Medicare & Healthcare update during Covid

Here at the Wenatchee Enrollment Center, we have been enrolling people like crazy With December 7th, the end of the annual enrollment period for Medicare, we are seeing a flood of people needing Medicare help. For our local customers is has been good to call a 509 number or walk into our office on Mission Street and get service.  Normally, I would say set an appointment using our Calendar.

Appointment Calendar.

During the time of Covid, we were prepared to help everyone remotely with phone calls and virtual meetings. We have been operating for years to help our people out in Okanogan, Stevens, and Ferry Counties this way. In some cases, the insurance companies were needing to catch up with us. A good example was being able to provide virtual seminars for Medicare Advantage plans.

We also have people that need in person and we do those appointments as well. We have been masked up and providing hand sanitizer to clients since March when the first protocols for safer offices were established.  We remodeled our office, ripped out carpets and threw away fabric covered chairs so that we could keep everything disinfected and reduce the spread. For our lip-reading customers, we also have shields to assist in their communication.

Our local provider is issuing a plea for people to mask up to prevent them from being overrun. We commend them for stepping up and talking about how serious this is as we have lost family members to Covid, known people who have gotten sick and friends with small businesses that have struggled with being able to operate with in guidelines.  

One of the biggest surprises has been the rush of new clients for the Healthplanfinder. This is our 8^th year helping people understand and enroll with our 4^th year of being a Full Service EnrollmentCenter. With the Cascade Care plans and the new plans in the area it is important to get a second pair of eyes upon your situation.

We are being asked for the basics. The plans that we share with our clients are contracted with at least 20% of the doctors in the county. They cover the 10 essential health benefits.

1. Preventative and Wellness services like shots and screening tests
2. Ambulatory patient services (outpatient care you get without being admitted)
3. Emergency Services
4. Hospitalization
5. Pregnancy, maternity, and newborn care
6. Mental Health and substance use disorder services
7. Prescription drugs
8. Rehabilitation services
9. Laboratory services
10. Pediatric services including oral and vision

Not all plans cover the 10 essentials the same and you can’t remove them for a ‘discount’.  They are put together in bronze, silver, and gold tiers. You can get extra help based on your income and there are plans on the Healthplanfinder that you can not purchase directly from the insurance companies. While we have plans off the exchange, we show them first as a base so the customer can decide.

 

We are here through the year to help people that go through life events or have questions. For example, if their employer no longer offers coverage or they move. The reason there is a limited enrollment period is to encourage enrollment because there are people out there that would wait until they got sick and then purchased insurance.

If you select a plan by December 15^th then your plan starts January 1^st, 2021. If you select a plan between December 16^th and January 15^th then your plan starts February 1^st, 2021.

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