Parents and Siblings on Medicare
Parents and Siblings on Medicare … a guide to help you
The information below should help guide you if you are now responsible for parents and siblings on Medicare.
We have helped family members that have taken the responsibility for the health and prescription drug coverage for parents and siblings on Medicare for several years. We are here to help you. Learn more about us here.
If your family member moved to Idaho from out of state they may have a time frame to get enrolled in plan(s) available to Idaho residents. If your family moved from one Idaho County to another, you may have the same issue (depending on what plan your family member presently has). After you know what plan(s) your family member has and have located their Medicare card, call us. We will help you define the action plan and lay out the steps you should follow.
Parents and siblings on Medicare … a general road map
Locate a copy of their Medicare and any other membership card(s) they may have (prescription drug plan, Medigap plan, Medicare Advantage plan, Medicaid). If:
the Medicare card cannot be found, order a replacement here;
the person you are helping cannot find their health plan/prescription drug plan membership card and do not remember the name of the plan/insurance company they are enrolled with, look at bank and credit card statements for regular payments to insurance companies (monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually). When you know the name of the insurance company call the insurance company’s customer service number and order a replacement card.
Find if Parents and siblings on Medicare were on Medicaid or may qualify for Medicaid.
If your family member(s) were on Medicaid, locate their Medicaid card.
If the family member moved from another State to Idaho, call the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to get them registered in Idaho.
If they are not already on Medicaid and are financially challenged and have few assets, learn if they qualify. You can learn more about Medicaid (a federally and State funded program to help people in need) here.
Parents and siblings on Medicare … Educate yourself on Medicare and Medicaid so you can be effective
If you are unfamiliar with Medicare, there is an introduction course that we have found to be easy to understand. This course is titled ‘Module -1 – Understanding Medicare and is available for download by clicking here. We encourage you to learn this information if you will be your family member’s coordinator of their health care and responsible for their health insurance decisions. Knowing how Medicare works will help you make better decisions about their health care and insurance options and give you the foundation you will need when you become eligible too.
If your family members are Medicaid eligible, we encourage you to learn about this program by reading the information found here.
Parents and siblings on Medicare … Other paperwork you should be aware of
If you haven’t done so already ask you family members if it is time for you to get Power of attorney for their health care. If they agree, you can find forms on the internet that work in Idaho and then get them signed/dated and notarized. You will need to provide a copy of these forms to any Idaho registered insurance company to speak to them on behalf of your family member. You may need to present this information to the hospital your family member will be using.
Get living wills completed and notarized. Your parents/siblings primary care physician can help with this. If your family members just have Original Medicare, the tool found here can be useful finding doctors/hospitals that accept Medicare. We encourage you to focus on finding an ‘Internist’ or ‘Doctor of Internal Medicine’ for their primary care physician. Why? Read the information found here.
Parents and siblings on Medicare … current health and prescription drug coverage
Your next step should include confirming if your family member’s current health coverage is valid in Idaho. The easy way to do this is to either review their current policy as there is a section that describes their plan’s ‘service area’. If you can’t find the policy, call the customer service department of the company and ask. We can help determine this for you too.
Parents and Siblings on Medicare … What is next?
If you do not have any background in Medicaid, Medicare or health insurance in general, the above is a crash course that will get you up to speed. If you would like help with the above and getting your family member’s enrolled in an Idaho eligible health and/or prescription drug plan, contact us. We are here to help.
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