Medicare Educational Resources – Focus for Idaho Residents
Teaching the grandkids to fish is a great bonding experience but don’t forget to use your Medicare Educational resources before you enroll in Medicare. We will help you firm up what you learned (and answer your questions) after you have completed the courses. Call us; we can help with plan selection too.
We have found CMS authored Medicare Educational Resources easy to understand and recommend it as your source of educational information on Medicare.
After you have reviewed the content below and want to talk with someone to further tie this together, call us. We are here to help.
There are several courses available in the library noted below…each focusing on the key areas of Medicare.
If you have been invited by an insurance company or your regional SHIBA office to see a course titled understanding Medicare, you can learn as much if not more from the comfort of your home by viewing the above-mentioned material. When you ‘click’ your mouse on the above-highlighted words, you will be directed to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) national training library on Medicre. Look for Module 01 – Understanding Medicare, then download the Powerpoint version of this presentation to your device and view it at your convenience.
In the time it will take you to drive to and from the SHIBA office or an insurance company presentation and find parking, you will have completed the 30-45 minutes needed to learn this important foundation material…and it will be available for you to review again.
Medicare Educational Resources – Learn about the different Medigap Plans (A through N)
Read the current year’s version of Choosing a Medigap Policy. This document explains the details of Medigap insurance. It includes charts on the specific plans that note what is covered, what Medicare pays, what the insurance plan pays, and what your share is. If a Medigap policy catches your attention, be sure and read this.
Be sure and read about Medigap policies and carrier differences.
Medicare Educational Resources – Learn about Prescription drug Plans available in Idaho
Read this information about Prescription Drug Plans available to Idaho Medicare beneficiaries.
Reviewing your Medicare Educational Resources before you go to the beach may make the experience more relaxing. If you have questions, call us. We are here to help.
Medicare Educational Resources – Coordinating Benefits when you/spouse works past age 65 (and with other retiree plans)
If you have other health insurance besides Medicare, how your plans will coordinate paying for your benefits will be important to understand. You can learn more by reading this CMS brochure.
Medicare Educational Resources – Idaho Medicaid, Low-Income Subsidy, and Special Needs Plans
Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that helps pay medical costs for certain groups of people with limited income, resources and/or chronic health issues. Individual states have their own unique qualifications for Medicaid eligibility. You can learn more about Idaho Medicaid here.
Low-Income Subsidy
This program, also called ‘Extra Help’, is designed to help pay for your Medicare prescription drug costs. When you call the Social Security Administration about ‘Extra Help’, be sure and ask for the “Application for Help with Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Costs”(form number: SSA-1020). You can learn more about this program here.
You will need to choose a prescription drug plan; we can help you with this.
Special Needs Plans
Medicare Special Needs Plans (SNP) is a unique Medicare Advantage Plan (like an HMO or PPO) that limits membership to people with specific diseases or characteristics. You can join an SNP if one is offered in your area, you have Medicare Parts A and Part B and have a chronic condition, live in an institution (like a nursing home), or you require nursing home care at your home. You can learn more about SNP’s here.
Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare has done a great job taking care of people that qualify for both Medicaid and Medicare. Learn more about this here.
How we can help!
Would you like us to go through any of the What is Medicare material with you? We can clarify points and answer your questions as you go through these presentations. This can be done either by getting together or using a screen sharing technology (we use virus-free secured technology to do this) and a speakerphone.
Contact us. We listen and are more than capable of helping you.
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