According to Premium Choice, if you are a senior citizen, you probably wonder what is not covered by your Medicare Advantage plan. This article talks about how over-the-counter drugs, hearing aids, and fitness benefits are covered. It will also talk about how good dental care and fitness are for you. It might help you figure out how to use your Medicare Advantage plan to its fullest. After all, it's important to know that Medicare Advantage plans don't include all benefits.
If you have Medicare, you may be wondering if your Medicare Advantage plan covers over-the-counter (OTC) medicines. Most of the time, these drugs are not covered by Original Medicare, but there are some exceptions. Many stand-alone Part D plans cover over-the-counter drugs, but Medicare Advantage plans do not. There are many things that can be helped by over-the-counter medicines. People often use over-the-counter medicines to treat minor aches and pains, like those caused by allergies or the common cold.
But there are more than one way to get OTC coverage. First, you can call a Medicare provider and ask if your over-the-counter (OTC) products are covered by Medicare. They will be able to answer your questions, help you place your orders, and give you useful information about the plan's benefits. To get help ordering over-the-counter medicines, you can also call the OTC advocacy service.
If you need hearing aids, you may be wondering if Medicare will pay for them. Medicare Advantage plans include medical coverage, hospital benefits, coverage for prescription drugs, and extra benefits for vision, dental, and hearing care. Most Medicare Advantage plans offer good coverage for hearing care, but some have very little or none at all. Under your Medicare plan, you are responsible for at least 79 percent of the cost of hearing aids.
Premium Choice thinks that part A (hospital insurance) of the original Medicare covers hearing aids, but part B (medical insurance) does not. Medicare Advantage plans include all the services you need from Parts A and B, so you get a variety of benefits. They also have extra benefits, like helping pay for hearing aids. But they won't pay for exams to make sure hearing aids fit right. But there are plans that offer hearing aids as a separate benefit that is not part of Medicare.
Medicare Advantage plans offer a range of fitness benefits, but not all of them will meet all of your needs. Some of them don't cover SilverSneakers, which is a program for older people that offers classes and gear. SilverSneakers might be covered by other plans if it is one of the benefits of your plan. SilverSneakers is a fitness program that is available at more than 17,000 gyms all over the country. People can sign up for one of the many classes that are designed to meet their needs. Some of the things you can do in classes and programs are chair exercises, yoga, circuit training, lifting weights, and more.
The study looked at how the fitness benefits for people on Medicare affected them. In particular, it looked at how the number of people who joined case plans changed before and after the fitness-membership benefit was added. People who joined a case plan after the fitness-membership benefit was added said they were in excellent or very good health in a higher percentage of cases. Compared to people who had signed up before, more of the new sign-ups said they were in excellent or very good health, with numbers ranging from 2.6% to 9%.
Many Medicare Advantage plans do not cover dental care. The scope of dental coverage varies a lot between plans. Some offer preventive care and more dental coverage than others. In 2021, more than three-quarters of enrollees will have annual limits on their dental coverage, which will average $1,300. Even though there are some limits, most people who sign up will have some dental coverage. The question is how much will each person pay toward the costs?
Some dental services are covered by Medicare Advantage plans, but not all. Most plans will only cover basic and preventive care, not more complicated dental work. Some Medicare Advantage plans will pay for dental care if the dentist is part of the network of providers. But if you get care from a provider outside the network, you may have to pay for it yourself. Even if your Medicare Advantage plan covers dental care, you may be able to get a discount from a provider who is not in your plan's network.
Premium Choice believes that it depends on the plan as to how much of the cost you have to pay for preventive care. Two-thirds of Medicare members don't have to pay anything for preventive services, but others have to pay a coinsurance of up to 50%. If you need more extensive dental care, your coinsurance will probably be 50% or more. Also, about 10% of people who have a Medicare Advantage plan have to pay an extra premium for dental coverage. This means that in 2019, almost 24 million Americans did not have dental insurance. Most people who have dental insurance also have some kind of private insurance plan.