Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (MA OEP)

Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Mon, Jan 06, 2020 @ 02:55 PM

Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (MA OEP)

What is the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (MA OEP)?

Well, it's 2020 and it's the second year of the reinstated OEP.

The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period (MA OEP) was reinstated in 2019 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

The new MA OEP replaced the previous Medicare Advantage Disenrollment Period (MADP), which only allowed people to leave MA and return to Original Medicare.

When is the MA OEP?

The MA OEP extends from January 1 through March 31 each year. During this time, MA-eligible beneficiaries will be able to change their MA Plan or elect Original Medicare and coverage under Part D.

The effective date for an MA OEP election is the first of the month following receipt of the enrollment request.

Note: If your client uses either the AEP or MA OEP to go back to original Medicare, it is important that they think about the various ways in which they can protect themselves from the costs associated with Original Medicare, like: deductibles, coinsurance, and co payments. They would also need to consider their prescription drug coverage.

Who can use the MA OEP?

Beneficiaries who enrolled in an MA plan as of January 1.

New Medicare beneficiaries who are enrolled in an MA plan during their ICEP.*

*Note: If a beneficiary is enrolled into an MA plan using their ICEP election, they have an open enrollment period for the next 90 days.

What changes can be made during the MA OEP?

Individuals may add or drop Part D coverage during the MA OEP. Individuals enrolled in either MA-PD or MA-only plans can switch to:

MA-PD
MA-only
Original Medicare (with or without a stand-alone Part D plan)

The effective date for an MA OEP election is the first of the month following receipt of the enrollment request.

NOTE: The MA OEP does not provide an opportunity for an individual enrolled in Original Medicare to join an MA plan. It also does not allow for Part D changes for individuals enrolled in Original Medicare, including those enrolled in stand-alone Part D plans. The MA OEP is not available for those enrolled in Medicare Savings Accounts or other Medicare health plan types (such as cost plans or PACE).

Some may see it as an opportunity and others as a bother. Nevertheless, prepare yourself and your clients and you should be able to navigate the OEP with ease.

If you have any questions or need assistance in getting appointed with our leading Medicare Advantage and Part D companies, call us today and one of our knowledgeable marketers would be happy to assist.

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Tags: medicare advantage updates, medicare updates, Medicare Open Enrollment Period, OEP

Happy New Year and Thank You For Your Business

Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Tue, Dec 31, 2019 @ 10:33 AM

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Grow Your Medicare Sales with PSM

Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Tue, Dec 31, 2019 @ 09:42 AM

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Tags: Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, Leads, Medicare Sales, Part D, Enrollment Tools, Medicare FMO, online sales

Aetna Supplemental: New year, new chance to earn a bonus

Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Fri, Dec 27, 2019 @ 11:36 AM

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Tags: Aetna Medicare Supplement

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas

Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Thu, Dec 26, 2019 @ 01:57 PM

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Repeal of health insurance tax could bolster Medicare Advantage insurers' earnings, enrollment

Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Wed, Dec 18, 2019 @ 04:35 PM

Repeal of health insurance tax could bolster Medicare Advantage earnings, enrollment

Just in time for the holidays, Congress appears ready to give health insurers several gifts in its year-end spending deal, unveiled Monday and passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday. One of those includes a permanent repeal of a loathed industry tax that insurers have been lobbying to kill for years.

Commercial health insurers serving employers and individuals generally passed that tax, known as the HIT, along to their members in the form of higher premiums. Medicaid managed-care insurers are reimbursed for the tax by the states they contract with.

But in the fiercely competitive, fast-growing Medicare Advantage market, insurers have historically absorbed at least part of the tax to keep their policies attractive enough to enroll more seniors.

Repealing the HIT for 2021 and beyond could boost Medicare Advantage enrollment as insurers keep premiums flat and reinvest into supplemental benefits, insurance industry analysts said. The tax repeal could also bolster Advantage insurers' bottom lines.

"They are going to be able to stabilize the price of their products … and I think in general seniors would appreciate that. It will help more people choose to go with Medicare Advantage as opposed to being in fee-for-service" Medicare, said Sarah James, a senior research analyst with financial services firm Piper Jaffray.

About a third of Medicare beneficiaries, or 22 million people, are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. Many have been taking advantage of CMS flexibility to give seniors benefits that address their social needs. Deep Banerjee, an analyst at S&P Global Ratings, said it's possible insurers will ramp up those benefits even further if the tax disappears.

The health insurance tax, which was meant to help pay for the Affordable Care Act, was in effect in 2018 but suspended by Congress in 2019 after intense industry lobbying. The budget deal, which still must be approved by the U.S. Senate and signed by the president, would leave the tax in place for 2020 but repeal it for the years after. The Internal Revenue Service estimated the tax would bring in about $15.5 billion total next year, up from $14.3 billion in 2018.

The share of the tax that each health insurer pays depends on its premium revenue. UnitedHealth Group, parent company of the largest health insurer, reported a HIT liability of $2.6 billion in 2018, while Anthem reported paying $1.5 billion, according to company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Combined, the eight largest publicly traded health insurers paid nearly half of the fees owed in 2018 at a little more than $7 billion.

Health insurers, including Medicare Advantage plans, raise premiums about 2% on average to recoup the cost of the tax, according to a 2018 analysis by Oliver Wyman Actuarial Consulting commissioned by UnitedHealth Group.

If the tax is repealed, "the bulk of the benefit will accrue to seniors in the form of better benefits, but a portion will also presumably accrue to margins for for-profit insurers," he said.

Given its big Medicare Advantage footprint, Humana, which paid a fee of a little more than $1 billion under the HIT in 2018, would benefit the most from a repeal, James and Newshel said. James estimated the repeal would boost Humana's earnings by 10%; Humana reported $1.2 billion in net income in 2018. UnitedHealth's earnings, meanwhile, would boost UnitedHealth's earnings by about 4%. UnitedHealth reported net income of $12.4 billion in 2018.

Source: https://www.modernhealthcare.com/insurance/repeal-health-insurance-tax-could-bolster-medicare-advantage-insurers-earnings-enrollment

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Tags: Humana, Medicare Advantage, UnitedHealthcare

Aetna - What you need to know: SEP for non-renewing plans

Posted by www.psmbrokerage.com Admin on Wed, Dec 18, 2019 @ 02:54 PM

Help members of non-renewing plans enroll in a
new Aetna Medicare plan before December 31

Review guidelines for the Special Election Period available to
beneficiaries affected by a plan or contract non-renewal

Don’t forget, members of non-renewing plans are eligible for a Special Election Period that begins December 8 and ends February 29, 2020. This means, if the affected members didn’t enroll in a new plan during AEP, they have additional time to choose a new plan. Just keep in mind that waiting to enroll can impact the coverage these members have starting January 1.

Here's what you need to know

Members of non-renewing plans must elect a new plan option before December 31, or their coverage will revert to Original Medicare starting January 1. If the member is currently on an MAPD plan, they will lose their drug coverage.
If they join a new Medicare plan before December 31, their new coverage will begin on January 1, 2020. If they wait until after December 31, their new coverage won’t start until the month after they join. This means that the member will be on Original Medicare which does not include drug coverage until the new plan takes effect.
To avoid any lapse in coverage, members should be encouraged to elect new plans by December 31.

Resources to assist you

For more information, download a playbook for transitioning members to new plans. You can also visit the Aetna Medicare Marketing Studio for materials that can help you help members of terminating plans choose a new MA/MAPD plan this AEP. After logging in, select the Member Retention section.

Terminated Plan
Appointment Postcard

Terminated Plan
Questions Postcard

Terminated Plan
Letter & Envelope

aetna1

aetna2

aetna3

Don’t forget, our Agent of Record (AOR) retention policy protects your relationship with members. Regardless of how members enroll in a new Aetna plan– whether by mail or fax, by going online, or by phone – the original Agent of Record will be maintained.

Enrollment options for members of non-renewing plans

There are 3 easy ways members can enroll in a new Aetna plan.

Online by visiting TakeAction.AetnaMedicare.com.
By mail or fax.
By phone. Members of non-renewing plans in OK, TX and GA can also call a dedicated Aetna Broker Enrollment Support line: 1-800-972-3670 (TTY: 711). Or, you can use this phone number to warm transfer members to a customer service agent who will complete the enrollment application over the phone. Please make sure members have the following information when you transfer them to the enrollment support line:

Plan name
Plan premium
Plan contract number (including PBP)
OSB name

OSB premium
PCP name and/or ID
Member ID name
The Medicare ID number

Please note: If your clients enroll in a new MA/MAPD plan through one of the alternative enrollment channels (telephonically, online, or by submitting a paper application on their own), depending on CMS processing time, it usually takes about 2 weeks for them to appear in Producer World reports. Rest assured, we have multiple processes in place to ensure the original AOR is maintained, even though it may take slightly longer for these enrollments to show up in your reports.

Aetna is the brand name used for products and services provided by one or more of the Aetna group of subsidiary companies, including Aetna Life Insurance and its affiliates (Aetna).

Prior to engaging in the sale of Aetna Medicare products, producers must be ready to sell, which means certified, contracted, licensed in the applicable states, and appointed by Aetna in accordance with state law. As permitted in certain states, Aetna will order appointments after the first sale. This communication is intended for use by brokers only and is not intended for distribution to Medicare beneficiaries. Any publication or distribution of this communication to unauthorized recipients without Aetna’s approval is prohibited.

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Tags: Medicare Advantage, aetna