California Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement Plans
Carriers that provide Medicare insurance in the state of California include Aetna, Anthem, Blue Shield of California, Family Life, Gerber, HealthNet, Sentinel, and United of Omaha.
The Qualified Medicare Beneficiary(QMB) program helps you pay for some costs of Medicare such as Medicare Part A and B premiums deductibles for both Part A and Part B or co-insurance under both part A and part B. For QMB your monthly income cannot exceed $908 if you are single and $1,226 if you are married.
In California the Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB) service assists people with limited income who need help paying for Part B premiums. To qualify for SLMB assistance you cannot earn more than $1,089 per month if you are unmarried and $1,471 if per month if you are married.
The Qualified Individual (QI) program allows for a higher income than both the SLMB and QMB programs and will help pay for Part B premiums. For QI you cannot make over $1,226 monthly if you are single and $1,655 monthly for couples.
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the estimate for the average 2012 Part D premium for basic coverage is $30. This is slightly lower than the actual average for 2011 of $30.76. The estimate for the average 2012 Part D premium for supplemental coverage is $8. The estimate for the average 2012 total Part D premium is $38. What does this mean for California residents? Costs could be slightly lower for all residents who are staying with the same plan. However the coverage may change from 2011 to 2012 so although you are paying a slightly lower premium your coverage may not be the same. In California, five plans qualified for $0 premium with full Low-Income subsidy in 2011. In 2012 there will be six plans that qualify.
There are certain Medicare insurance plans that can still be switched for 2012. The period of time during which this is possible is called Medicare Advantage Disenrollment Period and it begins January 1. During this period, if you are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan, you can leave and switch to Original Medicare. Your coverage will begin the first day of the following month. If you switch during this period, you will have until February 14 to also join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan to add drug coverage which will begin the first day of the month after the plan gets your enrollment form. Before the Disenrollment Period begins it is important to research plans available in your area. There is no need to attempt to your research alone. For no cost, our Medicare specialists would be more than happy to inform you about available plans and help you decide which is right for your Medicare needs.
For city specific Medicare plans visit:
- Anaheim Medicare
- Bakersfield Medicare
- Fresno Medicare
- Garden Grove Medicare
- Sacramento Medicare
- Long Beach Medicare
- Los Angeles Medicare
- Oakland Medicare
- Oceanside Medicare
- Ontario Medicare
- Rancho Cucamonga Medicare
- Riverside Medicare
- San Diego Medicare
- San Francisco Medicare
- Santa Ana Medicare
- Stockton Medicare
- Chula Vista Medicare
- Irvine Medicare
- Modesto Medicare
- Fremont Medicare
- San Bernardino Medicare
- Santa Clarita Medicare
- Santa Rosa Medicare
- Tallahassee Medicare
- Glendale Medicare
- Huntington Beach Medicare
- Moreno Valley Medicare
- Oxnard Medicare
- Fontana Medicare
- Pomona Medicare
- Corona Medicare
- Lancaster Medicare
- Salinas Medicare
- Palmdale Medicare
- Pasadena Medicare
- Hayward Medicare
- Torrance Medicare
- Escondido Medicare
- Orange Medicare
- Elk Grove Medicare
- Sunnyvale Medicare
- Fullerton Medicare
- Thousand Oaks Medicare
- El Monte Medicare
- Concord Medicare
- Visalia Medicare
- Simi Valley Medicare
- Vallejo Medicare
- Inglewood Medicare
- Victorville Medicare
- Santa Clara Medicare
- Costa Mesa Medicare
- Downey Medicare
- West Covina Medicare
- Ventura Medicare
- Fairfield Medicare
- Norwalk Medicare
- Burbank Medicare
- Richmond Medicare
- Daly City Medicare
- Berkeley Medicare
- Antioch Medicare
