{"id":16719,"date":"2018-11-09T09:29:55","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T15:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomseymour66.com\/?p=16719"},"modified":"2018-11-09T09:29:55","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T15:29:55","slug":"new-medicare-advantage-benefits-are-supposed-to-help-seniors-stay-out-of-the-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomseymour66.com\/new-medicare-advantage-benefits-are-supposed-to-help-seniors-stay-out-of-the-hospital\/","title":{"rendered":"New Medicare Advantage Benefits Are Supposed To Help Seniors Stay Out Of The Hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n Services like rides to the doctor or wheelchair ramps are among those that some Medicare Advantage plans will begin to offer next year.<\/p>\n

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Razvan Chisu \/ EyeEm\/Getty Images\/EyeEm<\/p>\n

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Razvan Chisu \/ EyeEm\/Getty Images\/EyeEm<\/p>\n

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Services like rides to the doctor or wheelchair ramps are among those that some Medicare Advantage plans will begin to offer next year.<\/p>\n

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Razvan Chisu \/ EyeEm\/Getty Images\/EyeEm<\/p>\n

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For some older adults, private Medicare Advantage plans next year will include a host of new benefits, such as transportation to medical appointments, home-delivered meals, wheelchair ramps, bathroom grab bars, or air conditioners for asthma sufferers. <\/p>\n

But the new benefits will not be widely available, and they won’t be easy to find, during this fall’s enrollment period.<\/p>\n

Of the 3,700 plans across the country next year, only 273 in 21 states will offer at least one. About 7 percent of Advantage members \u2014 1.5 million people \u2014 will have access, Medicare officials estimate. <\/p>\n

That means even for the savviest shoppers it will be a challenge to figure out which plans offer the new benefits and who qualifies for them. <\/p>\n

Medicare officials have touted the expansion as historic and an innovative way to keep seniors healthy and independent. <\/p>\n

Despite that enthusiasm, a full listing of the new services are not available on Medicare’s web-based “plan finder<\/a>,” the government tool used by beneficiaries, counselors and insurance agents to sort through dozens of plan options. <\/p>\n

Medicare officials see the added benefits as a key to helping Advantage members prevent costly hospitalizations. Federal approval of new supplemental benefits is “one of the most significant changes made to the Medicare program,” said Seema Verma, the head of the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services, at an insurers’ meeting<\/a> last month. She added that she expects plans to expand the number of services in coming years.<\/p>\n