Remember the good old days with the doctor made house calls?  Those days are coming back again. Thanks unfortunately to the covid virus.

What is the most popular and often asked questions as a relates to healthcare today for not only the senior population but also the under a 65 population is “ is Telemedicine available “ in my plan?

Well, I’m happy to report that not only have insurance companies seen the huge benefit and lower costs of a Telemedicine visit but almost all insurance companies, especially those that work in the Medicare field, are implementing telemedicine in there plans right now. By the way Telemedicine is also know as Telehealth.

Some companies have implemented it already and most Medicare Insurance plans will have the benefit available to you when you have the opportunity to compare your Medicare Insurance plan for the forth coming year.

A brief disclaimer however, this is important, because not all Medicare Insurance Plans will implement this important and significant benefit for you.

Of course, if you’re on a Medicare  Advantage program you know that you have the open enrollment period from October 15th December 7th. That is your time to compare plans for the forthcoming year.

I strongly recommend that you compare plans and benefits as well as out of pocket cost access the doctors and hospitals and especially your drug benefits

The changes that are happening in the Medicare world almost make my head spin. Changes are being implemented all the time and frankly unless you devote a good bit of your reading time you may miss some important benefits.

Here’s a true story. I recently needed to see a doctor however due to the pandemic that we all suffer through, I was unable to see a doctor in a reasonable period time.

I decided to take to take advantage of my Telemedicine benefit and although I was completely skeptical of the outcome of the video visit, I must admit I was totally amazed so well.

Within minutes of making my request for a video visit a retired emergency room physician in the Boston area that had over 40 years experience in the ER was live on my iPhone. Within minutes my call was over, within seconds I had a summary of my visit in my email. In six minutes I received a text message from my pharmacy telling me that my prescription would be ready soon.

All of this took place within a 15 minute time frame without ever having to leave my home, drive to the doctors office, park, put on a mask, and wait to see the doctor.

Telemedicine he’s here to stay.  Medicare is also rapidly adopting this for many of their plans as well.

I have seen doctors recently, due to an upcoming surgery, I have even been asked by the physicians if they would like my next visit to be a Telemedicine visit.

This is not only the future of the office visit, this is reality today. Even if your doctor is the only position in the practice, I have found but they all have access to do virtual visits with you in the comfort of your home.

I think we all can agree, that a Telemedicine visit with your doctor is a tremendous to us all.

As I mentioned earlier in this article, people can change their Medicare Advantage program during the open enrollment that we all know happens between October and December.

What if you have a Medicare Supplement Insurance plan? Well, great news, you could look to change plans any day or month of the year. In other words, you’re open enrollment period is year round.

I strongly encourage you to have three things working for you at this stage of your life.

1. Have an attorney that you can call year round.
   
2. Have a good accountant, preferably a CPA,  to help with your taxes and other financial    issues that you can talk to year round.
   
3. Have a dedicated,  experienced Medicare insurance agent to help you with your Medicare your round.
   

Hopefully, do you already have the CPA and attorney. But with the rapid constant changes in Medicare,  having direct access to an experienced independent insurance agent ( with at Least 10 years in Medicare )  you call your round is huge.

If you need any help, please let me know.