Medicare Advantage Enrollment Form: Fill & Download for Free

Hi,You have two choices when it comes to supplemental coverage.1. Medicare Advantage. This replaces your "Original Medicare" Parts A and B from the government with private insurance. In 2012, the average plan cost around $60 per month and most plans include prescription drug coverage (source).2. Medicare Supplements. These plans fill the gaps in Original Medicare and do not include prescription drug coverage, so you'll need to enroll in that separately. Plan F is the most comprehensive, and in 2012 the average plan cost around $170 per month.Medicare Advantage tends to get a bad wrap because there were problems with the program when it first launched. But, the Affordable Care Act has improved it quite a bit. Most notably, all plans now include a "Maximum Out of Pocket" limit, or MOOP that they did not have before. And, Original Medicare still does not have this MOOP.You'll see in one of links below, that a phone survey of 800 seniors found 90% liked their Medicare Advantage plan.Medicare Supplements are the "Cadillac" insurance plans in the Medicare space. People who have them like them very much, but they will cost you more each month.What we STRONGLY encourage people to do is research plans and benefits on your own before you talk to a license agent. Form your own informed opinion before you solicit the opinions of others. Figure out what you want, what you can afford, etc.Let me encourage you to read the following blog posts from my company's Medicare experts, Ross Blair and Amir Mostafaie:General Myths About Medicare:Baby Boomers and Medicare MythsMedicare AdvantageNearly all seniors satisfied with Medicare Advantage (From Benefits Pro)5 things people like about Medicare AdvantageWhat is the Medicare Advantage maximum out pocket?Medicare SupplementsMedicare Supplement Insurance Plan F Average CostCommon Questions About Medicare Supplement PlansI hope this helps.

Not all Medicare Advantage Plans work the same way. Before you join, take the time to find and compare Medicare health plans in your area. Once you understand the plan's rules and costs, here's how to join:Use Medicare's Plan Finder.Visit the plan's website to see if you can join online.Fill out a paper enrollment form. Contact the plan to get an enrollment form, fill it out, and return it to the plan. All plans must offer this option.When you join a Medicare Advantage Plan, you'll have to give these:Your Medicare numberThe date your Part A and/or Part B coverage started

I’m not sure what you mean by throwing Medicare supplemental plans into confusion. The article you reference is about the closing of Medicare Cost plans. Medicare Cost contracts are fee-for-service arrangements where Medicare contract with a health plan to provide beneficiaries Medicare services. The health plan is reimbursed for Medicare Part B covered services, at the regular Medicare rate. Part A expenses are still billed to Medicare. These plans look a lot like Medicare advantage plans and often provide additional benefits beyond what Medicare alone covers.With the growth of managed care and HMOs, Medicare has intended for many years to stop offering Medicare Cost contracts. The idea has been to encourage Medicare Advantage plans. There have been several pieces of legislation to phase them out, but the ruling was usually put off at the last minute. One reason for not closing a Medicare Cost contract was that there were no other Medicare health plans in certain areas (usually rural). So a rule was implemented where the Cost contract could be closed if an area had at least two Medicare advantage plans with a certain amount of enrollment (implying they are viable/long term).This was technically supposed to happen that all Cost plans meeting that standard of having two competitors with a certain number of members in a market would close by 12/31/2016. However, MACRA legislation provided some extensions and also gave administrative incentive for the plans to close out by 12/31/2018.So most of the Cost contracted plans will be ending this year. The only confusion I can see it causing Medicare supplemental carriers is that they could possibly have more business. Members of a Medicare contracted plan that is closing are entitled to a special election where they can sign up for a Medigap plan.A lot of the Medicare Cost plan companies, however, are offering Medicare Advantage plans in those same markets where the Cost plan is closing. Medicare has allowed for the members of the Cost plan that is going away to be “deemed“ into the same carrier’s MA plan. That means that the member recieves notice of the closure of the cost plan and is told that they will be automatically enrolled in the same carrier’s Medicare Advantage plan where available. They are then given options and a form to complete if they want to “opt out” of coverage by the plan and NOT be deemed for 2019. They can also just enroll in another Medicare Advantage plan or Part D plan, and that will take them out of the previous (2018) carrier. Most Medicare Cost plans are very highly rated in the Medicare stars system, and have a set a network of doctors. The members tend to be quite satisfied. If they wish to continue with their current doctors, they will probably just continue with their current plan. I do not believe that there will be a mass exodus and a huge jump in enrollments into Medicare supplemental plans - but that would also depend on the market and what other options those Medicare beneficiaries have.