MacFerrin Financial
A Personal Approach
Important details for Medicare Clients
Annual Open Enrollment dates are now October 15 – December 7th.
I do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently, I represent 6 organizations which offer 40 products in Pima County, and 46 products in Maricopa County. Please contact medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.
What To Do If You're In Observation Status
Center for Medicare Advocacy Observation Status Toolkit (Then check your download file for document. If you can't find it, ask me by email for it.)
Hedging Against Medicare Price Hikes
USA Today - Medicare Observation Care Requirements
FAQ: Hospital Observation Care Can Be Costly For Medicare Patients
Medicare and Military Coverage
Medicare's Conflicting Hospitalization Rules
Vaccine Coverage Under Medicare
Outbound Enrollment Verification Calls: In the past when you submitted an enrollment for a MAPD plan, and sometimes also for a PDP Part D Rx plan, you would receive a call from the company verifying that you intend to enroll in their plan. Scam alert: no requirements for you to share your personal information to Medicare or Social Security representatives will be added by 'Obamacare,' and, these calls are almost never conducted anymore. If you do get this kind of call, don't provide them with any personal information. Your enrollment will not be affected if you do not take or return these calls.
If you are informed by CMS/Medicare that you owe a Late Enrollment Penalty for Part B or Part D because you did not enroll when you first turned 65: if you had Creditable Coverage for Part D you do not owe this penalty; for Part B, if you had employer health coverage you do not owe this penalty (see details in book Medicare & You which you can find at medicare.gov). Sometimes Medicare needs to contact your former employer, or you need to provide them with Certificates proving your prior Creditable Coverage.
Medicare charges extra income-related (IRMAA) premiums for Part B and Part D, which are listed in the back of Medicare & You.
Rx search disclaimer: We may run reports from www.medicare.gov to assist you in making an Rx plan selection. These results are not intended to recommend a plan or guarantee coverage of your drugs as stated in the reports. We encourage you to call the insurance company to review your particular medications before enrolling. Please make a record of your call, the name of who you speak with, and ask whether your medications are on their formulary, and what the co-pays would be for each of them. Unfortunately, doing this does not prevent the insurance company from changing their drug formulary or coverage (your costs) mid-year. You are not required to do this extra research; we are simply informing you that the information provided on the Medicare website has been noted to be occasionally inaccurate.
Our commissions are required to be disclosed and are posted on our website at our Commissions Page.
Medicare does not cover medical services overseas, not even for emergencies. Medicare Supplement Plans F, G & N have a maximum benefit of $50,000 for medical services outside of the US per lifetime. Some Medicare Advantage plans have some foreign travel coverage; others do not. Medical travel policies are affordable and easy to obtain, and include coverage for medical as well as travel-related risks such as lost luggage. Keep this in mind when making your vacation plans! I would be happy to help you. Also, please see our Travel Plans page for several great options!
Those forms to “Apply for Extra Help” with your prescriptions or premiums: they are OPTIONAL. You do not have to complete those.
OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT WEBSITES FOR MEDICARE:
for your Medicare account: https://www.medicare.gov/
for Medicare rules: https://www.cms.gov/