HealthCare Partners Encourages Medicare Beneficiaries to Review Health Plans during Open Enrollment

From October 15 through December 7, Medicare holds its annual Open Enrollment Period. During this seven-week window, Medicare beneficiaries can make changes to their health and prescription drug plans for the following year.

If you are satisfied with your Medicare coverage, you may wonder how open enrollment applies to you. As the old adage goes, "if it isn't broke, don't fix it," right?

While this may certainly be the case for many things in life, it may not be true about your Medicare coverage. Choosing a Medicare plan is similar to shopping for other insurance; by comparing different plans and rates, you choose the coverage that's best for you.

Regardless of your existing coverage, it's worthwhile to look at other plans, check out what's new this year, and make sure you know your options. By looking at different plans in your area, you may find one that better suits your needs for next year.

During open enrollment, it is important to review your Medicare plan for a few reasons:

Your health needs may have evolved. From year to year, your needs may change. By planning ahead, you can ensure that you have the coverage you expect and deserve.

Your plan may change. The coverage and cost of your Medicare plan may change each year. To make sure that your plan meets your needs, medicare.gov recommends reviewing the materials that your plan sends you, such as "Evidence of Coverage" (EOC) and "Annual Notice of Change" (ANOC).

Better coverage may be available. Research shows that people with Medicare Part D (prescription drug coverage) can lower their costs by shopping among plans each year. In addition, certain plans offer benefits not provided by original Medicare. For example, Medicare Advantage Plans may offer additional benefits to its members, such as dental, vision, transportation services, cancer screenings or wellness visits.

Preparing for Open Enrollment
With so many options to choose from during open enrollment, it can be confusing to compare Medicare plans. By remembering the "4 C's", you can focus on the most important aspects of each plan:

• Coverage – are the services, exams and drugs you need included?
• Cost – how much will you spend on premiums, deductibles and copays?
• Convenience – are the doctor's offices, pharmacies and hospitals nearby?
• Care – can you receive care from your doctor(s) of choice?

Help is available.
Overall the most important reason to review your Medicare plan is to make sure you're getting the care you expect and deserve. Thankfully, there are plenty of resources available to help you through this process.

• HealthCare Partners in Southern California and Nevada as well as DaVita's Florida medical group, JSA Healthcare, offer a number of resources: In Southern California, visit www.hcpopenenrollment.com or call 844.266.3299
• In Nevada, visit www.hcpnvopenenrollment.com or call 702.623.0183
• In Florida, visit www.jsaopenenrollment.com or call 800.668.9768

You can also visit www.medicare.gov or call 1.800.MEDICARE (1.800.633.4227) 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

About HealthCare Partners, a DaVita Medical Group
HealthCare Partners is a division of DaVita Inc., a Fortune 500® company that, through its operating divisions, provides a variety of health care services to patient populations throughout the United States and abroad. HealthCare Partners manages and operates medical groups and affiliated physician networks in California, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida, Colorado and Washington in its pursuit to deliver excellent-quality health care in a dignified and compassionate manner. As of September 30, 2016, HealthCare Partners provided integrated care management for approximately 750,000 patients. For more information, please visit HealthCarePartners.com. 

Contact Information

Media:

Jessica Geurkink
[email protected] 
(720) 925-3184

SOURCE HealthCare Partners, a DaVita Medical Group