Are your clients interested in acupuncture? For a long time, the popular procedure was not covered under Original Medicare. A new announcement from CMS reveals that this is changing. Medicare will start covering acupuncture in certain situations.

The high cost of prescriptions is a problem for many Americans, especially among the senior population. According to a KFF Health Tracking Poll, 24 percent of seniors who take prescriptions say it’s hard for them to afford their medicine.

Medicare has been around since 1965 and serves more than 60 million people. The program has been very successful, and now people are talking about expanding it. Current proposals include both expanding the benefits offered and expanding the people who are eligible for coverage.

Special Needs Plans (SNPs) are on the rise, and D-SNPs in particular are becoming much more common. When you become knowledgeable about Special Needs Plans, you position yourself to serve more clients and to bolster your post-AEP income.

Warn your clients: Medicare costs will be increasing in 2020. CMS has released an announcement on Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B premiums, deductibles and coinsurance amounts for 2020. The amounts are increasing.

Do your clients need extra help paying for their Medicare prescription coverage? Make sure they know about Low Income Subsidies, often called Extra Help, which can help Medicare enrollees with their costs. The Low Income Subsidy resource limits for 2020 have been announced, so this is a great time to remind your clients about this important source of financial assistance. 

The Medicare Plan Finder has been redesigned, and this means that Medicare enrollees need to re-enter their drug lists. While these changes are creating some confusion, don’t use them as an excuse to look confused! This is an opportunity for great agents to stand out by showing an added level of professionalism.

CMS has been rolling out new online tools. While many of these are improvements that have been sorely needed, the transition can result in some confusion and glitches. Some of the biggest problems have involved the redesigned Medicare Plan Finder. As of October 1, the legacy version is no longer available, meaning everyone will need to use the new Plan Finder this annual election period.

The digital Medicare & You Handbook is now available in PDF format. It’s also available in English and Spanish as well as large-print, e-book and audio formats. You can access them all here.

As many of you have heard, we recently announced a leadership transition at WAP.