MEDICARE OPEN ENROLLMENT (OCTOBER 15, 2023 – DECEMBER 7, 2023)

The Medicare Open Enrollment starts from October 15, 2023 – December 7, 2023. This time frame gives you an opportunity to review your plan choice and make changes, if necessary. Review your current plan and if that plan is making any changes for the coming year. The changes you can make is: Switch to a different Medicare plan like Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C) or drop your Medicare Advantage plan and go back to Traditional Medicare (Parts A & B). Medicare has added more accepted care. You can look at a Supplemental Insurance that may cover the remaining 20% that Traditional Medicare does not – they cover 80%. Now, if your Veteran spouse served 20 years or more – after age of 65 you are covered with Tricare For Life…. Best coverage – Medicare (Primary) Tricare For Life (Secondary) – you do NOT need an additional medical insurance policy. (If divorced from Veteran not eligible).

WHAT ARE THE CHANGES FOR MEDICARE PART B IN 2023? – The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B enrollees will be $164.90 for 2023, a decrease of $5.20 from $170.10 in 2022. The annual deductible for all Medicare Part B beneficiaries is $226 in 2023, a decrease of $7.00 from the annual deductible of $233.00 in 2022.

CAN YOU SWITCH TO MEDICARE ADVANTAGE DURING THE OPEN ENROLLMENT? If you are in Traditional Medicare, you can switch Part D plan or switch to a Medicare Advantage Plan during the Medical Open Enrollment period that runs from October 15, 2023 – December 7, 2023. One CANNOT use the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment period(from 1 January to 31 March) unless you are enrolled in Medicare.

WILL MEDICARE PART D PREMIUMS INCREASE IN 2023? With a premium stabilization-capped 2024 base beneficiary premium of $34.70, the average basic Part D premium is projected to increase from $34.09 in 2023 to $34.50in 2024, a 7.5% increase.

IS MEDICARE AGE CHANGING TO 67? The progressive changes are nearing their conclusion: Beginning in 2022, the standard age for full benefits will be 67 for anyone born after 1960. Besides the Medicare eligibility age of 65, what remains unchanged is that you can opt to begin drawing partial Social Security benefit as early as 62.

*Check with your current medical plan and contact them with questions you may have or go onto the website: www.medicare.com
**Next month topic will cover: What are Medicaid Advantage Plans

Brenda Dever-Armstrong, CEO/CSA/Geriatric Advisor
The Next Horizon Seniors & Military (Veterans/Spouses) Advocate/Resources/Services/Locator (TX & nationwide)

HOW ARE MEDICARE BENEFITS CHANGING FOR 2023

Changes for 2023 include premium & deductible increases for Part A, lower rates for Part B, and better Part D coverage due to the Inflation Reduction Act.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

  • The Standard Part B premium is decreasing to $164.90 for 2023.
  • The Part B deductible is also decreasing to $226 in 2023.
  • Part A premiums, deductible and coinsurance are all increasing for 2023.
  • The income brackets for high-income premium adjustments for Medicare Part B and D will start at $97,000 in 2023 (up from $91,000 in 2022).
  • Medicare Advantage enrollment is expected to continue to increase in 2023 and average premiums are decreasing.
  • Kidney transplant recipients can keep limited Part B coverage for life, to cover immunosuppressive drugs (full Part B ends 36 months post-transplant).
  • The maximum allowable out of pocket cap for Medicare Advantage plans is increasing to $88,300 in 2023 (but most plans have lower out-of-pocket caps).
  • Part D donut hole no longer exists, but a standard plan’s maximum deductible will increase to $505 in 2023, and the threshold for entering the catastrophic coverage phase (where out of pocket spending decreases significantly) will increase to $7,400. But the Inflation Reduction Act will ensure that Part D enrollees no longer have to pay for covered vaccines, and will have access to insulin for no more than $35/month.

There are changes to Original Medicare cost-sharing and premiums, the high-income brackets and more.

The standard premium for Medicare Part B is $170.10/month in 2022, BUT it’s decreasing to $164.90/month in 2023. This is the first year-over-year decrease since 2012. Since Medicare Part B spending was lower than expected in 2022, it left a surplus that is being used to decrease premiums for 2023.

We always tell individuals to check with your current medical provider, review their increases/decreases and any additional medical care that may be added for 2023. How is your health? Better than 2022 or needing more health care? Many individuals are better to go straight Medicare and look at a Secondary Insurance policy – but again, the Advantage Plans are offering so much more and the enrollment in the Advantage Plans has been steadily growing for more than 15 years, outpacing overall Medicare enrollment growth.

For more information on Medicare Benefits for 2023, go to: www.medicare.gov.

Brenda Dever-Armstrong, CEO/Owner/CSA
The Next Horizon Seniors & Military
Advocate/Healthcare/Resources/Services/Placement

MEDICAID – MOVING FROM ONE STATE TO ANOTHER STATE
AND
MEDICARE – NEW OPEN ENROLLMENT ADDED FOR TAKING INSULIN

Each fifty states operates their Medicaid program differently. Individuals are required to reapply for Medicaid in the state in which they are relocating. This means one must close their Medicaid case, and hence their benefits, in their original state before applying for benefits in their new state. Fortunately, when it comes to applying for Medicaid, there are no residency requirements. After relocation, one can immediately apply for Medicaid benefits in the new state.

Common concern is the lapse of benefits between canceling one’s Medicaid plan in their original state and reapplying (and becoming eligible in the state in which you are relocating. Fortunately, most states allow Retroactive Medicaid coverage. This allows up to three months of Medicaid coverage immediately prior to the month of Medicaid application. Once retroactive Medicaid eligibility is established, Medicaid will pay unpaid, qualified medical expenses from this retroactive period.

Suggest you contact the Texas Medicaid office BEFORE moving. They may offer more information. I am sending you the “basic” steps to do first.

MEDICARE – NEW: TAKING INSULIN: STARTING NEW COVERAGE
JAN 2023

Starting 1 January 2023, people with Medicare taking insulin: Plans cannot charge you more than $35 for a one-month supply of each Medicare Part D-covered insulin you take, and cannot charge you a deductible for insulin! If you get a 60 or 90 day supply of insulin, your costs cannot be more than $35 for each months’ supply of each covered insulin. Go to Medicare.gov for more information.

*Information provided by:
Brenda Dever-Armstrong, CEO/Owner/CSA
The Next Horizon Seniors & Military Advocate/Resources/Services/Locator
Ph: 210-275-3002
deverb@att.net
www.nexthorizonlocators.com