The deadline for open enrollment for Medicare ends on December 7th. Laryssa Domagla, Medicare manager, Independent Health says there is still time. All their information centers are open in the community from 9am to 4pm and their phones are open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm.
Who should consider making changes to their plan? Laryssa says if you are a current Independent Health member for example and you are happy with your plan it will automatically re-enroll for January, so you truly don’t have to do anything. She says individuals I would definitely encourage to at least call in, you don’t necessarily have to come in, to hear about your new benefits or if you are someone who has a new medication or planned surgery or you recently learned your insurance isn’t covering your doctors or your hospitals those are people we want to make sure are really educated and on a plan that will really work for them if and when they need to use services.
Laryssa says at Independent Health they have Medicare information centers that are located throughout Western New York and they have really been a hallmark of our success, having someone you can meet with and someone who is knowledgeable. She says we can go over your prescriptions, go over your doctors and explain everything because sometimes it is just easier to see it and hear it and read it all at the same time but, understanding that COVID has changed so it is really is how you are most comfortable. You can call or if you want to go online and review the plans, they are online. Laryssa says if you would like a nice unbiased review of the plans, Medicare.gov does a really nice comparison that you can add your prescriptions, add your zip code and really see which plan financially can benefit you the most.
What’s new for the Advantage plans for Independent Health? Laryssa says this has been a great year and we have been able to make a lot of enhancements to our plans. She says they are offered a new plan that actually helps gives you money back in your social security check. Laryssa says in the majority of their plans, they have added an over-the-counter allowance which is really money that you can get every quarter to buy things that you would typically go to the corner pharmacy for like multivitamins, pain relievers, toothbrushes, toothpaste, band-aids, those kinds of things and people have really been asking for that kind of additional support. She says there are a lot of times medicines are typically not covered by Medicare Part D such as vitamins, folic acid and Independent Health in working with our pharmacy team was able to add some of those medications on to our formulary for next year really saving people even additional money
For more information go to IndependentHealth.com/Medicare
