By Brian Hickey, Vice President of Insuractive®
Your clients may be shopping for Medicare plans on a government website that fails to show their complete financial exposure of different coverage options. Like many Medicare beneficiaries, they may find their way onto the government’s Medicare website, www.medicare.gov, and to its Medicare Plan Finder, an online tool that promises to compare plans and choose the one that best meets their needs.
But a new report concludes that the tool fails to deliver on that promise. Co-authored by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and the Council for Affordable Health Coverage’s Clear Choices Campaign, the “Modernizing Medicare Plan Finder Report” says that the presentation of cost information on the Medicare.gov tool provides little help in understanding a beneficiary’s complete financial exposure of different coverage options, that the information is confusing and that the tool is in need of significant reform.
The report reaffirmed what we at Medicare BackOffice® already knew. In fact, the tool’s inadequacies and the confusing nature of Medicare drove the very creation of our business. Our mission is to help your clients understand their health insurance options and guide them through the shopping and buying process.
Make sure your clients know that the commonly used government tool is not their best choice, and remind them that Medicare BackOffice is your recommended choice for shopping for Medicare plans. While the report makes specific reform recommendations to policymakers to improve the Medicare online shopping and enrollment experience, consumers shopping for Medicare already can get the information and help they need to make informed decisions about their Medicare plans. The Licensed Insurance Agents at Medicare BackOffice are educated in all plans and the technology — both the Medicare.gov website and our tools — that compare plans, and we assist in making the right choice for your clients. Let’s look at some of the report’s key findings and how Medicare BackOffice compares.
Key Findings of the Report
The report says that the vast majority of beneficiaries interviewed could not understand the estimated annual health costs displayed on the Medicare Plan Finder, defaulting instead to factors in which they had more confidence and understanding, such as premiums.
Medicare BackOffice explains to customers that comparing only premiums can be a costly error. Other factors may come in to play to push total out-of-pocket expenses higher, even if the premium is the cheapest. This is one of the core messages we share when reviewing consumers’ plan options.
The Medicare Plan Finder does not have a chat feature or even contact information for consumers if they need additional assistance. At Medicare BackOffice, however, the helpful and knowledgeable Licensed Insurance Agents are our signature. Your clients need to be able to ask questions so that they understand what they are purchasing, and our agents aim to make the process as stress-free as possible so they walk away confident in their decision. We even have on-staff pharmacists to help answer their prescription drug coverage options.
The Medicare Plan Finder does not provide the “apples to apples” comparison that is important for anyone to make informed coverage decisions. For example, it cannot compare a Medicare Supplement plan to a Medicare Advantage plan — one of the most common comparisons that beneficiaries should be able to examine. Without that functionality, the Medicare Plan Finder leaves beneficiaries without a full understanding of all of their health insurance options and unable to compare them to each other.
Medicare BackOffice’s Licensed Insurance Agents are well-versed in both Medicare Supplement and Medicare Advantage, and also Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plans. They are able to do “apples to apples” comparisons and explain the nuances and benefits of each plan.
According to the report, beneficiaries using the Medicare Plan Finder struggled to understand what a preferred pharmacy is, what it means to them and how it could assist with cost reduction. Medicare BackOffice’s Licensed Insurance Agents can explain all this and also direct them to the pharmacies in their area that are preferred by carrier plans.
Remember, your clients have more options than the federal government’s website. If they need help enrolling in Medicare or reviewing their Medicare plans, have them call Medicare BackOffice to speak to a Licensed Insurance Agent at 1.877.385.8083.
