Let’s discuss the medical benefits that are included in the different Medicare Advantage plans. That should help you decide which one you should be enrolling in.

There are three distinct kinds of Advantage plans available to Florida residents. The basic one is a good plan to start with. It gives you coverage for the majority of what you get from Original Medicare, covering you for all Medicare Part B benefits and most of your Part A benefits. It will also go farther than Original Medicare and provide coverage for any remaining urgent care or emergency medical care. That means most unexpected medical costs will be covered, and those could be substantial. Any emergency room visits, ambulance services and life-saving treatment is all going to be taken care of for you, as well as healthcare a step below that, classified as urgent care. For many seniors, that’s thousands of dollars in coverage right there.

The other kids of Advantage plans add to that base coverage. One of them gives you full coverage for the prescription medication plan known as Medicare Part D. That means that you’ll be covered for a variety of prescription drugs, including common ones that seniors use often and those rarer ones that may be a bit more expensive. Both name brand and generic drugs are included in the Part D benefits, and many seniors enjoy prescription refills with this plan that are as low as $1 each.

The other kind of Advantage plan you should know about includes basic coverage as well as checkup benefits. That means you’ll be covered for regular visits to the doctor as well as various specialists. Your visits to the dentist, optometrist and audiologist can all be covered, as long as they are routine checkups or some basic services. Different insurance companies will offer different levels of coverage here, with some covering you for multiple visits to each specialist throughout the year and some giving you coverage for only a single annual visit. You will also enjoy coverage for prescription eyeglasses and for hearing aids if you need them.

Which one of these is the best for Florida residents? It all depends on what kind of out-of-pocket healthcare costs you have and what your health is like at the moment. Maybe you aren’t sure what kind of medical care you need to be covered for and what you should be looking to get insurance for to protect yourself for the coming year. You could talk to your doctor to get a better idea of what your health might be like in the near future. Of course, you are welcome to give us a call and get some advice on which of the plans would be right for you.

Choosing the best Advantage plan is crucial, as it will give you coverage to minimize your healthcare costs and to ensure that you are properly protected. With the right kind of coverage, you can enjoy peace of mind and be more confident about going to the doctor’s office or the hospital because you know you will be well covered and not have to pay a lot out of pocket. The best Medicare Advantage plans in Florida can do that for you.

No matter which insurance company you pick to purchase your Advantage plan from, you will be unable to get full coverage from every medical facility in Florida. Some hospitals and clinics and doctor’s offices simply will not have an agreement in place with your insurer and will not honor their Advantage plans. You have to be careful about going to those particular facilities for your medical care. You could be paying full price for treatment there, or at least part of the cost, instead of getting the full coverage of your plan.

Most seniors in Florida will purchase the least expensive Medicare Advantage plan they can get, which would be the HMO Advantage plan. This will cover you for anything included in your Advantage plan provided at a network facility. Let’s say that you enrolled with Cigna for your Medicare Advantage plan. With an HMO, you can go to any Cigna-approved hospital or doctor’s office and get the full coverage of your plan. Go outside of their network, though, and you get no coverage whatsoever.

Now, if you were to sign up for a PPO plan, then you could be covered even better. You will pay more for this kind of plan and its extensive coverage, but that’s a cost that could be well worth it to you. PPO Advantage plans give you full overage on your insurers network and then give you partial coverage outside the network. That means that you can go to any medical care facility in Florida that accepts Medicare and get at least some coverage from your Advantage plan, regardless of whether that medical facility is on your insurer’s network. That’s some great protection right there, and for people who live in rural areas of Florida or who do a lot of travelling, the PPO option maybe the best Advantage plan for them to pick.