ACA & Medicare Myth-busting: Know the Truth

It should be clarified that Medicare eligibility-enrollment is of equal importance across both types of Exchanges since it is one of the most important type of health insurance for the elderly. However, the recent spate of changes as a part of ACA updates has confused many people, many of who have started believing in some myths that are totally baseless. This article is an effort to clarify such wrong beliefs about the health care reforms with regards to Medicare enrollment, coverage and other aspects of health insurance coverage.
Medicare Advantage PlansOne of the most common myths in the Medicare niche of health reforms is that the Advantage plans will be cut or slowly phased out. The fact is rather different where the ACA doesn’t plan to eliminate the Advantage plans that are essentially privately-administered health insurance plans. This is primarily because nearly a quarter of people across the United States receive coverage due to this form of Medicare enrollment.
These plans were started with the target of maximizing the efficiency of the Medicare’s market-based coverage. Yes, they do cost the enrollee a bit more than the typical Medicare program but these costs will be slowly brought down by the ACA. This reform will take time and questioning about it at the time of Medicare application doesn’t make sense. These plans will continue to offer the same range of benefits that are associated with traditional Medicare health care enrollment. As a part of ACA reforms, the Medicare Advantage Plans that perform better and provide a bigger range of coverage and better services might gain from additional grants. However, the exact amount of such benefits and what additional cost reduction it will mean for the Medicare enrollee are yet to be finalized.
Having Medicare will Mean Getting More Insurance, Making Things DifficultSome people have started confusing the individual mandate of the ACA with the Medicare eligibility & enrollment conditions. This confusion can be sorted out easily if the true meaning of individual mandate is understood. This mandate merely requires that every legal citizen, except those who can provide some sort of ethical or religious reasoning, should have some sort of health coverage.
This can be coverage provided by the employer, bought from the shop Exchange or individually bought by an individual outside the health Exchanges without any premium credits. Even family coverage fulfills this definition. However, those who have filed their Medicare application in the year 2012 or 2013 shouldn’t worry about being asked to buy extra insurance. This is because Medicare is counted as a form of health insurance and there is no mandate that more insurance should be bought. Buying any additional insurance is totally optional.