Medicare Advantage plans are on the rise again this year. Yet with their co-pays and co-insurance payments many Medicare Supplement policyholders still shy away from making the change due to fear of extravagant medical bills should something should happen to them. On the other hand, I still get calls asking about dental or vision benefits from supplement owners wondering about what they see advertised on TV. Supplements do not have the extra benefits Advantage plans do. Here is my answer to their dilemma. First you must realize there is no “best” plan except the one that fits your needs. Supplements have no extra benefits while Advantage plans have out of pocket expenses. How do you get the best of both worlds? Well, there are competitive dental and vision plans offered at a very reasonable price to the supplement holder and there are some great hospital indemnity plans and critical illness policies that cover the financial exposure unique to the Advantage plan member. I know you are bombarded by call centers daily telling you “new benefits and changes” to Medicare are happening now. I get these calls myself, but when I ask them to be specific as to exactly what has changed, they always hang up on me! That is because it is not true. The Advantage plans change once a year and the only change in supplements are prices. So here are my suggestions, Medicare Supplements require a monthly premium every month whether you use it or not. Medicare Advantage Plans usually do not require anything monthly, or if they do, it is a reduced amount, so this frees up the difference between the monthly premium you were paying from the 0 premium Advantage, leaving you available funds each month to take a small hospital indemnity plan or critical illness policy out to cover the concern of possible out of pocket expenses. These indemnity policies generally pay out a lump sum to you, the insured, with no strings attached. You can use it wherever needed most, and the critical illness policies most times pay at the first diagnosis. This means you have the money you need for treatments, expenses, or to do whatever you want with it. They are generally not costly, so you still save because the premiums are usually way below what a supplement cost each month. Even when you factor in the co-pays of physicians which most people do not incur every month. Medicare Supplements do pay hospitals and doctors the difference Basic Medicare does not pay, so you know your medical expenses will not exceed your monthly premium except for a few deductibles depending on which plan you have. To many this peace of mind is worth the price. But they do not get the benefits an Advantage plan offers, so the answer for you then would be to purchase a dental plan alongside your supplement. It is not usually expensive but offers the protection desired to cover the exposure of dental or vision costs. If you have any questions about which plan might be right for you, please contact me and I will lay out some numbers for comparison. Advantage plans generally have limited enrollment dates save a few exceptions. It is good however to investigate now to know what works best for your lifestyle. I am happy to help and only a phone call away. Here are some links to poke around on prices and what is available for yourself: