The Medicare open enrollment period ends today. People over the age of 65 who need to make any necessary changes to their plan need to do so now. This may be one of the few chances to do so until next October.
VIVA Health is a health maintenance organization that is part of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System. Lisa Hay is the director of Medicare sales at Viva. She says Medicare is divided into four coverage pieces…
“So A and B is just your medical. Part C would be a Medicare advantage plan which would be a different option to your Medicare A & B benefits and then you have part D which would be your prescription drug coverage…”
Hay says beneficiaries won’t be penalized for missing the deadline, but they may not be receiving the coverage they need. She says open enrollment is important to getting the coverage you need.
“Someone can choose to enroll in a new health plan all together through a new company, they can choose to go back to traditional Medicare, they can keep what they have if they choose to do that or they can make changes to their prescription drugs plan.”
Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment will be from January first to March thirty-first. This period allows those who have a Medicare advantage plan to change their provider or revert to standard Medicare