As 2012 quickly approaches, seniors are beginning to look for Medicare Advantage supplement health plans and compare from the best offerings from Blue Cross Blue Shield Anthem PPO’s as well as HMO style plans from Humana, Cigna , Aetna, and United Health. All of these plans will be available for seniors to apply starting October 15th, 2011.
Seniors will wish to compare the plans while keeping in mind their own needs. For seniors who wish to have great flexibility and greater choice, a PPO option might be best. For the senior who wishes to have the greatest coverage with little limitation and out-of-pocket expense, and HMO style of Medicare Advantage plan might be a better choice. There are other more niche style plans such as PFFS (private fee for service) plans, and plans featuring MSA’s (medical savings accounts). Another type of plan are SNP plans (special needs plans). These plans are a type utilized by seniors that live in nursing facilities. All plans have their strengths and weaknesses.
While the sheer amount of medicare advantage supplement plans can be overwhelming, most seniors will choose either a traditional PPO style plan or an HMO, so it might be best to begin looking at these plans. Also, most of these plans will offer a Medicare D option to help pay for prescription medications.