Liberty Medicare Blog - All you need to know about Medicare Plans

Hospital Indemnity Plans for Medicare Advantage

UPDATED Feb. 1, 2019. Medicare Advantage plans typically have low premiums and provide many extra benefits. But the plans include multiple deductibles, copayments, and coinsurances that actually make them significantly more expensive. For example, the typical inpatient hospital deductible is $250-$300 per day for the first seven days. The average hospital stay for patients age 65 and over is 5.5 days; resulting in $1,500 in out-of-pocket costs. And this is just one of many expenses. There is a Maximum Out Of Pocket (MOOP) limit available for Medicare Advantage plans, but it is too high ($6,700) and provides little consolation. Are there Hospital Indemnity Plans for Medicare Advantage members? Recently, companies such as Medico, Heartland National, Continental Life, and Equitable Life introduced such plans, filling the gaps in Medicare Advantage coverage. Read more…

Prices for Medicare Diabetes Supplies has been Reduced

Medicare Diabetes Supplies

As of July 2013, Medicare will offer a new mail-order program for Medicare beneficiaries who order diabetes supplies (such as testing strips and lances) by mail. About 50 to 60 percent of 4.2 million Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes prefer to receive diabetes supplies by mail. Medicare has established new competitive bidding programs for Medicare diabetes supply mail-order companies; signing contracts with just 18 carefully selected companies nationwide instead of hundreds of suppliers before. The new mail-order program will not affect Medicare Advantage beneficiaries. Read more…

Generic Drugs vs Brand Name

Generic Drugs vs Brand Name? Nearly 8 in 10 prescriptions filled today in the United States are for generic drugs, and the use of generic drugs is expected to grow over the next few years. The brand name drugs are around 80-85% more expensive than the average generic drugs. As a result, the persistent perception has been created that some generic drugs are inferior. Are brand name drugs actually better? The recent FDA publication Facts about Generic Drugs dispels this myth. Here is a brief overview of the article. Read more…

Get Africa Travel Vaccinations using new Pharmacy Services

It is not an easy time for the pharmacy business. Many pharmacies face increased competition, and to survive, they need to reinvent themselves. The result is they are now offering new and diverse services, such as immunizations and medication counseling. Below you will find useful information on Africa travel vaccinations based on personal experience.
Get Africa Travel Vaccinations using New Pharmacy Services

Africa travel vaccinations – Standard way

Traveling to Africa often means being exposed to health risks. These risks demand some preparation, including immunizations, medications and other measures. For example, standardly recommended immunizations for a Tanzania trip include typhoid, tetanus, hepatitis A, polio, and malaria prophylactics. If you travel through Kenya, the yellow fever vaccination is also required. Read more…

Will a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) Policy Cover Pre-Existing Conditions?

A pre-existing condition is defined as a condition or illness you were diagnosed with, or treated for, before the effective date of a new health insurance policy. You should know that the Medicare Supplement (Medigap) can refuse to cover your pre-existing conditions during the first six months of coverage. This period is known as the waiting period. In other words, you may pass medical underwriting and be enrolled in a Medigap policy, but the pre-existing conditions may delay the coverage of some health problems for up to 6 months. Any claims incurred after six months from the effective date will be covered.

There are two scenarios when the waiting period can be shortened or eliminated: Guaranteed Issue Rights and Open Enrollment Period. Read more…

The Best Generic Drug Prices and Medicare Part D Delayed Enrollment

It is a known fact that many senior citizens delay their Medicare Part D enrollment. It is particularly true for people that require only generic drugs. The expectation is that you may buy them quite inexpensively at low-priced outlets (such as Costco and Walmart), and save on insurance premiums. It’ll be interesting to know whether Medicare Part D delayed enrollment is justifiable by comparing the generic drug prices using discount pharmacies with similar prices from Medicare Part D vendors. The mail order costs will be used for Part D. They are less expensive – you will be charged for two months and will get three months of supply. Read more…

How to Use CMS Star Ratings to Compare Medicare Plans – 2019

UPDATED Jan. 10, 2019. Each fall, at Annual Enrollment Period (AEP), people compare Medicare plans by contrasting their current Medicare Advantage Plan (and/or Medicare Part D Plan) with other plans on the market. Besides looking for plan’s cost and coverage, you should consider the plan’s quality and performance, but how do you measure quality? It was quite difficult, but not anymore thanks to CMS Star Ratings (also known as Medicare Star Ratings).

The CMS star ratings were introduced as a part of health care reform to improve the quality of care provided by private plans that they contract with Medicare. It scores how well plans perform in several categories. Rating range from one to five stars, with five being the highest and one being the lowest. Read more…

How to Compare Prescription Plans using Medicare Part D Plan Finder – Case Study

UPDATED Mar. 16, 2019. In our post How to Get Low Cost Medicare Part D Plans, we provided several guidelines on Prescription Drug Plans (PDP) savings. The most important of these are: (a) choice of Part D plan should be based on your list of prescriptions, and (b) always use Estimated Annual Drug Costs rather than Monthly Premium as the selection criteria. Here we’ll illustrate these guidelines using a real drug list (we’ve just changed zip code). The mechanics of “How to Compare Prescription Plans using Medicare Part D Plan Finder” will be made very transparent. Read more…

Changes in Medicare home care for Medicare skilled nursing care

Changes in Medicare home care coverage for Medicare skilled nursing care and rehabilitation therapy

There are substantial changes in Medicare home care coverage for Medicare skilled nursing care and rehabilitation therapy for people with chronic conditions and disabilities. The recent settlement (Jimmo vs. Sebelius) removed the “improvement standard” from Medicare requiring an improvement of the patient’s medical condition. Instead, the guidelines have been changed to allow Medicare to pay for services to “maintain the patient’s current condition or prevent or slow further deterioration”, rather than for services meeting the improvement standard.

Why changes in Medicare skilled nursing care are important for home care?

The change is quite significant. The previously used “improvement standard” left out many chronically ill elderly patients hoping just to maintain, rather than to improve, their condition. Read more…

How to avoid costly Medicare mistakes? Medicare Checklist.

Medicare Checklist

UPDATE Jan. 14, 2019. Medicare is not a complicated subject as long as you are familiar with Medicare checklist. These are not strict rules like ‘Who is eligible for Medicare?’ or ‘How do I apply for Medicare?’ but rather practical, common sense tips that can help you to avoid errors and save a substantial amount of money. Therefore, getting as much knowledge as possible about the Medicare checklist is quite essential. Some of them are applicable only when you are turning 65 (or get Medicare because of a disability). Others are available, once you are on Medicare. In any case, here is our Medicare checklist. It will help you to avoid costly Medicare mistakes.