For many people, turning 65 can be very frustrating. Knowing where to look, to find information about medicare benefits and what to ask, can have long term affects on the health care experience.
The agent that sells homeowners and car insurance will often be a questionable source of information about medicare benefits. Most general insurance agents don’t have the time to keep up with the changes in medicare coverages as well as all the options available to seniors.
If a senior has access to a computer, the best way to learn unbiased information about their medicare benefits is to go to medicare’s website www.medicare.gov. In addition to providing information about the various parts of medicare, they also provide access to the forms necessary to enroll.
For those persons without access to a computer, call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) to talk to a medicare specialist about questions regarding enrollment or medicare beneifts. In either case, a senior can order a couple of helpful publications that medicare will send upon request.
The first publication is a book called ‘Medicare and You’. This book contains a lot of good information about the enrollment process as well as providing a review of the medicare benefits available. Another smaller publication put out by medicare is ‘Choosing a Medigap Policy’. This book may helpful when choosing a supplement insurance program to cover what medicare doesn’t cover.
You can contact medicare directly or contact the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) to learn more about programs to help pay for certain Medicare Benefits.
Start the process before turning 65 and do a little homework. Finding out early about medicare benefits is the surest way to peace of mind.