Two Days Left: Time to Pick Your Part C Medicare Advantage Plan

Now that you've gone through the four easy steps of setting up the Medicare Plan Finder (as explained on earlier posts on this blog), it's time to compare and choose your public Part C Medicare Advantage health plan. 

As illustrated in the image, the plan finder will present you with the list of plans available in Barnstable County and you should rank them from lowest to highest monthly premium (but there are other options).  Some basic deductible and benefits information is shown on the list that you will see along with the plan's star rating (which is not especially useful because of the way the stars are awarded--all the plans available in Barnstable County are from very reputable insurance companies no matter what the star rating says). 

To get more detail on deductibles and benefits, check on the box to the left of the plan name. To compare up to three plans that interest you, check three plans.  But remember, if you have a favorite doctor or doctors or other kind of provider, make sure he, she or they accept the plan before even beginning any comparison.

Also remember that there is no advantage to choosing a national insurer such as AARP vs a local insurer such a Tufts (Blue Cross is sort of both; Blue Cross of Massachusetts is a franchisee of a national organization). But becaue Part C Medicare Advantage is only good outside the network in case of an emergency, it makes no difference if you are out of state with Tufts or Blue Cross or AARP if you need to use the card.