Category

Medicare

Nov 20
Love0

Transitioning Insurance After Retirement

By Medicare

Retirement should be a time when you finally get to do the things you’ve always wanted to do with the people who mean the most to you. At Steinlage Insurance Agency, we don’t want worries about your healthcare coverage to keep you from enjoying this new chapter in life. That’s why we are dedicated to helping people transition their healthcare coverage after retirement. There are several options for maintaining healthcare insurance after retirement. If you retire before you are 65 years old—before you qualify for Medicare—you’ll need to bridge the gap so that you don’t go without coverage. Fortunately, there are several options, including COBRA, private insurance, your spouse’s insurance plan, and the public marketplace. If you are 65 or over, Medicare will cover a large portion of your medical expenses. However, there are a myriad of supplemental plans that you’ll need to navigate in order to make sure your…

Read More
Nov 06
Love0
Helping Clients Understand Medicare, Steinlage Insurance Agency

Open Enrollment vs. Annual Enrollment: What Does it Mean?

By Medicare, Medicare Advantage

It may seem lately that it’s impossible to turn on the television or listen to the radio without hearing something about Medicare open enrollment and annual enrollment. The worst part is that the terminology can be confusing. “Fall enrollment period,” “annual election period,” “annual enrollment,” “Medicare Advantage enrollment period,” “AEP,” and “OEP” are just a few of the terms that get tossed in the mix. There are two types of enrollment periods for Medicare: annual enrollment and open enrollment. Though they are sometimes called by different names, it all boils down to these two timeframes and what you can and cannot do during each. So what do they mean for you? Medicare Annual Enrollment (AEP) Annual enrollment, often referred to as AEP, takes place in fall, October 15 through December 7. This is the time when you can make changes to your Medicare plan to make it work better for…

Read More
Jun 19
Love0
Medicare Options, Steinlage Insurance Agency

What Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON) Is and How It Impacts Skilled Nursing Care Coverage

By Medicare, Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice

There may come a time over the course of your health care journey when you will need to stay overnight in a hospital. This can happen for a wide variety of reasons. However, you and your family will need to consider how or whether this impacts your skilled nursing care coverage under Medicare. You or your family may receive a Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON), but if you have never received it, it can be hard to know what steps to take next. Read below about what this is and what questions you might have about the impact of this on your general care needs. What is Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON)? A Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON) is a document that provides you notice as to whether or not you are considered an inpatient during your hospital stay. This can be confusing to some because if the hospital does…

Read More
Jun 12
Love0
Understanding Medicare, Steinlage Insurance Agency

New Medicare Drug Plan Regulations May Confuse Patients, Push for Trying Cheaper Options

By Making the Most of your Medicare, Medicare

New regulations from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, puts new regulations on the private Medicare drug plan market to move towards use of cheaper drugs first. Referred to as “step therapy,” the push towards using the cheaper drugs first before more expensive alternatives are tried has been part of the regulations in the past but was not preferred by providers or patients. According to an article from ThinkAdvisor, “CMS says it will speed up its process for handling patient appeals related to the kinds of drugs affected by the new rules.” This will hopefully alleviate the concerns from previous attempts at moving towards a step therapy policy. A preliminary version of the final Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage drug price regulations is available here. For help understanding this and other changes in the Medicare marketplace, contact…

Read More