Problems with Personalized Plan Search on Medicare.gov

California Health Advocates > Medicare Basics > Problems with Personalized Plan Search on Medicare.gov

Posted by

December 20, 2010

We’ve heard from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that they are still having some problems with their personalized health plan search tool on Medicare.gov. This is a critical time for accurate information as beneficiaries are still in their Annual Election Period (AEP) and have the right to join, switch or disenroll from Part D plans and/or Medicare Advantage plans. After making a choice, they must stay in that plan for the following year (with a few exceptions, including being about to disenroll from an MA plan and return to Original Medicare during the Annual Disenrollment Period from Jan. 1 – Feb. 14).

Because of this critical choice time, we’ve asked CMS to give any beneficiaries who join a plan that does not best suit their needs because of inaccurate information provided on Medicare.gov a Special Election Period (SEP) to choose another plan.

CMS expects to have this problem resolved by Thursday 12/23. In the meantime, beneficiaries can still use the Medicare Plan Finder tool to complete general plan searches and enroll in 2011 plans. Beneficiaries can complete general plan searches by entering their health coverage and Part D low-income subsidy information, as well as a Drug List ID and password date to retrieve a previously saved drug list. Beneficiaries can continue to enroll in 2011 plans using either the general search feature of the Medicare Plan Finder or the Enroll Now tool.

We will keep you updated of any new developments.

For more info on other situations that trigger a SEP, see our section Special Election Periods for Parts C and D

Karen Joy Fletcher

Our blogger Karen Joy Fletcher is CHA’s Communications Director. With a Masters in Public Health from UC Berkeley, she is the online “public face” of the organization, provides technical expertise, writing and research on Medicare and other health care issues. She is responsible for digital content creation, management of CHA’s editorial calendar, and managing all aspects of CHA’s social media presence. She loves being a “communicator” and enjoys networking and collaborating with the passionate people and agencies in the health advocacy field. See her current articles.

Medicare’s Fall Open Enrollment is Here!

Have You Reviewed Your 2015 Coverage Options? Open Enrollment Ends Dec 7

How Does Health Reform Help Medicare? A Close Look at HR 3962

What is MACRA? And How Does It Relate to Medicare’s Promise?

Change Text Size

[zeno_font_resizer]

News & Blog Categories

—

Send Us Comment

Do you have comments or concerns about your Medicare coverage? Issues regarding getting your needed prescriptions from your Part D plan, or a Medicare Advantage plan representative’s marketing practices? Let us know at comments@cahealthadvocates.org.

We are dedicated to making Medicare’s program work well for all beneficiaries. Your feedback from your own or your client’s concerns and experiences with Medicare, will guide our Medicare advocacy efforts with key policy and decision-makers in both California and nationally with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Congress.