Shopping for health insurance

How to enroll in Medicare

You must enroll in Medicare withing 90-days of your 65th birth month. To apply go online to www.ssa.gov and sign up for Part A and Part B. Your card will arrive by mail in about 2-3 weeks followed by your monthly check. You can apply for a Medicare health plan 3-months before and 3-months after your birth month once you get your Medicare card.

If you plan on continuing working and your employer has an employee heath plan, all you need to do is only sign up for Part A. You can continue to work up to age seventy, then you must enroll in Medicare Part B. If you retire before age seventy, you have 90-days after your last working day to enroll for Part B.

Things to know before shopping for Health Care

Shopping for health insurance is somewhat like going to CUBS and standing in the bread isle, knowing that you want bread but do not know which loaf to by. 

You kind of have an idea of what the bread is going to be used for, so you start looking at price, only to find that some bread is full of stuff you don’t want to eat, and prices vary.

Shopping for health care is kind of like shopping for bread. So, knowing a few basics will have a big impact on what you spend and what you get.

A basic rule to follow is that the lower the policy premium the higher the deductible and out-of-pockets costs. Lower priced plans may also have fewer benefits or network restrictions. Some expensive Advantage plans may offer similar benefits to other plans, but the middle-priced plan may fit your needs just as well.

The key question to ask yourself is, will the plan meet my health needs, provider network and medications?  This is why you need a local Medicare broker that represents all of the plans and can help you decide which plan is the right plan for you.