Latah County Medicare Advantage Plans
What you need to know about 2025 Latah County Medicare Advantage plans!
For 2025, Latah County has 20 Medicare Advantage plans for residents to consider.
Here is the high level break down:
4 plans do NOT include prescription drug coverage; Veterans may find these plans attractive.
2 of these are PPO;
2 are HMO plans.
10 plans do include prescription drug coverage and services covered by Medicare Part A and B.
7 are HMO plans;
3 are PPO plans.
The remaining plans are reserved for individuals which qualify for Medicaid special needs plans (I-SNP, C-SNP or D-SNP).
There is another type of Medicare plan you should be aware of.
These are Medigap plans.
When you choose this Medigap plan, all doctors/hospitals that accept Medicare insurance in the USA are available to you. This means you do not have the network restrictions/rules found in Latah County Medicare Advantage plans.
Also, you do not have an insurance company standing between your physician to get permission to move forward with your treatment plan. Physicians/hospitals may prefer these plans because they know they will be paid in a timely manner.
You will have fewer ‘prior authorizations’ to deal with.
Medicare published a document that provides the rest of the details you need to know about Medigap plans. You can download this PDF document by clicking here.
Two of these plans limit your annual out of pocket costs for Part A and B covered services to less than $2,900.
This figure is controlled by Medicare and typically goes up a bit annually. If your cost share for Medicare Part A and B used services for the calendar year hits this figure, your Medigap plan pays the rest of your left-over health care costs.
Keep this figure in mind when you read the discussion below on ‘out of pocket limits’ in Medicare Advantage plans.
What are the differences between Medicare Advantage plans?
One item is the plan’s Maximum out of pocket limit (MOOP). Read the information below to learn why this is a key differentiator between plans.
This is a key figure you should be aware of. Put plans on your short list that have a lower MOOP. This decision may save you money if you use Medicare covered health care services during the plan year.
Think of the MOOP as your limit (or cap) for your share of health care costs for Part A and B services you use during the calendar year. The higher your plan’s MOOP, the more you could end up paying for the services you use.
Medicare sets the maximum figure(s) a plan can have and they can change it annually.
The insurance company offering your plan sets the plans MOOP where they want it. It must be at or below Medicare’s limit. This figure can change annually.
What are the actual MOOP figures?
Medicare’s maximum MOOP for this years HMO is $9,350.
The MOOP maximum for PPO plans cannot exceed $14,000.
Insurance companies offering Medicare Advantage plans set their plan’s MOOP based on each of their plan’s business goals.
Once you hit your plan’s MOOP, your insurance company pays the rest of your share of the cost when you use Part A/B services.
The range of MOOP for your County’s HMO Medicare Advantage plans is $4,900 to $6,400.
The range for PPO plans is $5,000 to $9,550.
We prefer plans that meet a persons needs AND has a low MOOP.
You can check out the above figures by using the resource found here.
The example below will help you understand how your plan’s MOOP works.
Let’s say your plan’s MOOP is $7,000 for the year.
In January you are admitted to the hospital for surgery. Your bill for the 5-day hospital stay is $1,750. Your post-op visits to your physician and physical therapist(s) are $475.
When you subtract these figures from your plan’s MOOP the result is how your new MOOP. When, after you use additional services, and your MOOP hits zero, your plan pays the rest of your share of the cost for Medicare A & B services.
If you have a plan with a ‘lower MOOP’ you have the opportunity to keep more money in your pocket.
The insurance company offering your plan sets the cost sharing for each Part A and B service.
This simply means what you pay to see your physician, use hospital services, pay for your MRI/CAT imaging, cancer treatments, skilled nursing care, etc. are often different between plans. When you compare plans annually, you look at these figures and choose the plan that best fits your pocketbook and needs. These figures can change annually.
Cost sharing for services used, the plan’s MOOP, monthly premium, and the financial savings you get when you use the plan’s non-Medicare covered services are some of the differentiators between plans.
Specific plan coverages may have limitations.
Rules may be imposed on specific coverages. You find these rules in your plan’s ‘Evidence of Coverage’.
Prior Authorization is an example.
Prior authorization may be required on specific plan covered services. What does this mean? Your insurance company can approve or deny the service request. If the service is denied, your prescribing physician has to go to ‘plan B’ and start the process over.
The number of days ‘skilled nursing care’ has their daily co-pays in place is something you need to pay attention to. Why? Because if you need this service and have the ‘wrong’ plan, it can be the quickest way for you to hit your plan’s MOOP.
Dental coverage is another example where rules are important to know.
For example dental (if included in a plan) may exclude certain coverages. This can be done by dental billing code(s) or by limitations on specific services you need that are in coverage class I, II, and III. Implants or braces may be covered by some plans, but not others. There may be limitation on the number of cleanings too (2-year when you may need 4); periodontal services, if covered, may have their own limitations, etc. The dollar value the insurance company offers you for dental coverage can vary widely between plans.
Doctors/hospitals/other providers.
Availability of physicians, hospitals, physical therapists, skilled nursing facilities, durable medical equipment providers and all other provider types vary by plan. Read this article to learn more.
The insurance companies offering Medicare Advantage plans put together their networks of these people/facilities for their plan members. Medicare requires insurance meet a minimum adequacy requirement when they put their networks together. This means there is a good probability not all physicians/providers in your geographic area that ‘accept Medicare’ insurance are not in your plan’s network.
You have the tools available to find out how many of a certain type of specialists are in the plan’s network vs how many that ‘accept Medicare’ are in the same area . If you have existing health issues, would it be important for you to know how many specialists which treat this for you are in the plan you select? We can show you the tools to do this.
The above can change during the calendar year. This announcement is an example of why networks can change during the year. Another example is found here and here.
Be aware hospitals may/may not be using current technologies/techniques to treat patients. Why? Because of the cost for new technologies is competing for other financial needs of the hospital.
Proton Therapy is an example of newer technology for treating cancer.
This is an updated treatment and is an alternative for existing radiation therapy.
We encourage you to read this article if you are unfamiliar with this technology . At this writing, 45 hospitals (out of over 4500) offer this solution. Facilities near Idaho include:
Huntsman Cancer Institute (Salt Lake City) (began offering this service in 2021)
The Mayo Clinic Cancer Center (Phoenix…rolled out this service on 2016)
Loma Linda University Cancer Center (began offering this service in 1990)
California Protons Cancer Therapy Center (San Diego) (began offering this service in 2017).
If you are interested in this service, you might check where each of the above facilities are ranked in the top 250 hospitals.
Are you interested in the top 250 hospitals in the country?
The top 250 hospitals in the US may have the latest technologies to treat different health issue(s)…and the physicians that know how to use them. These resources may available to you if they accept your Medicare Advantage plan. If you have a Medigap plan, there should be no issue with this provided the facility accepts Medicare.
Hospitals are assigned a ‘star rating’ by Medicare. We recommend Idaho residents focus on 4 and 5-star rated hospitals AND skilled nursing facilities.
There are physician rating services too. One is available here. We focus on physicians with a 4 or 5 star rating and have at least 10-ratings. You can use this same tool to find physicians that ‘accept Medicare insurance’.
We also recommend you use a ‘board certified physician‘.
Medications covered by each plan.
According to this source, there is a 20+/- % variance between the number of prescription medications covered by the plans available to you. Note none of these plans include 100% of the medications covered by Medicare.
This same resource documents the number of medications each plan has in each of the 5 (or 6) drug tiers AND the fill/refill cost by these same drug tiers. These figures can vary noticeably between plans.
Given the wide variance between plans on the above, it is easy to understand why there can be a 300% +/- variance in your projected annual out of pocket cost between your plan choices for the medications you take.
This is a key reason you should not enroll in any Medicare Advantage plan until you understand your cost for your prescription medications. If you are working with a broker/agent that just tells you your medications are covered, we suggest you work with someone else that will share the whole picture.
Are medications that treat serious health issues (cancer, etc.) covered by my plan?
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has requirements insurance company(s) offering Medicare plan(s) must meet when they put together their list of covered medications.
Below is a cut/paste from (Section 30.2.5) the current Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Manual.
“Part D sponsor formularies must include all or substantially all drugs in the immunosuppressant(for prophylaxis of organ transplant rejection), antidepressant, antipsychotic, anticonvulsant, antiretroviral, and antineoplastic classes. CMS instituted this policy because it was necessary to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries reliant upon these drugs would not be substantially discouraged from enrolling in certain Part D plans, as well as to mitigate the risks and complications associated with an interruption of therapy for these vulnerable populations.“
We feel this is an important statement everyone enrolled/wishing to enroll in a Medicare prescription drug plan should be aware of.
Do you want a plan that pays for most all of the left-over cost for Part A and B services?
We recommend you consider a Medigap Plan G. This plan will leave you with little left-over costs (the annual Part B deductible).
Are there lower premium Medigap plans which have some copays?
Yes.
There are 2 different Medigap plans we like that meet these criteria. They have a Medicare controlled ‘annual deductible’. Yes, it goes up a bit annually.
This ‘deductible’ is similar in concept to the MOOP described above.
The deductible for this year is found here.
Once your share of your costs for the services you use hits this figure, this Medigap plan pays the rest of your Part A and B left over costs for the calendar year.
When you work with a Medicare broker that is licensed with all/most all plans available to you, they help you navigate your way through this maze and select the plan which meets your needs and budget.
Latah County Medicare Advantage plans for Veterans
Veterans have several Medicare Advantage plans to consider. These plans do not include prescription drug coverage and are offered by private insurance companies which compete each other for your business. Each plan sets their ‘giveback’ for the member’s Part B monthly premium. This year this figure varies between $0 to $75/month for this year. These figures can change annually.
The amount of the Veterans out of pocket costs for plan covered health care services can vary widely between these plans. This is also true for the ‘non-Medicare’ covered benefits that are often found in these plans (gym membership, dental coverage, etc.). Which hospitals and physicians available to the plan member can also vary by plan.
A veteran may prefer a PPO plan if they want to open up their choice of hospitals and doctors to include those beyond Idaho’s borders. An HMO plan may fit a veteran that wants health care outside the VA and/or urgent and emergent care. We do need to pay attention to the HMO plan’s network of hospitals and doctors, as they can vary.
We recommend Veterans review their Latah Veteran Medicare Advantage plans at least every 2-3 years.
This market niche is becoming more competitive between the insurance companies offering these plans. Some of these companies want to increase their market share by offering more attractive features than their competitors. These companies are changing their offerings annually to attract more potential new members.
We suggest veterans work with an Idaho broker that is also a veteran and is licensed with all of these plans.
We can help you with this when you are ready. Learn more about us here.
Latah County residents on Medicaid and enrolled in Medicare.
Blue Cross of Idaho is exiting the IMPlus and MMCP Idaho market on 5/31/2025.
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW) clarified this announcement on February 5, 2025 and is available here. Answers to ‘frequently asked questions’ is available here.
If you are presently enrolled in either of these plans, you will be receiving correspondence from both Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and Blue Cross of Idaho.
UnitedHealthcare will be entering the Idaho IMPlus market on 6/1/2025 and the MMCP market on 1/1/2026.
Molina continues to serve Idaho residents with these important products.
If you prefer to work with an Idaho based broker to get your coverage realigned, we are here to help. We have been helping Idaho residents with their Medicare choices since 2012 and MMCP plans since 2022.
Additional pertinent information about Idaho Medicaid and your plan choices.
There are several different types of plans available to Idaho residents enrolled in Medicaid. If the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare categorized you in the ‘Basic’ category, you have a different set of Medicare Advantage plans to choose from (compared to individuals categorized as ‘Enhanced’).
If you are eligible for an I-SNP OR a C-SNP plan, you have different plans to consider.
Click here to learn more about your options.
We are licensed with C-SNP, D-SNP, QMB and Medicare Medicaid Coordinated plans (MMCP).
Explaining plan differences and helping you with enrollment are other services we help you with.
Latah County Medicare Advantage plans available to the rest of the Medicare beneficiaries.
When you look the plan’s Summary of Benefits’ document, you may notice some plan(s) have $0/low premiums and include attractive extra no cost benefits. These plan(s) may separate their self from other plans because of this.
If you are attracted to these plan(s) be sure and consider your financial exposure if you will use plan(s) health care services. The plan’s ‘out of network limit’ may be higher than other plans.
Insurance companies may offer Medicare Advantage plans in a market niche designed for people which seldom need health care services. If the company is successful attracting this type of consumer, their expenses may be lower (and also be more profitable).
Hospital selection for care is important to some.
We look at 2-different hospital measurement tools to help find which hospitals stand out. The 1st is the Medicare star rating. Learn more here about the metrics that are captured to come up with this rating. We prefer hospitals receiving a 4 or a 5-star rating.
The 2nd tool uses many more metrics to differentiate how the hospitals do what they do. Several of these focus on the results of the work done in the surgical suite. If you are interested in learning which hospitals produce better results on a consistent basis by type of surgery, check this resource out.
Learn more about the company behind this annual report here.
Check out the other facilities within 50 miles of zip code 83814 by clicking here. When you get to this web page, select ‘hospitals’, enter your zip code and adjust the radius to 50-miles.
What insurance companies offer Medicare Advantage plans in Latah County?
Blue Cross of Idaho
Regence Blue Shield of Idaho
United Healthcare
Read the fine print on extra Benefits included in Medicare Advantage plans.
Dental Coverage.
Please review the verbiage on dental care found in the Evidence of Coverage.
If you listen to the TV commercials, this sounds like a great and often needed ‘extra’.
You really need to pay attention to the details as they can vary widely between the plans that include this feature.
For example, some plans restrict coverage to preventative care (a few cleanings annually, x-rays you can get have their own schedule, etc.). The plan may cover certain periodontal services. If covered, the plan may limit the number of times specific service(s) can be used during the year. Some plans include class II and III services. If they do, there may be restrictions on specific services covered and may explicitly exclude certain dental billing codes. Please read your plan’s ‘Evidence of Coverage’ for specific details.
Do you need to use the plans network of dentists?
Plans may have a network of dentists you can use; some permit the use of any licensed dentist in the US for services. Plans may state cosmetic services are not covered. It you use an ‘out of network dentist, you may pay for all services…or services you use may cost you more when compared to your cost if you use an in-network dentist.
We suggest you read dental coverage section of the ‘Evidence of Coverage’ document just to be sure you understand the plan’s rules. Your plan may not pay for services you use which are excluded from your plan. If you have any question about whether a service is covered, call your plan’s customer service. You may have to get specific billing codes from your dentist just to be sure you get the right answer.
We like plans that let you use any licensed dentist in the US and cover all non-cosmetic dental services.
Vision Coverage.
The depth of this coverage varies by plan. The same issues pointed out for dental coverage can apply to this service too. Be sure and look at the cost for an annual checkup, network restrictions, how much the plan will pay for glasses, frames, contacts, etc.
Over The Counter benefit.
Some plans have a catalog of ‘drug store‘ items you can order from and they are delivered to you at no cost. It is possible the items you want will not be included in the plan’s catalog of covered items. Plan’s have a quarterly limit on how much it gives you to spend on these items. The amount of the quarterly limit can vary widely between plans.
Gym Memberships.
You need to pay attention to the depth/variety of facilities that are available and close to you. Some plans include a ‘Silver and Fit’, ‘Silver Sneakers’, a membership with their own network of facilities. Some plans may charge ‘extra’ for this feature. Read the plan’s rules for this service…and which facilities in your area are available to you.
Hearing Aids.
Many Medicare Advantage plans have 3rd party business partners that handle this extra benefit. This means you are using that vendor to spend your hearing allowance.
Visiting the Costco hearing department may provide the education you need to understand product differences.
Plans can be different regarding what specific products (and services) are available to you.
Would a Medicare coach be helpful?
A coach can answer your question(s), help firm up your understanding of Medicare, explain the differences between your choices, and
help you through the enrollment process. They will also be there year after year to help you.
Will the people behind the TV ad’s include this service for you?
Call us if you are interested. Our hours are 8am to 8pm Monday through Saturday.
We started this business in 2012 explicitly to help Idaho residents work their way through this maze.
There is no fee when you use our services.
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