{"id":6351,"date":"2017-12-01T18:25:31","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T18:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/?p=6351"},"modified":"2017-12-01T18:29:28","modified_gmt":"2017-12-01T18:29:28","slug":"simple-truths-so-many-medicare-plan-optionshow-do-i-choose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/simple-truths-so-many-medicare-plan-optionshow-do-i-choose\/","title":{"rendered":"SIMPLE TRUTHS: So many Medicare plan options\u2026How do I choose?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019ve done your research. You\u2019ve talked with your friends. But you still don\u2019t know what Medicare plan to choose.<\/p>\n<p>If you are having trouble making a decision, these <strong>five simple steps<\/strong> may help:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Step 1 <\/strong>\u2013 Look at your <strong><em>lifestyle <\/em><\/strong>and what type of coverage fits what you need.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Step 2 <\/strong>\u2013 <strong><em>Affordability:<\/em><\/strong> cost of plan, copayments, deductibles, coinsurance, other out-of-pocket costs, etc.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Step 3 <\/strong>\u2013 Decide which option <strong><em>fits your health care needs best:<\/em><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Medicare Part B Premium + Medicare Advantage<\/li>\n<li>Medicare Part B Premium + Medicare Supplement + Part D prescription plan<\/li>\n<li>Original Medicare with a stand-alone Part D prescription plan<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Step 4<\/strong> \u2013 Be sure your <strong><em>doctors<\/em> <\/strong>are in the plan network and your <strong><em>prescriptions<\/em><\/strong> are covered.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Step 5 \u2013 <em>Talk to a professional<\/em>:<\/strong> a health plan representative, SHINE counselor, or call 1-800-MEDICARE (see chart of resources below).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Help is Available \u2013 Community Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 735px;\" width=\"1004\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"112\"><strong>Agency<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"132\"><strong>Phone<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"234\"><strong>Website<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"150\"><strong>What they Can Help With<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"112\">Medicare<\/td>\n<td width=\"132\">(800) 633-4227<\/p>\n<p>TTY\u00a0<span style=\"font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;\">(877) 486-2048<\/span><\/td>\n<td width=\"234\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.medicare.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.medicare.gov<\/a><\/td>\n<td width=\"150\">General Medicare questions<\/p>\n<p>Detailed information about plans and policies in your area<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"112\">Social Security Administration<\/td>\n<td width=\"132\">(800) 772-1213<\/td>\n<td width=\"234\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.socialsecurity.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.socialsecurity.gov<\/a><\/td>\n<td width=\"150\">To sign up for Medicare<\/p>\n<p>Information about extra help paying for your Medicare prescription drug coverage<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"112\">State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP)<\/td>\n<td width=\"132\">(800) 243-4636<\/td>\n<td width=\"234\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mass.gov\/elders\/healthcare\/shine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.mass.gov\/elders\/healthcare\/shine<\/a><\/td>\n<td width=\"150\">Assistance with choosing a Medicare plan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"112\">State Prescription Advantage (SPAP)<\/td>\n<td width=\"132\">(800) 243-4636<br \/>\nOption 2<\/td>\n<td width=\"234\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.prescriptionadvantagema.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.prescriptionadvantagema.org<\/a><\/td>\n<td width=\"150\">Assistance with prescription drug costs (copayments)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Learn about Health New England plan options at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.healthnewengland.org\/medicare\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">healthnewengland.org\/medicare<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019ve done your research. You\u2019ve talked with your friends. But you still don\u2019t know what Medicare plan to choose. If you are having trouble making a decision, these five simple steps may help: Step 1 \u2013 Look at your lifestyle and what type of coverage fits what you need. Step 2 \u2013 Affordability: cost of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[631,17,633],"tags":[654,378],"class_list":["post-6351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medicare-simple-truths","category-medicare","category-simple-truths","tag-choosing-a-plan","tag-medicare"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/ThinkstockPhotos-86536288-e1540403391358.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6ZZGa-1Er","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6351"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6355,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6351\/revisions\/6355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hnetalk.com\/member\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}