Colorado Medicare & LTC Insurance
Looking for Medicare or Long Term Care Insurance in Colorado?
New Aspect specializes in all types of insurance products including insurance for seniors. Whether you need assistance with Medicare insurance, Long Term Care, Prescription coverage, or anything else, we’re here to guide you through the process of finding the best possible coverage for your situation.
Here are a few ways we help our local seniors:
Medicare Supplement, Advantage, and “Part D” Prescription Drug
Medicare is one of the most complex health systems to understand because there are rules, regulations, deadlines, penalties, compliance, and other things that make it nearly impossible for the average consumer to comprehend. Luckily for you, we’re well versed in Medicare, and can help determine what the best route is for you to take when it comes to your Medicare health coverage.
We’ll help you understand things like the difference between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, and what the Medicare Part D Doughnut Hole is. These are things that if not properly planned for, can cost you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.
With Medicare, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you could make a mistake that cannot be undone, so it’s important to consult with an independent agency like us, who can give you reliable and unbiased advice.
Medicare Supplement Plans in Colorado
What’s a Medigap/Medicare Supplement Policy?
Original Medicare pays for many, but not all, health care services and supplies. A Medigap policy is private insurance that helps supplement Original Medicare. This means it helps pay some of the health care costs that Original Medicare doesn’t cover (like copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles).
These are “gaps” in Medicare coverage. If you have Original Medicare and a Medigap policy, Medicare will pay its share of the Medicare-approved amounts for covered health care costs. Then your Medigap policy pays its share.
All Medigap policies must follow Federal and state laws designed to protect you, and policies must be clearly identified as “Medicare Supplement Insurance.” Medigap insurance companies in most states can only sell you a “standardized” Medigap policy. Each standardized Medigap policy must offer the same basic benefits, no matter which insurance company sells it.
All plans offer the same basic benefits but some offer additional benefits. You can choose which plan meets your needs.
Who can buy a Medigap policy?
Generally, you must have Medicare Parts A and B to be able to buy a Medigap policy. The best time to buy a Medigap policy is on the first day of the month in which you’re 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. This time period, called your Medigap Open Enrollment Period, ends 6 months later.
During this period, an insurance company can’t refuse to sell you a policy or charge you more because of your health. If you’re under 65, you won’t have this Open Enrollment Period until you turn 65, but state law might give you a right to buy a policy before then.
Note: A Medigap policy covers only one person. Spouses must each have their own policy.
Do Medigap policies cover prescription drugs?
Medigap policies don’t offer prescription drug coverage. If you want prescription drug coverage, you must get a stand-alone Medicare Prescription Drug Plan that works with Original Medicare, or you can leave Original Medicare and join a Medicare Advantage Plan that offers drug coverage.
Colorado Medicare Advantage Plans
You can get your Medicare benefits through Original Medicare, or a Medicare Advantage Plan (like an HMO or PPO). If you have Original Medicare, the government pays for Medicare benefits when you get them. Medicare Advantage Plans, sometimes called “Part C” or “MA Plans,” are offered by private companies approved by Medicare. Medicare pays these companies to cover your Medicare benefits.
If you join a Medicare Advantage Plan, the plan will provide all of your Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) coverage. This is different than a Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) policy.
How much do Medicare Advantage Plans cost?
In addition to your Part B premium, you usually pay one monthly premium for the services included in a Medicare Advantage Plan. Each Medicare Advantage Plan has different premiums and costs for services, so it’s important to compare plans in your area and understand plan costs and benefits before you join.
What do Medicare Advantage Plans cover?
Medicare Advantage Plans must cover all of the services that Original Medicare covers except hospice care. Original Medicare covers hospice care even if you’re in a Medicare Advantage Plan. In all types of Medicare Advantage Plans, you’re always covered for emergency and urgent care.
Medicare Advantage Plans must offer emergency coverage outside of the plan’s service area (but not outside the U.S.). Many Medicare Advantage Plans also offer extra benefits such as dental care, eyeglasses, or wellness programs.
Most Medicare Advantage Plans include Medicare prescription drug coverage (Part D). In addition to your Part B premium, you usually pay one monthly premium for the plan’s medical and prescription drug coverage.
Plan benefits can change from year to year. Make sure you understand how a plan works before you join.
Medicare Part D Prescription Drug
Medicare offers prescription drug coverage to everyone with Medicare. Even if you don’t take many prescriptions now, you should consider joining a Medicare drug plan. If you decide not to join a Medicare drug plan when you’re first eligible, and you don’t have other creditable prescription drug coverage, or you don’t get Extra Help, you’ll likely pay a late enrollment penalty if you join a plan later.
To get Medicare prescription drug coverage, you must join a plan run by an insurance company or other private company approved by Medicare. Each plan can vary in cost and specific drugs covered.
There are 2 ways to get Medicare prescription drug coverage:
1. Medicare Prescription Drug Plans. These plans (sometimes called “PDPs”) add drug coverage to Original Medicare, some Medicare Cost Plans, some Medicare Private Fee‑for‑Service (PFFS) plans, and Medicare Medical Savings Account (MSA) plans.
2. Medicare Advantage Plans (like HMOs or PPOs) or other Medicare health plans that offer Medicare prescription drug coverage. You get all of your Part A, Part B, and prescription drug coverage (Part D), through these plans. Medicare Advantage Plans with prescription drug coverage are sometimes called “MA‑PDs.” Remember, you must have Part A and Part B to join a Medicare Advantage Plan, and not all of these plans offer drug coverage.
In either case, you must live in the service area of the Medicare drug plan you want to join.
New Aspect can help you find the best possible Part D plan in Colorado!
Long Term Care (LTC)
Many people get overly concerned with their health insurance and/or Medicare, but it’s lack of Long Term Care coverage that often times will financially cripple you. Long Term Care expenses are the leading cause of bankruptcy during retirement, and the statistics show that over 75% of people over the age of 65 will need some form of Long Term Care at some point during their retirement.
It’s not a matter of if you will need Long Term Care it’s when and with the cost of Long Term Care inflating at record pace, not planning ahead will result in serious financial hardship at a time when you are supposed to be living out the rest of your life in peace.
When most people think of Long Term Care insurance, they think of a traditional LTC policy, however there are several different ways to fund long term care outside of the typical LTC policy. With more creative and flexible insurance products on the market now, it’s important to evaluate every single option you have, and thats exactly what we can help you do, so you can live the rest of your retirement knowing that you won’t be financial destroyed, or financial destroy someone else like a child or relative.
If you need assistance with any type of senior insurance product, be sure to give us a call.