Every year I receive inaccurate information from Medicare regarding Medicare Advantage plans options. This year I received this following notice:
As shown, it suggests that you have 15 Medicare Advantage plan options. No you don't.
In Marin County, you have the following 3 choices:
- Alignment Health Plan
- Humana
- UnitedHealthcare (AARP)
In Napa County you have 2 choices: Humana and UnitedHealthcare (AARP).
In Sonoma and Solano County you have only one choice: UnitedHealthcare (AARP).
For a Medicare Advantage plan to be functional within these counties, it has to contract with the Meritage Medical Network (Meritage). And, the mentioned plans are the only ones contracting with Meritage. If you use one of the 12 or more plans suggested by Medicare, they will all be out of the Meritage network. And, you will be out of luck.
As a side note, in the recent past I have studied these plans in detail. And, based on my own analysis, I feel that Alignment is by far the best. They have the lowest premium. They give you access to the exact same doctors as the access is determined not by the plan but by Meritage. And, they offer some great benefits in addition to vision and dental insurance. My favorite is free Uber or Lyft rides to doctors' visits (12 free round trips per year).
If you have signed up with Humana or United, you can always change your enrollment during the first quarter of 2025. This is how I first joined Alignment a couple of years ago (during the enrollment period in the first quarter of the next year).
Keep in good health,
Gaetan Lion
