At my office, Dec. 7 is a day of celebration with the end of the Medicare annual enrollment period. From early September — when we start getting recertified, which we must do every year — until December, we are going 100 miles an hour.
Once we’ve passed the certification program from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), we then have to certify with each carrier we represent. After all that, we are allowed to present the new plans to you.
But because of the way the system works, we don’t even know what the changes to the Medicare programs are until September and by Medicare rules, we can’t disseminate information to you until Oct. 1. Even if you say “yes, I want that new plan,” we can’t enroll until Oct. 15.
So, from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, a mere 53 days, we are allowed to present to you information that will impact your health insurance coverage for the next year.
Throw in weekends and Thanksgiving and the number of days shrinks considerably.
Yet, no matter how hard we try. No matter how many hours we put in each day, and no matter how many videos we send out or Zoom meetings we hold, there are still clients we are unable to reach.
This is the most frustrating aspect of the system we are forced to work under.
Although we touched every one of our clients in one form of communication or another, I still feel like I haven’t done enough. Not for lack of trying, but for lack of time.
As frustrating as it is for us, it’s as frustrating for you too. This year presented some challenges for all of us. With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, there were fundamental changes to Medicare that impacted us all.
Although there were some very positive changes, such as capping drug costs to a maximum of $2,000, it also forced insurance companies to reevaluate the pricing of their plans.
Now, it gets crazier when we throw into the mix a constant barrage of TV ads that repeatedly ask if “you are getting all the benefits you’re entitled to” or tell you to call an 800 number to get back hundreds of dollars on your plan for next year.
So much craziness that Medicare was forced to institute an additional enrollment period called the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period.
Although this enrollment period has been around for a while, it primarily used to help those who made the mistake and called the 800 number and woke up on Jan. 1 enrolled in a plan they neither wanted nor heard of. But it also helps those who still need to review for 2025.
Here’s the part that I find amazing. This enrollment period is from Jan. 1 until March 31.
Medicare had to institute an enrollment period almost twice the length of the annual enrollment period just to fix the problems within the AEP time frame.
Think about that for a minute.
There is enough confusion, coercion or plain arm twisting associated with those Medicare call centers that Medicare needed to have a redo for those who were taken advantage of by those unscrupulous telemarketers.
Or the time frame is so short that people aren’t able to meet with their local agent in a timely manner to get their needs taken care of. In either case, the system makes no sense.
There are some restrictions associated with using this enrollment period.
It is for only those on Medicare Advantage plans and you can make one plan change. Once you choose, that will be it for the year. It’s a little more involved than this, but that’s the main thrust.
But the silver lining is that if you made the mistake of calling one of those TV Medicare evangelists who promises the world or just didn’t have time to meet with your agent, you have 90 days in which to do so come Jan. 1.
For those who are turning 65 this coming year or applying for Medicare for the first time, our first 2025 Medicare 101 class will be held at Traverse Area District Library’s main branch on Thursday, Jan. 9 at 6 p.m.