Planning to Relocate? Where You Move May Affect Your Medicare Plan
I’m experiencing a number of clients “cashing in” on their California real estate investment and moving to other states. I also have seen a number of clients move within California.
If you’re on a Medicare Advantage plan, moving out of state or to another county will likely require you to enroll in new plans as you will no longer be in your plans’ “service area”. You only have emergency coverage when you are out of your service area. If you’re on a Part D Plan this will impact you if you move out of California.
You have a 60 day window of eligibility during which you should make that transition. In dealing with all the various aspects of selling, moving and buying a new home, addressing insurance doesn’t always figure in. You must notify Medicare and Social Security of your new address. This is a prerequisite to being able to enroll into a new plan in your new state or county.
It is prudent to examine potential new plans in the area to which you are relocating. Sometimes a different zip code or county can make a significant difference in the pricing and number of plan options available.
If you are losing a Medicare Advantage plan, I recommend enrolling into a Medicare Supplement plan at least for the transition. This is one of the exceptions where you can enroll on a guaranteed basis. By doing so, you can continue seeing your providers in California (in most cases) and you can see any Medicare contracted providers in your new location. During the annual enrollment period every year (October 15 to December 7) you will then have the option to sign up for a local Medicare Advantage plan having had a chance to find new providers. If you prefer, you can enroll into a new Medicare Advantage plan right away when you move.
If you are enrolled in a Medicare Supplement plan, you can usually maintain that exact plan when moving to another county or state. In some cases the plan will be re-rated and premiums altered to reflect the new address. In other cases the rates will continue to be California rates. It would be prudent to review this well in advance of a move. There may be a better plan to switch to while you are in California that you can use in your new location. Using the California birthday rule you can change to any company’s similar or lesser Medicare Supplement plan on a guaranteed basis. Only Oregon has a similar law. In all other states your enrollment would be subject to medical underwriting (health questions) in order to make a change.
Part D is a fairly simple thing to re-do when you move out of state. In many cases, you can simply call the existing Part D plan and transfer to the new address. However, this is also a good time to review your drug list with plans in your new location. Again, you have a 60 day window to make this change.
By Paul Davis, CA and other states licensed agent 0669770 CA
Pdinsure.com (818) 888-0880
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me
