Terry Savage: Time-Sensitive Column Updates
Here’s a reminder that seniors with Medicare Advantage plans have until March 31 to switch back to original Medicare and a supplement. Please check my recent columns on the disadvantages of Medicare Advantage at TerrySavage.com. As many of these plans have lost money in recent years, they have cut back on patient care, delayed authorizing physician-recommended medical tests, and caused physicians to rethink participating in these plans.
Now comes a new report from Becker's Hospital Review, with this troubling headline: “Hospitals are dropping Medicare Advantage plans left and right.” The report finds that “a growing number of hospitals and health systems nationwide are pushing back and dropping some or all contracts with the private plans altogether.”
Across the country, hospitals and physicians are getting fed up with the time and expense of getting authorizations for patient care. The issue of insurance delays and denials is so prevalent that it has even become a theme on this season’s "Chicago Med" television series. Major hospitals in California, Tennessee, Indiana, Oregon, Georgia, Pennsylvania and several other states have said they will no longer participate in Advantage plans.
And those drop-out decisions leave Advantage plan participants with few choices for care!
You have until March 31 to switch out of your Advantage plan and go back to traditional Medicare and a supplement. If you already have medical issues, you may no longer qualify for the most comprehensive supplement, Plan G. But any Medicare supplement, while costing and covering less, will give you the priceless benefit of choice of physicians and hospitals that accept traditional Medicare. And almost all do.
In the case of both FAFSA and Advantage plans, time is money! And that’s The Savage Truth.
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(Terry Savage is a registered investment adviser and the author of four best-selling books, including “The Savage Truth on Money.” Terry responds to questions on her blog at TerrySavage.com.)
©2024 Terry Savage. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
