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ambly02 Asked October 2019

Medicare & Medicaid....does mom still need to pay insurance premium monthly?

My mom has just qualified for Medicaid. She is in a LTC Facility. Does she still need to pay her monthly insurance premium? She has AARP United Health Care at 277.00 a month taken out of her bank acct. And she also has 20.00 taken out for Silverscript prescriptions. I was understanding that the AARP would stop being taken out of her account. To make this simple, after having the United Health Care taken out, her prescription coverage and giving a check to the facility for her part, she is 116.00 in the negative. This does not make any sense to me at all! She's supposed to have 50.00 allowance left over. Can someone help me understand this? Thank you!

igloo572 Oct 2019
What’s imo going to matter is IF..
- the MediCARE policy she has is a “gap” or an “advantage” plan.

if it’s Advantage, then she has removed herself from federal original Medicare Part A and has chosen to instead be in an Advantage plan (which btw federal Medicare underwrites paying for as they are viewed as doing cost containment). For advantage policies it is a closed system so all care & vendors have to be “in-network” for your policy for coverage to happen. Like for us, there’s 2 big health systems (Ocshner & Touro) and they both have advantage plans but you have to see docs in their system & get care at their facilities for the advantage to work (participating point of service for care). Or it’s $$$ out of network billing. The issue for advantage plans is that they are NOT designed to work for those in a NH as the residents in a NH can’t just go over to one of the advantage plan participating clinics for care. She be paying a premium but could never get any in network care.

if it’s a gap, Gaps are different in that they are designed to fill in whatever original Medicare doesn’t cover & gaps usually with a insurance provider like Cigna or United. You pay a premium for a specific gap plan & still have original Medicare for Part A. If it’s a gap, then it’s not about seeing & getting care only at places “in network” but seeing & getting care from a provider who’s participating with the gap insurer. (No more Plan F written for 2020 btw, which I’m not happy about)

yeah it’s beyond confusing.... BUT the good part is right now is open enrollment so she can switch to whatever will work best to coordinate with Medicaid & all the companies are advertising. The key is finding one that is compatible with LTC NH Medicaid. That what Rockets post is about.

RocketJKats post is mucho importante as that’s imo what states Medicaid program is going to need to start doing in a big way to get insurance co. to do policies to deal with the staggering costs of LTC Medicaid program.
I’m gonna guess that most states will not do a “managed Medicaid” system.... most states are set up on the usual “dual” system since forever, like last millennium, where original Medicare is billed for whatever can be & everything else is billed to the state Medicaid.

ambly02 Oct 2019
It is always something!!! I think I've slept through one solid night since all of this! lol. I will go to the sources to find my answers. What a nightmare this all is! Thank you so much for your response!

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mollymoose Oct 2019
I’m glad you asked this. My mom is in the nursing home and will be applying for Medicaid next month. The financial person at the nursing home says she will be “walking us through this process step by step”. My mom’s AARP supplemental policy is Currently $260 a month but is going up in January, and her prescriptions are costing her roughly an additional $180. We were told not to cancel this policy, that it would work out. We were just passing in the hall so I didn’t have the chance to ask how.
ambly02 Oct 2019
Thank you for your response! I was also told that I would be walked through this confusing maze. She can't answer certain questions for me. I keep showing her the math on paper, she says I'm right, but it goes no further than this. I'll get this figured out and post what answers I get.
rocketjcat Oct 2019
When Mom was approved for LTC Medicaid in the NH, I was confused as well regarding keeping her Aetna Supplemental Medicare plan. I called her Medicaid caseworker, who wasn’t sure whether to drop it or not. But I did get paperwork through the mail that in NY you have to sign up for a “Managed Medicaid” plan. I chose Nacentia and I met with that rep (she came to the nursing home) and that meeting showed that she no longer needed the Aetna Supplemental. All her meds, doctors, labs etc were covered and she never had to pay anything at all.
ambly02 Oct 2019
This was my understanding in the beginning...that all would be paid for by Medicaid. We are in Ohio, so I will making my calls to see what's what. I did receive a letter stating that her meds will be covered, but I'm concerned about the Health Insurance part. Thank you so much!!!
Isthisrealyreal Oct 2019
Talk to your social worker before you do anything.

I would also call united health care and ask them how they have seen this work. I have found them to be amazing to deal with, helpful, courteous and kind, not to mention knowledgeable.

I can't imagine that she is expected to keep an insurance that she can no longer afford to pay for. Maybe things are adjusted or cancelled, I would go to the sources for the solution to this problem.

Hugs! It seems like it is always something.

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