If you are a senior citizen, chances are you have been receiving lots of calls lately from people selling supplemental health insurance. But CRIS Healthy Agency Center in Danville is cautioning – especially those losing their Health Alliance Advantage plan – that now is not a good time to buy that coverage. Angel White, who handles Senior Information Services at CRIS, explains….
{Audio: “It would be hard for them to find a replacement right now because we don’t know if there’s going to be any changes made during open enrollment. And since they technically still have insurance until the 31st of December, we can’t make any changes until open enrollment starts on October 15th. And that would be October 15th until December 7th.”}
So what does White (shown here) suggest seniors do when they receive the calls?
{“Politely hang-up. Simply because a lot of times they will try to put them in a plan that is going to guarantee them insurance, but that’s not going to guarantee that their provider is going to be within a hundred miles of their home. And sometimes when somebody calls like that you don’t think to ask that question because they’re going to guarantee you coverage. But they’re not going to guarantee that your provider is there.”}
White also notes Medicare does not call people…
{AUDIO: “If they’re calling about, they say they’re from Medicare – they’re calling to confirm your Medicare number, or you’ve got a back brace that the doctor wants you to have – please hang-up. It’s going to cause more issues for them, and it’ll increase the fraud for Medicare, which will in turn affect the prices of deductibles and things like that. If the doctor wanted you to have a neck brace, or a back brace, he would have done given it to you.”}
The open enrollment period for Medicare runs from October 15th to December 7th but CRIS Senior Services in Danville is now scheduling appointments to answer questions regarding coverage.
Although seniors who have Health Alliance Advantage lose coverage on December 31st, the enrollment period for them to sign-up for new coverage is extended through February of next year.
