Medicare Part C plans, in my opinion, have some major structural improvements to original Medicare. First they use flat copay amounts instead of the Medicare Part B structure, which is Medicare Part B covers 80% and you have a 20% copay. Most TFL members tell me they do not have a copay, but they do have a 20% copay but it gets billed to TFL. As an example, Part C plans might have a flat copay of $10 for PCP visits. That means Humana covers the entire cost but the copay of $10, on Part B it covers all but 20% copay. It helps clients without TFL know what they will have to pay. TFL stays secondary to cover copays.

The other benefit is that all Part C plans include is a yearly max out of pocket ($7550 highest allowed in 2021), where Part B coinsurance of 20% has no limit. It does not benefit clients with TFL, but it does help the other 25 million people who have Part C plans not go bankrupt if they need a lot of care one year.

So as an example, if you enroll in a Part C plan with a $50 month Part B credit, you will have the same deduction of $148.50 each month but also a credit of $50 automatically applied every month. This causes your social security check to increase $50 a month or $150 less you pay quarterly if you are not receiving social security benefits. The Part B credit is per person, per month.

Now that you know that there are zero premium Medicare Part C plans designed for veterans with Tricare for Life, and they include many benefits you would like to have or pay extra for now, the next question is, which one is the best choice for me?

Most clients want to be able to continue to see their current doctors, so one the most important duties I have as an agent is to look up what plans your doctors accept. Both Humana and UHC have great online portals to look up any doctor in the country online. Typically when I look up doctors for clients, their doctor accepts both Humana and UHC, but sometimes they take one not the other. Its very, very rare that a doctor does not accept Humana or UHC, but if they was the case, you can just stick with your current plan.

Humana is based in Louisville, KY is very popular in the south and midwest, and Humana also administers the benefits for Tricare East covering from El Paso to Virginia. UnitedHealthcare is more popular in the west from Denver to California.

My name is Steve Schrader, I work exclusively in the Medicare market as an agent for Humana and UnitedHealthcare. I am one of the few agents that works mostly with veterans helping them understand these plans and I am licensed in the above states in green. Give me a call anytime Mon- Sat 8:00 am- 10:00 pm ET.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regulates agents like myself, we are not allowed to provide plan names and other plan specifics on our websites. So I am not purposely not disclosing more specifics, but following the rules.

I do not offer every plan available in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-Medicare for all of your options.

Hopefully you have a better understanding of your options. I can email you the plan specifics in your area, if you click on “Email Me Info“, phone number optional or call me anytime.