Don’t make this Medicare Advantage Dis-Enrollment Mistake.
I tell my clients they don’t need to contact their Medicare Advantage Plan (MA) plan to cancel their Advantage plan… if they enroll into a stand-alone Part D plan. But one of my clients did not listen to me. She took great pleasure in writing Humana to cancel her Medicare Advantage plan and her husband’s plan. She even included their cut-up id cards with the letters.
Shari had had some billing issues with Humana and was happy to be done with their Medicare Advantage plan. But I think she forgot that we had enrolled her husband into the Humana-Walmart Part D plan.
By the time Shari’s letter arrived at Humana, the info in her husband’s account said “Part D drug plan” (PDP). But the letter said to cancel the Medicare Advantage plan with Part D (MAPD). The person at Humana who read the letter did not pay attention and cancelled her husband’s account – – his drug plan (PDP)
This info went to Medicare and the PDP was taken out of his record – – which resulted in the MAPD being re-instated in his Medicare record. In late-December (after the Open Enrollment Period had ended), Shari got a letter confirming the change and that her husband was re-enrolled in the Humana MAPD. Uh oh! Shari was shocked and shaken, so she called me.
I told Shari to call Medicare and explain what had happened. She made the call, but she did not get any help. She was told to talk to Humana.
Shari called Humana and… she didn’t get any help there either. She was told, “You can’t change your Part D plan now because you are outside the Open Enrollment Period”. Uh, oh!
Shari should have asked to talk to a supervisor at Medicare and at Humana because she got wrong info from the people she spoke to. Humana should have fixed their mistake. And Medicare has a department that can also fix these kinds of mix-ups.
Because of this blog, I know this kind of mistake/mix up can get fixed. You just need to ask the right questions of the Medicare rep on the phone – or demand service from a company like Humana. Don’t take “no” for an answer if they say that can’t fix your problem.