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August 17, 2022
Turning 65: What to Consider When Selecting a Medicare Plan
Approaching age 65 can be
an overwhelming time for many
newly eligible Medicare benefi-
ciaries. When can you begin to
enroll? Which plans should you
consider? What do you need to
know? Here’s some information
that can help.
You have a seven-month win-
dow called the Initial Enroll-
ment Period (IEP) to sign up for
Medicare benefits, which begins
three months prior to the month
you’ll turn 65. You are first eli-
gible to receive Medicare cover-
age at the start of your birthday
month. If your current benefits
end once you turn 65, it’s im-
portant to begin researching and
comparing your Medicare op-
tions early to make sure there’s
no gap in your coverage.
There are several different
types of Medicare plans avail-
able:* Medicare Part A (hospital)
and Medicare Part B (medical)o
Administered by the federal gov-
ernment, Original Medicare in-
cludes Parts A and B that provide
hospital and medical coverage.
For most people, Part A is free, so
it’s important to evaluate your op-
tions as soon as you become eligi-
ble for Medicare.* Medicare Part
C (Medicare Advantage)o Offered
by Medicare-approved private
insurance companies and can be
considered an “all in one” alterna-
tive to Original Medicare. These
There are plenty Medicare options to choose from to fit a varitey of needs, and resources are avail-
able to help with choices
plans include all the coverage pro-
vided by Medicare Part A and B,
and some may include addition-
al benefits like prescription drug
coverage, routine dental, vision
and hearing care, and innovative
offerings such fitness programs,
healthy food debit cards for those
who qualify and transportation
benefits to help you get to doc-
tor’s appointments.* Medicare
Part D (Prescription Drug Plans)o
Original Medicare doesn’t cover
most prescription drugs, so you’ll
need to sign-up for a stand-alone
prescription drug plan (PDP) if
enrolled in Original Medicare.
These Part D plans are offered
by Medicare-approved private in-
surers, like Humana.* Medicare
Supplement Insurance (Medi-
gap)o Like Medicare Advantage,
these plans are offered by private
insurance companies and may
help pay some of the healthcare
costs that Medicare Parts A and
B don’t, like coinsurance, copay-
ments or deductibles.
When selecting a prescription
drug plan, you’ll want to make
sure the medications you’re cur-
rently taking are covered and
compare their costs across differ-
ent plans. Some plans also take
steps to help save you money, like
Humana for example. They sug-
gest generic or lower-cost equiva-
lent drugs to their members when
they’re available. And when it
comes to costs, look beyond the
monthly premium and consider
the additional out-of-pocket costs.
Always evaluate the full cost of
the plan, including co-payments
or co-insurance, and the deduct-
ible as well as which pharmacies
are in network.
While the many plan options
can seem overwhelming, there
are resources available to help
you choose Medicare coverage
that best suits your needs. The
Medicare Plan Finder on Medi-
care.gov allows you to easily
compare the benefits and costs
of different plans. Other resourc-
es on sites such as Humana.com
include helpful information to
consider in shopping for plans
like Physician and Pharmacy
finders to help you see if your
providers are in a plan’s net-
work. While planning ahead is
helpful, rest assured that, as your
needs change, you can change
your plan during the Medicare
Advantage and Prescription
Drug Plan Annual Enrollment
Period, which goes from Octo-
ber 15th to December 7th each
year. Medicare-eligible individ-
uals can visit www.Medicare.
gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE
(800-633-4227), 24 hours a day,
seven days a week.
Welcome back to care
Preventive care for youth is more important than ever
Get the vaccines, checkups and dental care your children need. Regular physical and dental checkups and keeping
vaccines current can help prevent problems before they arise. See the chart below for to see what vaccines kids
ages 7-18 need.
Date of birth:
Child name:
7-8
years
Vaccine
Flu (influenza)
9-10
years
11-12
years
13-15
years
16-18
years
yearly
HPV (human papillomavirus)
Meningococcal MenACWY
2 doses
1 dose
(at least five months between doses)
booster
Meningococcal MenB
Pneumococcal
TdaP (tetanus, diptheria, pertussis)
Call your child’s physical
and dental providers
and schedule a checkup
today. Or contact
CareOregon Customer
Service if you
have questions.
Reach us 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday through Friday
at 503-416-4100,
800-224-4840 or TTY 711.
1 dose
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis B
MMR (measles, mumps, rubella)
Polio
Chickenpox (varicella)
Recommended at age requirement
careoregon.org/connect-to-care
Recommended for high-risk adolescents
Catch up on missed
connect to care