This story comes from our partner

Nearly two-thirds of seniors don’t know that the Medicare enrollment period is early this year, a survey shows, and that could cost them.Ìý

It opens Oct. 15, not a month later, as in the past. ThoseÌýbeneficiaries who don’t enroll in or change plans by Dec. 7 will have to wait until next year.

That’s just one of several changes that may trip people up, said Ross Blair, CEO of PlanPrescriber, which conducted the survey and helps seniors untangle Medicare’s dizzying array of health and drug options.

The date change, included inÌýthe Affordable Care Act,ÌýÌýis intended to solve the confusion that has occurred each year when people waited until the end of December to switch plans and showed up at pharmaciesÌýon Jan. 1 with no ID card for their new one.ÌýBut it means beneficiaries have to hear about the new deadline: Pearl Harbor Day, Dec. 7.

“We already tend to get thousands of calls after enrollment closes, and for this year we’re concerned we’ll get (many) more,” Blair said. “Pearl Harbor DayÌýcould be a day of reckoning for a lot of beneficiaries.”

The survey results —— show that higher-income seniors are more knowledgeable about the changes and more likely to have reviewed their coverage last year.

Plan-switching rules have also tightened for customers of Medicare Advantage, in which private companies sell an all-in-one package that covers hospital and physician care, as well as drugs.

Beneficiaries who are accustomed to being able to switch Medicare Advantage plans in January and February won’t be able to do so any more. All they can do duringÌýMedicare Advantage Annual Disenrollment PeriodÌýfrom Jan. 1 to Feb. 14 is go back toÌýtraditionalÌýMedicare.

Tony Salters, spokesman at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said CMSÌýhas made beneficiaries’ job of choosing a plan easier byÌýweeding out hundreds of them that had low enrollment.

But even so,Ìýanother recent PlanPrescriber survey found thatÌý94 percent of seniors are in plans that cost themÌýhundreds or thousands of dollars more than another one on the list.

In some cases, beneficiaries turn to family members to help them get into the right plan — or out of the wrong one. That’s what happened toÌý91-year-old Eleanor Wright, who moved into Bay Oaks assisted living facility in Miami seven months ago, said her niece, Kathy Nicastro.

“Someone probably got her on the phone and convinced her that the plan she’s on is the best plan,” Nicastro said.

Wright, who is otherwise healthy, was fitted for a hearing aid on Thursday. She likes her doctor, but will switch off her Preferred Care Partners HMO and onto traditional Medicare during the upcoming enrollment period.

Nicastro, who lives in Massachusetts but flies down once a month to help look after her aunt, said she believes traditional Medicare will offerÌýmore doctor and hospital options.

Wright, who no longer keeps track of her own Medicare, laughed when she found out she might be changing plans.

“It’s a little late in the game,” she said.

Bay Oaks President Kathryn Kassner said she often works with residents to help them navigate their options.

“(Wright) is the classic person who is at a juncture where they have to make a choice,” she said. “It’s daunting for a lot of people.”

Many seniors are reluctant to change from a plan they’re already familiar with, said Edith Gooden-Thompson of Florida SHINE, a state health insurance assistance program for elder Floridians.

“Even if you convince them of how they can save from switching their plan, many of them refuse to change,” she said.

For resources on choosing the best plan, patients can go to Medicare.gov, PlanPrescriber.com or FloridaShine.org.

–Health News Florida is an independent online publication dedicated to public-service journalism. Reporter Brittany Alana Davis can be reached at 954-495-6766 or by e-mail.
Ìý

This <a target="_blank" href="/aging/changes-take-seniors-by-surprise-health-news-florida/">article</a&gt; first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="">Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News</a> and is republished here under a <a target="_blank" href=" Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src="/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150&quot; style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;">