Liberty Medicare Blog

How to Get Low Cost Medicare Part D Plans

How to Get Low Cost Prescription Insurance Coverage

Updated Dec. 23, 2018.  According to a study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research, wrong choices in Medicare Part D seem to be prevalent.  Fewer than 10% of individuals are enrolled in the most cost-effective plan.  Therefore, the question “How to Get Low Cost Medicare Part D Plans” is very genuine.  It may save you thousands of dollars, which quite often much higher savings than those from shopping for MAPD or Medigap plans.

The right Medicare Part D choice is not easy because it is a “moving target.” Patient conditions change, new generic drugs appear on the market all the time, and so forth.  Individuals usually change their PDP plan for the next year during the Medicare Open Enrollment Period. Read more…

How does Medicare Cover Shingles Vaccine and Other Vaccinations?

One of our clients recently called us about her confusion with Medicare coverage of the shingles vaccine. Having both Original Medicare and Medigap Plan F, she expected to be fully covered. To her surprise, her cost was about $200. The post below (about Medicare coverage of vaccines in general and the shingles vaccine in particular) attempts to clarify the confusion.

How does Medicare Cover the Shingles Vaccine

Vaccines covered by Medicare Part B

Medicare Part B covers the three routine immunizations shown in the table below. Read more…

Medicare and Other Health Insurance: Who Pays First?

Medicare and Other Health Insurance: Who Pays First?

UPDATED on Oct. 27, 2023.  If you have Medicare in addition to another health insurance plan (such as an employer group health plan), there are rules which decide who pays first. The primary payer pays the bill first, up to the limits of its coverage. The secondary payer pays any costs left uncovered by the primary payer (again, up to the limits of its coverage).

The table below is taken from the government publication Medicare and Other Health Benefits: Your Guide to Who Pays First. It provides a detailed explanation of the matter. Read more…

Welcome to Liberty Medicare Website

Liberty Medicare

We are excited to share our new Liberty Medicare website and blog with you. We have designed Liberty Medicare website to be a one-stop source of information for your Medicare and Individual Health questions and needs. Now it is up to you, our visitors, to decide whether or not we have succeeded in our endeavor.

Who are we?

Liberty Medicare is NOT a new health insurance agency. We started our operation several years ago under the name of Medicare-PA-NJ-DE. Medicare-PA-NJ-DE specialized in Medicare insurance for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware and provided a full range of Medicare insurance options (Medicare Supplement, Medicare Advantage, and Medicare Prescription Drug Plan) for the above states.

Later, we extended our operation to five more states and added support for Individual Health plans and other plans such as Dental and Supplemental Insurance. We even provided Visitors Health Insurance for people visiting the US. Obviously, the old name was not adequate anymore. The new name we chose, Liberty Medicare, does not limit our operations to any particular state. Instead, it highlights our commitment to Medicare and enables us to be active with other health insurance plans as well. Liberty Medicare website reflects our commitment in maintainig several lines of businesses in multiple states Read more…

Medicare Summary Notice (MSN) – How Medicare Claims Are Reported

Medicare Claims are reported using Medicare Summary Notices (MSNs). If you are in Original Medicare, then you should receive a Medicare Summary Notice on a regular basis – every three months. It is NOT a BILL. It is a list of your claims for health care services provided by Original Medicare (Part A and Part B). It does not reflect any services rendered through Medicare Advantage, Part D or Medigap Plan.

In your MSN, Part A services are listed separately from Part B services.

Read more…

Lessons Learned from the Medigap Plan N Story

Lessons Learned from Medigap Plan N Story

On June 1, 2010, all Medigap plans were substantially changed. Some were eliminated, some were added, and most of the existing plans were modified. Two new Medicare Supplement Plans (M and N) were added, and one of the two plans – Medicare Supplement Plan N – was very popular. Recent developments, however, may change this assessment. Here are lessons learned from the Medigap Plan N story.

Medigap Plan N Basics

Medicare Supplement Plan N provides cost-sharing features with lower premiums than standard plans, such as Medigap plans F and G. Its cost is about 45% of Medicare Supplement Plan F’s cost. Medigap Plan N is as good as the Medigap Plan F, except:

  • It does not pay the Part B Annual Deductible
  • It does not pay Part B Excess Charges
  • It pays 100% of the Part B coinsurance except for up to $20 copayment for office visits and up to $50 copayments for emergency department visits

In other words, the most critical Medigap benefits (Part A coinsurance and deductible and Part B coinsurance) are fully covered with $20/$50 copayments as described above. These copayments result in substantial Medicare Supplement Plan N premium savings compared with other Medicare Supplement plans. Read more…

How Are Medicare Claims Processed?

The way Medicare Claims are processed depends on the type of Medicare Service. In this post we will consider four Medicare Services: Original Medicare (Part A and B), the Medicare Advantage Plan (MA), the Part D Prescription Drug Plan, and Medicare Supplement (Medigap) Plan. Keep in mind that these are not exclusive and several options may coexist (e.g., Original Medicare, Part D, and Medigap).

To learn how Medicare claims are reported, read How Medicare Claims Are Reported – the Medicare Summary Notice (MSN).

Read more…

Medicare Advantage Disenrollment Period (MADP)

Medicare Advantage Disenrollment Period (MADP)

UPDATED Feb. 6, 2019. From the year 2019, Medicare Advantage Disenrollment Period (MADP) has been replaced by Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (MA OEP).

If you are dissatisfied with your Medicare Advantage plan, you may disenroll from it starting on the 1st of January during the Medicare Advantage Disenrollment Period (MADP). You may also consider enrolling in the Medicare Supplement plan (Medigap plan).

Medicare Advantage Disenrollment Period (MADP)

The Medicare Advantage Disenrollment Period (MADP), which runs annually from the 1st of January through the 14th of February, allows you only to disenroll from the Medicare Advantage Plan.

During this period, you can do the following:

  • If you’re in a Medicare Advantage plan, you can leave your plan and switch to Original Medicare. Your Medicare Advantage plan may or may not include Part D drug coverage (MA or MAPD, correspondingly). The effective date of disenrollment is the first of the month following the acceptance of the disenrollment request. Read more…