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Medicare Open Enrollment Easier for 2009
Staff Writer
The
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that
open enrollment for Medicare beneficiaries for the 2010 coverage
year has gotten easier due to improvements added to the Medicare
Health Options Compare and Prescription Drug Plan Finder located
at www.medicare.gov.
During the final six weeks of 2009 — from November 15 through December
31 — Medicare recipients have an opportunity to make changes to their existing
Medicare plans.
Beneficiaries have many options to choose from, including Medicare only, Medicare
plus a supplemental insurance plan, or to sign up with the Medicare Prescription
Drug Plan (Medicare Part D).
In order to make the process easier for beneficiaries and their loved ones, the
CMS continues to improve its online information services. Current improvements
include plan ratings, search features and plan coverage descriptions, which make
it easier for beneficiaries to compare their drug and health plan coverage for
2010.
“Prescription drug and health plans change each year, as do each beneficiary’s
individual coverage needs, so we are encouraging all people with Medicare to
take advantage of the 2010 enhanced online tools and review their coverage options,” advised
David Sayen, administrator of CMS Region 9, which covers California, Arizona,
Hawaii and Nevada.
Since 2005, Medicare has offered consumer information on prescription drug coverage.
Each year, the CMS attempts to improve the open enrollment process through improvements
in information and customer service.
Last year, CMS 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) toll-free customer service representatives
handled 3.9 million calls during the annual open enrollment period. The Plan
Finder Web tool also received more than 31 million page views and logged more
than 680,000 online enrollments, a 32 percent increase over the previous year.
The CMS expects this year’s upgrades to enhance beneficiaries’ ability
to get needed information when making important choices about next year’s
health care.
“The 2010 tools will make it easier for beneficiaries and all of our partners
to get the information they need about plan options for the coming year,” Sayen
explained.
“Beneficiaries who wish to enroll for the first time or change their coverage
for 2010 should do so by early December to ensure a smooth transition in the
new plan year,” he added.
Pre-existing tools allowed beneficiaries to view the premiums, benefits and cost-sharing
requirements for the drug and health plans available in their area.
Important additions this year include improved plan ratings comparisons to allow
beneficiaries to compare all available Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to the Fee-for-Service
(FFS) plans in their local area on a number of quality measures. People with
Medicare, their families and caregivers can also compare the 2010 plan measures
with the previous year’s reporting.
Beneficiaries can search by name and/or ID to quickly locate a plan in which
they are interested. This fall, the Plan Finder will allow beneficiaries to search
plans by cost and plan type to give them a better understanding of how similarly
priced plans compare.
Also included are new alert systems — “out-of-network” and “formulary
restriction” indicators — which alert beneficiaries when a particular
pharmacy is not within a plan’s network, or when their medications are
off-formulary or have restrictions such as prior authorization, quantity limits
or step therapy.
Online protections for beneficiaries have also been improved.
Only beneficiaries currently enrolled in Medicare prescription drug or health
plans under sanctions — a federal review process that renders them unable
to enroll new members — can view the sanctioned plan’s drug pricing
and other information — such as co-pays and tier levels — to assist
in comparing plan selections for the 2010 benefit year.
Plan Finder and Medicare Options Care tools will not allow people that are not
currently enrolled in these sanctioned plans to see any additional enrollment
details. Only plan name identifiers will be listed, and all other information
fields will display “Information not available” and will indicate
that these sanctioned Medicare plans are “not accepting enrollments at
this time.”
All Plan Finder and Medicare Options Compare users will be able to see plan benefits,
drug pricing and other important information on more than 4,000 plan options
that are available for open enrollment.
People without Web access can get the same information provided by the online
plan comparison tools by calling 1-800 MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or by contacting
their local Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP) office.
The Sacramento area HICAP office can be reached by calling 916-376-8915.
A 2010 “Medicare & You Handbook,” also available on www.Medicare.gov,
will be mailed to the homes of all eligible beneficiaries this month. This publication
provides all plan option information that is available using the Web tools.
The CMS advises that beneficiaries review all available options and find a proper
individual fit when choosing a health plan or prescription drug coverage.
The selected plan changes take effect in January 2010.
This page and its contents ©2009
Metropolitan News Company, Inc.
