IBM Medicare Via Benefits Extend Health Medicare.gov Plan search changes

The federal government has released a new version of the plan search function for open enrollment on www.medicare.gov.  This is the function that helps users decide which plan (part D or Medicare Advantage) to choose during open enrollment for 2020. The function is known as "plan finder". The federal government has said because of contractual problems with the company that maintained the previous version, the previous version will not be available after the end of September.  That is hard to believe. I think they just want to get rid of the old application because it doesn't push Medicare Advantage plans.

It is is the opinion of many people (including me) that the government is doing everything it can to push Medicare eligible recipients into Medicare Advantage plans using this new plan finder.  The new plan finder function also is pushing hard on users to "register" and use their Medicare account to store their prescription drug information to do plan searches.  That means the federal government will be able to collect even more data about Medicare recipients when it is stored in their personalized accounts.  The federal government has been notoriously bad about protecting user privacy, which means as users load their Medicare account with drug data, they increase exposure to hackers and/or scammers who, if successful in hacking, will know more about the drugs seniors take and be better able to convince seniors they are legitimate for whatever scam they are perpetrating. It might also be used by the government for other purposes, such as seeking geographic trends of drug usage to compare prescriptions for brand name versus generic and put pressure on insurance companies or even state legislatures to push generics (even if they don't work as well, aren't they good enough for old people?). Decide for yourself the amount of data you want to share. I will continue to use medicare.gov anonymously but found it took a lot of effort to get around the website incessant demands to log in.  Don't be intimidated by it!!  More importantly, use feedback to complain about it if you find it highly irritating.

The new plan finder function appears to require the use of a Medicare account but it doesn't.  If you don't want to use you account, just provide a random birth date when prompted for your birthday and don't log into your account. Also, since the drug list you enter will not be saved, be sure to print it out before you leave the site.  Unfortunately you will have to reenter you drug list each time you want to do a plan search.

The most egregious aspect of this new function is the blatant push of users to Medicare Advantage plans.  There is a comparison of "costs" between original Medicare and Medicare Advantage.  How do I put this politely --- it is BS. The Medicare Advantage plans always show as cheaper!  Nor is the comparison showing a provider network comparison, prosthetic devices available, durable medical equipment restrictions, skilled nursing cost differentials and so on.  Reminder, Medicare is health insurance.  The operative word is insurance.  You get what you pay for whether it is house insurance, car insurance or Medicare insurance.

I recently talked to someone who is on a Medicare Advantage plan and had been happy for several years - when they were well.  However, the person was horrified at the cost of care when they got a diagnosis of cancer.  Suddenly, instead of a low cost copay of $35 to see a specialist, they had to pay $100 every time they went to the chemo treatment center.  They also had to pay a 20% coinsurance for the cost of an expensive chemo drug. This is a level of cost comparison that is not available in the plan finder function. The only way to know this level of detail is to look at the plan itself.  It is not easy to find but it can be done.  State health insurance assistance organizations (https://www.shiptacenter.org/) can help you ferret out those details.  For this person, they hadn't known to do it. The person was not exactly low income but couldn't afford their medical bills.  They also did not realize the plan's maximum out of pocket for the year is $5500 and that it would reset in January. They were desperate to find financial assistance and turned to local charities for help.  Just as a reminder, there are no hidden costs in original/traditional Medicare and no network restrictions.  It is very straight forward and, with a Medicare Supplement the maximum cost is very predictable.

The new plan finder is now available on medicare.gov but it is for 2019 plans, 2020 plans won't be loaded until the beginning of October.  Test it out and give CMS your feedback on it.

I do not know whether or how Via Benefits will modify their plan comparison function.  Reminder, their plan comparison function is only for the plans they sell.  If you want to look at all the plans available in your zip code you must use medicare.gov.