Ask the pros: Medicare enrollment

Now to our Ask the Pros segment, sponsored today by Independence Blue Cross. This morning, we're focusing on the beginning of the annual enrollment period for Medicare. Senior Vice President of Government Markets for Independence Blue Cross, Courtney Cruz, joining Nydia with more. Yeah, Courtney, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. Thank you for having me, Nydia. Very happy to be here. So let's do a little 101. So first of all, who's eligible for Medicare? So Medicare eligibility is predominantly driven by age. It's not only age, but most of the folks who are eligible for Medicare are eligible because they've turned 65. So once you turn 65, you become eligible for Part A and Part B. You can be under 65 and disabled, so there are other people who are on Medicare, but mostly we're talking about our senior community. And what is the Medicare annual enrollment period, and how does it affect coverage? It's a really important time of year, so very similar to when you're working. You might have your open enrollment time frame during the fall. There's a time frame that's like that for Medicare called the annual enrollment period where they have time from 10-15, which is today, to 12-7 to make a choice on their Medicare Advantage plans and options. Whether you want to pick up a new plan or change plans from one year to another, now is that window of time to make sure you make that happen. And again, for people who are new to this, what are the different parts of Medicare? What do they cover? Yeah, Medicare can be very confusing. And so there are multiple parts to Medicare. So once you become eligible, there's Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B. Those are sort of, if you're familiar with the red, white, and blue Medicare card, that covers your hospital and your doctors. But what many people aren't aware of, one, it doesn't cover prescription drugs. So that's when something called Medicare Part D was introduced, a whole alphabet soup here. But even with Medicare Part A and Part B, it doesn't cover 100% of your costs. That's why it's so important that people check their plans, see what kind of coverage they can get. And things are expected to go up this year. Absolutely, absolutely. And, you know, just like we were hearing about the price of things in the grocery store, prices across the board have increased, but also your health needs may have changed. And so really important for you to stop and take a moment and evaluate your current coverage. think about what perhaps has changed in your health and think about what's the perfect coverage for you as you go into the new year and better to do this as soon as possible so you're not suddenly scrambling toward the end of the enrollment absolutely I relate it to the tax season right those folks are in that are waiting till the last minute to get those taxes in I would say the same thing about your annual enrollment choices and selections one thing I love to do is sort of break down the timeline where October is a really good time to get familiar with how your plan may have changed for the new year and start to think about options. November is a time to really kind of narrow down options. I often find a lot of our seniors love to talk to family members over Thanksgiving, but it's almost better to back that up a week. Don't wait to do it across the Thanksgiving dinner table. Call them a week earlier and, you know, if you want to get their input and their thoughts and then make that decision, pre-Thanksgiving is always the best way to go. Technically, you have until 12-7, But, you know, the longer the wait, the longer it can take once you're trying to get it through. And again, people are really going to have to be aware that prices are going up, especially for prescription medication. Absolutely. Absolutely. But I would also say when it comes to your health, it's not only a price decision. That's right. So you have to make sure you're balancing what's best for your needs with what's best for your pocket. Yeah. Courtney Cruz with Independence Blue Cross. Thanks so much for joining us today. Thank you for having me. Very important information. Alicia, back to you. Yeah, get those conversations done before Thanksgiving. That's for turkey and pumpkin pie. Okay.