How to Use the Medicare Advice Center

Millions of Americans enjoy the health care benefits that Medicare offers. There are a lot of options to make sure that everyone can get the care that they need. These options are meant to provide flexibility, not confusion. But it can be a lot to take in.

What are the Medicare plan options?

There are several pieces to Medicare, and you can select different combinations of them to make a comprehensive plan that works for you. Here are the basic categories of Medicare options to choose from.

• Original Medicare (Parts A and B) takes care of basics like doctor visits and hospital stays.
• Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part C) can offer benefits for things like vision, dental, and prescriptions that aren’t covered by Original Medicare.
• Medicare Part D is the prescription drug coverage you can purchase as an addition to other Medicare plans you already have.
• Medicare Supplemental Insurance helps cover part of your out-of-pocket health care costs that Original Medicare does not.

Within each of these plans, there are even more options. It’s not supposed to be confusing. It’s just meant to provide choices that work for everyone’s different medical and budget needs.

Using the Medicare Advice Center

You know your needs better than anyone else. And that means you’re the only person who can decide which plan is right for you. But with so many choices, you may want some help sorting through them.

That’s why we created the Medicare Advice Center. We’ve been involved with Medicare since it was first formed and are knowledgeable on the ins and outs of the program. Our Medicare Advice Center is a big part of our goal to help provide all the answers to your Medicare questions.

There are two main sections of the website. The first page has answers to a wide variety of Medicare questions. The second is a guided experience that provides a personalized Medicare recommendation for you, based on answers to the questions it asks about your unique situation and needs. Plus, it doesn’t matter where you’re located – we can provide answers about your Medicare options regardless of the state you live in!

Breaking it down: Medicare Questions and Answers

The Questions page is where you can find more information about some of the most common, most pressing Medicare issues. This part of the Medicare Advice Center is divided into sections:

• Basics
• Costs and Benefits
• Coverage
• Enrolling
• Switching Plan

Each section has a handful of easy-to-read questions across the screen. Clicking on one takes you to an answer page. Each page will give you “The Short Answer,” a quick summary of what you need to know. Some pages will also have a second section, with more detailed information for complicated answers.

After you’ve read a question and answer, a checkmark will appear next to it on the main Questions screen of the Medicare Advice Center. Whether you’re trying to find your place as you read through the site, or searching for an answer you’ve already read, this will help you navigate the page.

Providing Personalized Medicare Recommendations

The other section of the Medicare Advice Center is the Personalized Recommendations page. This page walks you through a series of questions to determine what you need most out of Medicare, and which plan is right for you. You’ll share some of the usual insurance information, like your birthday, the area you live in, and your gender. But you also answer questions about your unique situation, like:

• Are you enrolling in Medicare for the first time, or are you thinking of changing your current Medicare coverage?
• How important is it to see any doctor you want, including your current doctor?
• How often do you plan to travel or be away from your primary home?
• Do you mind higher premiums if it means fewer out-of-pocket expenses?

We respect your privacy, and we don’t ask questions for just any reason. Under each question, you can click a link for an explanation of why we’re asking it. We also know that you may not have all of your information on hand. So, for some of the questions, if you don’t know the answer, you can say that you’re not sure. That type of answer may affect how focused some of your suggestions are. But you can always edit your answers later if you want more specific suggestions.

Once you’ve answered all of the available questions, the tool will offer you a couple of different options. You’ll also get an easy-to-understand summary of what each option means, and why it may be a good fit for you.

We want the Medicare Advice Center to be your go-to resource for all of your Medicare questions. And we understand that enrolling in Medicare right away might not be your best option. In some situations – like if you expect your current health care coverage to continue after you age in to Medicare – the tool may advise you to talk to your current provider about options to delay enrolling in Medicare.

We’re here for you

At Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company, we value your trust. And we want to make the most of our expertise. That’s why we’ve put together this tool to help people understand Medicare regardless of their situation. Whether you’re enrolling in Medicare for the first time, learning more about your benefits, changing your coverage, or simply curious – the Medicare Advice Center has something for you.

The Medicare Advice Center can be a great place to learn the basics of Medicare, learn what options are available, and understand some of the plans that are most likely to suit your needs. At the same time, we know that one webpage can’t hold all of the answers for everyone.

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