Anthem Blue Cross Medicare Plans

Yes, when you enroll in Medicare, you will have the opportunity to pair additional benefits like dental insurance, vision insurance, and hearing aids.

Many Advantage plans offer these additional benefits at no additional cost while Supplement plans often require you to pay extra for these additional benefits.

In San Diego, Anthem, Aetna, Blue Shield, and SCAN all offer Silver Sneakers as a free benefit for their Medicare members.

Some carriers offer a different fitness package. Take a look here for a detailed breakdown of each carrier's fitness offering.

UnitedHealthcare® has their own gym and wellness package called “Renew Active.”

Kaiser has a similar program called “Active&Fit” built for Kaiser’s Medicare members.

Yes. You should absolutely pair your Original Medicare Plan with additional coverage. You will have more complete coverage if you pair it with a Supplement or Advantage Plan. 

IRMAA stands for income-related monthly adjustment amount and is an additional amount that some people might have to pay along with their Medicare premium.

The Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) is an amount you may pay in addition to your Part B or Part D premium if your income is above a certain level. If you are a higher earner, you will likely pay more for your Medicare plans.

Click here to learn more about IRMAA and how to avoid it.

Many carriers offer a fitness package to their Medicare members. Take a look here for a detailed breakdown of each carrier's fitness offering.

In San Diego, Anthem, Aetna, Blue Shield, and SCAN all offer Silver Sneakers as a free benefit for their Medicare members.

UnitedHealthcare® has their own gym and wellness package called “Renew Active.”

Kaiser has a similar program called “Active&Fit” built for Kaiser’s Medicare members.

After you enroll in Original Medicare, you'll receive your Medicare number in the mail. This can take up to 3 weeks for the Social Security Office to process your application and send you your Medicare number.

You can also login to your social security account and view your Medicare number there.

Enroll in Original Medicare here: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/medicare/

I encourage you to enroll with the help of a Medicare broker like HealthyMarks Medicare. Although you can do it alone, there are no drawbacks to working with a broker. Our expertise and experience will prove valuable to you during the enrollment process and during your ongoing coverage. The services offered by our team are free to you because insurance companies have agreed to pay commissions to brokers to help people like you enroll.

Medicare is a federal government-sponsored healthcare program for those 65 and over, and for younger people who are disabled.

Medicaid, or Medi-Cal in California, is a healthcare program for low-income individuals who could not otherwise afford health insurance.

Large Group Employers have access to health insurance plans that the rest of us do not. Many of the large group plans have what is called “Composite Rating.” Or in other words, these plans do not get more expensive when you get older. You will pay the same as a younger employee.

Because of this, some of these large group employer plans are competitive with the Medicare plans in San Diego.

You should evaluate both and select the better insurance plan.

To learn more about comparing Medicare plans vs company plans, click here.

Having a spouse as a dependent on your group insurance plan may impact whether or not you switch to Medicare. When you enroll in Medicare, your spouse can then enroll in his/her own individual market health insurance plan because losing insurance is a “qualifying event” to switch to a new plan. However, maybe your spouse doesn’t want to make that switch or your employer is contributing towards both you and your dependent’s insurance premiums. In this scenario, consider speaking with a HealthyMarks professional for a Plan Evaluation.

You should evaluate both options and select the better option for you and your family.

To learn more about the evaluation of group insurance vs Medicare, click here.

In short, you should evaluate both options and select the better insurance plan.

There are times when an employer's group policy is better priced with better benefits compared to the options through Medicare. There are also many times when the Medicare options will be better priced and offer better benefits.

To learn more about these group insurance vs Medicare scenarios, click here.

Typically, Medicare pricing is much better than what is available to employees through their work or what is available on the individual market. Medicare plans are generally much less expensive because the government is helping pay the monthly premium. Furthermore, these Medicare plans are very well received by the members who enroll in them. Members often experience less out of pocket expenses when on Medicare.

You should evaluate both and select the better insurance plan.

Typically, Medicare pricing is much better than what is available to employees through their work or what is available on the individual market. Medicare plans are generally much less expensive because the government is helping pay the monthly premium. Furthermore, these Medicare plans are very well received by the members who enroll in them. Members often experience less out of pocket expenses when on Medicare.

You should evaluate both and select the better insurance plan.

Yes, there are special plans for people who are both Medicare and Medi-Cal eligible. These individuals are considered "dual eligible". You can check your eligibility status here.

For example, SCAN offers plans for those with Medicare and Full Medi-Cal Eligibility.

You are eligible for Original Medicare Parts A + B if you are at least 65 years old.

… or if you are under 65 and specially qualify because of a disability.
… and you are a U.S. Citizen or legal resident.
… and you have been living in the United States for at least 5 years straight.

Learn more about your eligibility for Medicare here.

No, there are certain times when you are eligible to enroll in Medicare

Your Initial Enrollment Period or IEP is 7 months long. This period includes your birthday month, the 3 months prior to your birthday month, and the 3 months after. During this time you can enroll in any Medicare product.

Open Enrollment is your other option to enroll or switch plans. The Open Enrollment Period last from October 15 to December 7 each year. You can join, switch, or drop a plan. Your coverage will begin on January 1.

The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period is from January 1 to March 31 each year. if you’re enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan, you can switch to a different Medicare Advantage Plan or switch to Original Medicare (and join a separate Medicare drug plan) once during this time. Note: You can only switch plans once during this period.