Medicare Advantage Plan Finder: 1. Visit www.medicare.gov; scroll half-way down the page and on the left hand side under the large font Find doctors, providers, hospitals, plans & suppliers click on Find health & drug plans 2. Decide if you want to perform a General Search or a Personalized Search a. A General Search will locate plans in the area you select. It will not reflect any of your personal information including any current coverage or additional benefits you have i. Enter your zip code and select Find Plans
ii. Next, you will be asked to specify if there are any details related to Medicare coverage you would like to be considered with your search. 1. Select 1 option under each question posed a. If you are not sure, select Original Medicare as your first answer and select I don t get any Extra Help as your second answer 2. Select Continue to Plan Results Select One Answer Select One Answer b. A Personalized Search will use your unique Medicare account to locate plans in your area. You will be able to see your personal information such as any current plans you are enrolled in as well as additional benefits you may have. i. Enter your information including: 1. Zip code 2. Medicare Number 3. Last Name a. Include a suffix if applicable 4. Part A Effective Date 5. Date of Birth ii. Click Find Plans
iii. If you need help locating your Medicare Number or your Effective Date, refer to your red, white and blue Medicare Card 3. Next, enter your drugs into My Drug List a. Type the name of the drug into the search bar
i. Select the dosage you take ii. Type in the quantity you take 1. Select whether you take that every month, 3 months, etc. iii. Select Add drug and dosage b. Write down your Drug List ID and Password Date and save the information in a safe location with the rest of your medical information
c. Review your drug list (up to a maximum of 25 drugs) to ensure: i. All prescription drugs are listed and are set at the correct dosage and quantity ii. You have selected the generic or brand version of the drug based on what you are prescribed iii. Select My Drug List is Complete 4. Add the pharmacy of your choice (local retail pharmacy) a. Expand your search area or search by Pharmacy Name if you do not see your preferred pharmacy at first b. Select Continue to Plan Results
5. Select filters on the left hand side of the screen to narrow your options a. Limit your monthly premium by moving the slider bar from right to left b. Limit your Annual Drug Deductible if desired c. Select Drug Options to search for only plans that cover all of your listed medications or do not have any restrictions on any of your listed medications d. Select Star Ratings to find only plans that have good ratings 1. 3 stars is the minimum requirement for a plan to not be low-rated
e. Select coverage options to find only plans that offer provider coverage nationwide or have an open-network of providers (PPO) f. Select Special Needs Plans if you would like to search for the availability of plans catered specifically to certain mental/medical illnesses g. Change your health status h. Select Plans by Company if you have a preference for which health insurance organization administers your healthcare i. Select Update Plan Results once all filters have been selected 6. Check the box next to Medicare Health Plans with Drug Coverage to view only those plans a. Select Continue to Plan Results
7. Scroll down until you see Medicare Health Plans with Drug Coverage a. All of the plans available in your area that meet the search criteria you indicated will be listed below b. Review the plan information visible for each program; consider: i. Monthly premium ii. Annual drug deductible iii. Annual health deductible iv. Doctor Choice v. Out of Pocket Spending Limit vi. Overall Star Rating c. Look for plans that have all your drugs on formulary if the only plans available do not have all your drugs on formulary, check to see which drug is not covered by clicking on No
i. This will generate a new page where you can see drug coverage details d. Check drug restrictions to determine if there are any Quantity Limits lower than your current quantity prescribed, Step Therapy requirements, or Prior Authorization requirements i. This will generate a new page to view drug restriction details
8. Once you have selected a few plans you may be interested in based on the initial details, check the boxes next to the plans you would like to research further (up to 3 plans) a. Select Compare Plans are the bottom of the plan list
9. The plans you selected will appear side by side now. You will want to review both the Health Plan Benefits and the Drug Costs and Coverage a. First, select the Health Plan Benefits tab i. You have already reviewed most of the Costs and Other Important Information such as monthly premium, deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums ii. Scroll down further to view Benefits and review information most important to you; Consider: 1. Doctor s Office Visits (including Specialist) 2. Durable Medical Equipment 3. Emergency Care 4. Home Health Care
a. If you would like more detailed information regarding specific benefits or to see if there are supplemental benefits available to purchase for an additional premium (vision, dental, hearing) select View More Detailed Cost & Benefit Information b. Lastly, you will want to select Drug Costs & Coverage to review prescription benefits side by side i. For an easy to compare document, scroll about ¾ way down the page. Between Drug Coverage Information and Pharmacy & Mail Order Information select the button that says Print Comparison Report
1. Select the following check boxes to keep the report simple but comprehensive (add additional check boxes as you feel comfortable) a. Fixed costs b. Drug Coverage Information c. Estimated Drug Cost Details at Pharmacy d. Estimated Monthly Drug Costs at Pharmacy e. Pharmacy Network Information i. Include the Definitions check box at the bottom of the selection screen if you want the report to include a glossary of commonly used terms ii. Select Print f. The drug cost comparison information will generate in a simple side-by-side report on a new page
10. Once you have selected a plan and are ready to enroll, return to the Your Plan Results page where you originally marked the check boxes for plans you wanted to compare. a. On the far right hand side next to each plan, there will be an Enroll button (it will be in the same area that on this document says Enrollment begins October 15, 2014) i. Select Enroll to begin online enrollment b. If online enrollment is not your preference, contact the plan directly to speak to a representative and enroll i. The contact information for the plan can be found by clicking on the plan name of the policy you have chosen ii. You will want to contact the Non-Members line to enroll as a new member into the policy you have chosen