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Things you Need to know

WATCH OUT FOR Spoofing SCAMS!!!

What is a Spoofing Scam?

A Spoofing scam is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity. Spoofing is often used as part of an attempt to trick someone into giving away valuable personal information so it can be used in fraudulent activity or sold illegally, but also can be used legitimately, for example, to display the toll-free number for a business.

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Medicare Open Enrollment 

 Protect Yourself from Marketing and Enrollment Fraud 

Watch out for people who:

  • Pressure you to join their plan
  • Tell you they represent Medicare and want to offer you a service for free
  • Call you or visit your house without your permission to offer services or equipment
  • Offer free consultations only to people with Medicare and ask for your Medicare number
  • Inform you that you will lose your Medicare benefits unless you sign up for a certain plan.

If you feel you have experienced marketing violations or enrollment fraud:

  • Save all documents or suspicious information (marketing materials, business cards, voicemails)
  • Contact your local Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP). You can visit www.smpresource.org or call 877-808-2468 to find your local SMP.

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2024 Open Enrollment Medicare coverage  for Part D is from October 15 to December 7.

During this annual enrollment period (AEP) individuals can make changes to various aspects of your coverage.

  • You can switch from Original Medicare to Medicare Advantage, or vice versa.
  • You can also switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another, or from one Medicare Part D (prescription drug) plan to another.
  • And if you didn’t enroll in a Medicare Part D plan when you were first eligible, you can do so during the general open enrollment, although a late enrollment penalty may apply.

If you want to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan, you must meet some basic criteria.

*If you are an American Indian /Alaskan Native and utilize Indian Health Services, You will need to know that Medicare Advantages plans are not accepted by your local IHS facility.

Auto-renewal is available

  • If you’re already enrolled in a Medicare Part D prescription plan or a Medicare Advantage Plan and you don’t want to make changes to your coverage for 2019, you don’t need to do anything during open enrollment, assuming your current plan will still be available in 2019.
  • If your plan is being discontinued and isn’t eligible for renewal, you would have received a non-renewal notice from your carrier prior to open enrollment. If you didn’t, it means you can keep your plan without doing anything during open enrollment.

Benefits and Premium changes for 2024

  • Be aware that your benefits and premium could be changing for 2024. So even if you’re confident that you want to keep your current coverage for the coming year, it’s important to make sure you understand any changes that may apply, and that you’ve double checked to make sure that your current plan is still the best available option. The available plans and what they cover changes from one year to the next, so even if the plan you have now was the best option when you shopped last year, it’s important to verify that again before you lock yourself in for another year.

* Medicare General Enrollment for Part A & Part B  is in January 1 – March 31 of every year 

When considering a Part D plan:

  • Does the plan cover all the medications I take?
  • Does the plan have restrictions on my drugs, such as prior authorization, step therapy, or quantity limits?
  • How much will I pay for monthly premiums and the annual deductible?
  • How much will I pay at the pharmacy for each drug I take?
  • Is my pharmacy in the plan’s preferred network?
  • Can I fill my prescriptions by mail order?
  • What is the plan’s star rating?

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