With baby boomers continuing to become Medicare eligible, agents should consider marketing to this consumer base. Remember, you cannot talk about the Medicare Advantage or Part D unless you have completed the appropriate certifications.

Research indicates that Baby Boomers are using social media:

  • 84% of Baby Boomers have a Facebook account
  • 58% visit a company’s website after encountering the brand on social media
  • 41% have Pinterest accounts 

Social media is a low cost way to reach those consumers and make any additional marketing projects more impactful. Providing informational posts could drive consumers searching for information to you and your website.  

  • Make sure your website is up to date and ready for consumers.  

  • Make sure all of your communications include all of your contact information, social media links and your website address.

  • Post short informational articles with references to contact you as a qualified agent on your social media websites.

  • Ask your contacts to like your articles.

  • Coordinate matching informational newsletters out to your contact list and ask for referrals.

To make this easy, I have created 12 small articles you can use to post or create newsletters. Be sure to let everyone know that you can assist with any questions.  

When creating these communications, be sure to include all of your contact information:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Website
  • Include social media links
  • Carriers you represent related to the content of communication

1) Open Enrollment Dates

The annual election period for Medicare products is fast approaching:

Annual election period (October 15 – December 7)

Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (January 1 – March 31)

Special Enrollment Periods are available when special circumstances arise.

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2) Confusion about when a current Medicare Enrollee can make plan changes

Medicare eligible consumers have many carriers, plans and plan types to choose from. It may seem overwhelming. Using an experienced, licensed agent can assist consumers to understand their options so they can elect the carrier, plan and plan type that would offer the most benefits.

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3) Medicare eligible but still working

Many Medicare eligible people remain in the work force even after becoming eligible for Medicare benefits. Understanding how this affects those benefits is necessary so they can make decisions that will maximize their benefits. Group benefits can offer better prescription coverage than Medicare drug coverage, so staying on your group plan may be a good idea. But can that cause negative issues when the employee retires? Not necessarily. Working with a qualified agent to evaluate that employees situation, can create an advantageous plan to find the correct coverage as you transition from retiring from the work force and moving to full retirement.

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4) What do all the Parts and Plans mean? 

Original Medicare is made up of Part A (Hospital Insurance) and Part B (Medical Insurance). Medicare eligible consumers enrolled in Part A and B can enroll in a Medicare Supplement and/or a Part D plan (Prescription Drug Insurance)

Part C is known as Medicare Advantage which is an “all in one” alternative to Original Medicare. These plans include Part A and B and can include Part D (Prescription Drug Insurance)

Part D is the prescription drug coverage available to qualified Medicare eligible consumers.

Plans normally refer to the different Medicare Supplement plans available to purchase with your original Medicare Part A and B. The plans associated with each letter offer different benefits. But each plan’s benefits will be identical between the different insurance carriers. Example: Plan F will have the exact same benefits regardless of which carrier you purchase the plan from. Plan F is the richest plan available while plan A offers the lowest amount of coverage.

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5) When can you enroll in Medicare?

When you are first eligible for Medicare, you have a 7 month Initial Enrollment Period to sign up for Part A and/or Part B.

For example, if you’re eligible for Medicare when you turn 65, you can sign up during the 7-month period that:

  • Begins 3 months before the month you turn 65
  • Includes the month you turn 65
  • Ends 3 months after the month you turn 65

If you aren’t automatically enrolled, you can sign up for free Part A (if you’re eligible) any time during or after your Initial Enrollment Period starts. Your coverage start date will depend on when you sign up. If you have to buy Part A and/or Part B, you can only sign up during a valid enrollment period.

If you wait until the month you turn 65 (or the 3 months after you turn 65) to enroll, your Part B coverage will be delayed. This could cause a gap in your coverage.

In most cases, if you don’t sign up for Medicare Part B when you’re first eligible, you’ll have to pay a late enrollment penalty. You’ll have to pay this penalty for as long as you have Part B and could have a gap in your health coverage. Your monthly premium for Part B may go up 10% of the standard premium for each full 12-month period that you could have had Part B but didn’t sign up for it. Also, you may have to wait until the General Enrollment Period (from January 1 to March 31) to enroll in Part B. Coverage will start July 1 of that year.

Usually, you don’t pay a late enrollment penalty if you meet certain conditions that allow you to sign up for Part B during a Special Enrollment Period (Example: covered under an employer group health plan).

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6) What is not covered by Part A and Part B?

  • Deductible, coinsurance and co-payment
  • Long term care (also called custodial care)
  • Most dental care
  • Eye exams related to prescription glasses
  • Dentures
  • Cosmetic surgery
  • Acupuncture
  • Hearing aids and exams for fitting them
  • Routine foot care

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6) Supplements and other insurance that works with Medicare

Retiree insurance – If you’re retired and have Medicare and group health plan (retiree) coverage from a former employer, generally:

  • Medicare pays first for your health care bills
  • Your group health plan coverage pays second

A Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) policy helps pay some of the health care costs that Original Medicare doesn’t cover, like:

  • Copayments
  • Coinsurance
  • Deductibles

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8) Government assistance for qualified Medicare enrollees

Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that:

  • Helps with medical costs for some people with limited income and resources
  • Offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, like nursing home care and personal care services

Medicare Savings Programs

You can get help from your state paying your Medicare premiums. In some cases, Medicare Savings Programs may also pay Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments if you meet certain conditions.

PACE

PACE is a Medicare and Medicaid program that helps people meet their health care needs in the community instead of going to a nursing home or other care facility. PACE stands for Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.

Lower Prescription Costs

If you meet certain income and resource limits, you may qualify for a program called Extra Help from Medicare to pay the prescription costs, premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance of Medicare prescription drug coverage. 

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9) Medicare Costs

Part A – Most people don’t pay a monthly premium for Part A (sometimes called “premium-free Part A“). If you buy Part A, you’ll pay up to $437 each month. If you paid Medicare taxes for less than 30 quarters, the standard Part A premium is $437. If you paid Medicare taxes for 30-39 quarters, the standard Part A premium is $240.

Part B – The standard Part B premium amount is $135.50 (or higher depending on your income).

Part C – The Part C premium will vary depending on plan and carrier

Part D – The Part D premium will vary depending on plan and carrier (higher income consumers may pay more)

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10) How Part D (drug plans) cover prescriptions

Each Medicare drug plan must give at least a standard level of coverage set by Medicare. Plans can vary the list of prescription drugs they cover (called a formulary) and how they place drugs into different “tiers” on their formularies. Consumers will need to check each carrier’s formulary to find the plan that covers their medications best.

Members enrolled in a Part D plan will pay the following:

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11) Medigap and travel 

Your Medigap policy may offer additional coverage for health care services or supplies that you get outside the U.S.

Standard Medigap Plans C, D, F, G, M, and N provide foreign travel emergency health care coverage when you travel outside the U.S.

Plans E, H, I, and J are no longer for sale, but if you bought one before June 1, 2010 you may keep it. All of these plans also provide foreign travel emergency health care coverage when you travel outside the U.S.

If you have Medigap Plan C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, M or N, your plan:

  • Covers foreign travel emergency care if it begins during the first 60 days of your trip, and if Medicare doesn’t otherwise cover the care.
  • Pays 80% of the billed charges for certain medically necessaryemergency care outside the U.S. after you meet a $250 deductible for the year.

Foreign travel emergency coverage with Medigap policies has a lifetime limit of $50,000.

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12) Plan F and MACRA

In April 2015, the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) was signed into law. There has been confusion around what this means for Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans F and C. Some Medicare beneficiaries currently covered with Plan F or C are concerned that these plans will no longer be available after 2020. Here is the scoop:

  • Medicare Beneficiaries who currently have a Plan F or Plan C policy will be able to continue to keep and/or renew their plans even after Jan. 1, 2020. In a sense, they are grandfathered and are able to keep their plans as long as they continue to pay their premiums.
  • Anyone who becomes Medicare eligible prior to Jan. 1, 2020 but does not enroll by Jan. 1, 2020 (i.e., beneficiary is still working and has employer insurance) will still be able to get a Plan F or Plan C product that covers their part B deductible, even after that date.
  • The new law only applies to Medicare beneficiaries who are newly eligible after Jan. 1, 2020. Plan F and Plan C will no longer be available for these beneficiaries after this date.

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Marketing on social media can be a smart way to reach your aging clients and get them covered through Medicare and Medicare Supplement plans. Using the ideas above to post, reaching and education your audience is easier than ever.

If you have any questions, please contact your assigned MIBS customer service representative. 

For any questions about this blog, please contact author Patty Kretschmar at patty@midwestga.com.