What Is New For Medicare Advantage Plans, Supplemental Plans And Part B In 2010?

Due to the latest Health Care Reform there will be quite a few changes for Medicare Supplemental Plans and Medicare Advantage Plans in 2010.

The good news is that experts expect the new Medicare Supplement Plans N and Plan M to provide a real savings for consumers, and even with many private carriers withdrawing Advantage policies, Medicare beneficiaries will on average be able to choose from more than 30 Medicare Advantage plans in 2010.

You can read all about the most important changes to Medicare in 2010 on the following pages:

Changes To Medicare Advantage Plans In 2010

Changes To Medicare Supplement Plans In 2010

Medicare Part B Rates For 2010

How Will The Health Care Reform 2010 Affect Medicare Advantage Plans 2010 and Medicare Supplemental Insurance?

When the final health care bill will be passed, there will be changes to Medicare that affect seniors and Medicare beneficiaries in 2010. Both the Senate and House bills include provisions to help people who fall into the so-called ‘donut hole’ in their Part D Prescription drug coverage. The Part D initial coverage limit would be raised by $500 for 2010 thus allowing seniors to stay out of the donut hole longer. The initial coverage limit would be raised each year until 2019.

The bills also require that drug companies discount their drugs by 50% for those Medicare beneficiaries who are in the donut hole. If a company doesn’t agree to this discount, they would not be allowed to sell their drugs through Part D prescription plans.

It currently looks like all involved parties to the reform are agreeing upon this issue, so most likely this will go into effect in the final health reform bill.

Other planed Medicare-related changes in House and Senate bills:

• Eliminate The Open Enrollment Period from January 1st to March 31st from 2011 on.If this is approved, Medicare beneficiaries will have only get one opportunity to change their Medicare coverage during the Annual Election Period from November 1 to December 15 of each year.
• Payment cuts to Medicare Advantage carriers in 2011

Around 5% in cuts compared to 2010 are expected and will most likely be passed on to those enrolled in the plans. So it is to be expected that there will be no or very few ‘zero premium’ Advantage plans found in 2011.

Even when the premiums go up like most other costs of living, those enrolled in either a Medicare Supplemental Insurance or a Medicare Advantage Plan will always benefit from better health care coverage than those that only rely on Traditional Medicare alone.