Nearly 200,000 Minnesota senior are scrambling to find affordable options to ensure uninterrupted health care after several carriers are either dropping or cutting back on Medicare Advantage Plans.
Minneapolis-based UCare made the most significant change, gutting their program entirely.
“I find it very difficult at this age to be worrying about health insurance,” said Elizabeth Borchert, a UCare policy holder in Ham Lake, Minnesota. “We have, as a family, have worried about health care and insurance most of our lives. We live on Social Security. We don’t have an income coming in other than Social Security.”
On its website, UCare cited rising costs for cutting its Medicare Advantage Plans, which offer seniors more comprehensive coverage than Medicare on its own.
“When we went on Medicare we looked at each other and said, ‘this is really nice to have,’ and it was all laid out for us,” Borchert said. “Now we don’t and we have to face something new.”
Dr. Jill Melicher, an ophthalmologist in Blaine, Minnesota, said she overheard several similar conversations among her patients.
“Patients spend years and years building out a trusted health care team. What I’m hearing from my patients is they don’t know where to turn,” Melicher said. “We want to make certain we support them in this transition and maintain their access to care.”
Melicher’s practice, Minnesota Eye Consultants, is now offering extended hours and appointments, even on the weekends, so patients can maximize their benefits before they expire.
The practice also recruited a brokerage firm, The Heppner Group, to offer free consultations to patients on their options moving forward.
“I think the biggest thing that we want to let our patients know is we’re not here to sell insurance and we’re not here to sell a broker,” Melicher said. “But we want to make sure they maintain access to care in the coming year.”
Several other carriers, including Humana and HealthPartners, announced their intent to stop offering Medicare Advantage plans in some Minnesota counties.
Laurel Heppner, one of the brokers counseling Melicher’s patients, warned the shrinking pool of Medicare Advantage offerings are boxing in many brokers.
“The Medicare Advantage Plans, the ones that are still available, are limited as far as enrollment goes. They are not interested in taking on new members,” Heppner said.
Still, Heppner said UCare customers and other seniors losing their Medicare Advantage Plans are granted an exception by Medicare to seek a supplemental, or “Medigap” plan that may be more expensive up front, but has little to no other out-of-pocket costs.
“So if you get on a Medicare supplement plan, you never have to worry about a network. So if you have a cardiologist, urologist, an eye care provider, as long as they accept Medicare, you can go to all those providers,” Heppner said. “It’s a budget-type thing. Budget what your monthly premium is, then they don’t pay anything out of their pocket for the rest of the year for their care.”
While that may sound like relief, it may not be realistic for seniors on a fixed income, like Borchert.
“It isn’t just us,” Borchert said. “It’s many, many other seniors that are going through the same thing. It just disrupts your life.”
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