable Care Act attempts to do through delivery system reforms, and achieving savings by cutting the funding for these programs and shifting higher costs to consumers. Many of the deficit reduction proposals do exactly that, and while proponents use terms such as "flexibility" and "reform" to describe them, many would result in higher costs for consumers, fewer benefits and decreased access to care. This is especially problematic for people with Medicare, nearly half of whom have annual household incomes of $20,000 or less, and who already spend about 16.2 percent of their annual incomes on health care.
                   
The following materials act as a guide to the deficit reduction debate and serve to help readers interpret the terms that will be used in the coming months. While some proposals sound promising in name, in reality they would have serious effects on Medicare consumers' access to quality, affordable health care, and some would even replace the current Medicare program altogether.