AboutJohn Pedit Expertise Am an expert on Medicare, Medicare HMOs, and Medicare supplemental insurance. Also have extensive knowledge of Medicare especially in Mich. Have knowledge of COBRA and the Portability Act
Experience
Past/Present clients Council about 300 persons yearly and do many presentations on Medicare
Question To follow up with what someone else ask about switching form a medicare program (ie-Blue Shield) to plan old Medicare, on Nov.15 when you can make the switch, how do you do it. Should you call Medicare and say you want to switch or should you call Blue Shield and tell them you would like to discontinue service?
Answer Hi Tera
You appear to be in an Advantage plan, an HMO. To go from one advantage plan to another, you simply enroll in a new plan. The old plan will be dropped when the new one starts
To go back to original Medicare, you write to the present plan and tell them you are dropping their plan as of the start date of your Medigap plan. Meanwhile you sign up for a Medigap plan.
You do all this between Nov 15th and Dec 31. Have you new plan start on Jan 1.
In a couple of weeks you will receive a copy of Medicare and You 2009. All this will be explained in there, If you still have question and need help making a decision, look on the middle of the back cover for the SHIP number for your area. Call them and they will meet with you and show you what your options are and after you have made a decision, will probably help you enroll.
