4. What Providers Will You Have Access To?

Not every provider accepts Medicare. This is especially true with a Medicare Advantage plan, which often restricts access to doctors, hospitals, or healthcare centers. You will want to ask to determine who participates in the plans.

3. Will You Be Traveling in the Future?

With Original Medicare, you can see a doctor anywhere in the United States. However, with Medicare Advantage, you might be limited to providers in a certain state or region. In such situations, if you travel to another state then you may not have healthcare coverage.

Not all Medicare Advantage policies restrict travel. Some will let you travel to other states and even overseas. However, with Original Medicare, you cannot obtain payment for healthcare overseas. You’ll want to determine if your insurance pays for traveling abroad if you plan to be leaving the country frequently and you want to make sure you have acceptable insurance.

2. Is Your Medicare Plan Right for You?

Things change every year, especially your health. One year, you might need no prescriptions and rarely see a physician, but then you develop a medical condition. Prescriptions are awfully expensive, so you will want to change your Medicare plan during open enrollment.

If you are happy with your current Medicare plan, then you might want to coast through open enrollment without changing anything. Clearly, you’ll want to research things and ask in-depth questions to decide.

1. Choosing the Medicare Plan That Is Right for You

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Open enrollment is an exciting and stressful time of year. It is a window of opportunity, but you will want to make the right decisions, which means asking the correct questions.

Here are a few tips on choosing the Medicare plan that is right for you:

• Look at your healthcare needs. Have they changed? Do you need more medical services? Prescriptions? Maybe paying a higher price for a better Medicare plan is more cost efficient.
• Are you genuinely happy with your plan or do you feel like you are missing out on crucial medical care because you don’t want to pay any upfront costs? This is true of seniors who need dental care or hearing aids. Often, changing your Medicare plan to cover such expenses is a great solution to your current situation.
• If you decide to go with Medicare Advantage, then you’ll want to shop around to find the right plan. The costs vary because Medicare Advantage is offered by private companies, so be prepared to ask a lot of questions before deciding.

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