Arriving Sept. 30, open the door, and the mailbox, for medical and drug cost increases and 2021 changes.

Knock, Knock, ANOC

Pandemic and natural disasters aside, Oregon’s fall season is packed with chores – gutter cleaning, deck washing and managing the colorful leaves that clog and puddle grass areas, sidewalks and roadways.

For Oregon’s more than 800,000 Medicare beneficiaries, be on the lookout for another clog, Medicare health plan advertising. An important document, the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC), is sent every September to Medicare beneficiaries’ home addresses. The notice arrives in mailboxes mixed in with a flood of Medicare advertising. Of the estimated $43 million in Medicare promotions that health plans spend annually, well over 65 percent of that budget is allocated to direct mail advertising.

The confusion of the ANOC with direct mail advertising often represents an unhappy financial surprise that can drain beneficiary budgets. The ANOC mailing to more than 69 million Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug plans beneficiaries reports on services that will be covered, services that will be abandoned, cost increases (or reductions), and changes to coverage.

These may include:

• Plan premium, the amount due each month

• Deductible, dollars that are paid before plan benefits start

• Copay and coinsurance, the fees and/or percentages of costs charged to Medicare beneficiaries

• Drug tier changes, also known as formulary changes, what plans will charge for prescription medicines

• Maximum out-of-pocket cost, a “cap” of what may be charged in 2021
  
  Your benefits, your wallet, your rights, an ANOC be-on-the-lookout list includes: 
  

• Double-checking that the medicines you depend on are still affordable

• Confirmation that your doctor and pharmacy are still in a plan’s network

• Clarification about increases or reductions in costs, and all benefit changes for 2021 Need more information? Look on the back of your plan card and call the customer service number. Free, educational information, including an understanding ANOC educational zoom presentation is available, contact Medicare and Medicaid advocate Mara Woloshin, weekdays until 6 p.m. mara@woloshin.com, 503-310-4504.