Did you know that your plan may come with some coverage on Over-the-Counter pharmacy products? Find out more about it this week, on 65 and Counting!
Welcome back, everyone! Thanks for tuning in and helping make this show great! Our episode on fitness benefits was so popular that I thought it would be a great idea to talk more about all the extra “bells and whistles” that make some of the Medicare Advantage plans so great! And so that Joe Namath doesn’t confuse you when his commercial comes on!
Yes, yes it’s true. Some plans will give you allowances on over-the-counter pharmacy items! This benefit, otherwise known as an OTC benefit is available on a whole lot of Medicare Advantage plans around the country, but it’s not on every plan so pay attention to this next part!
Most Medicare Advantage plans will cover different types of OTC benefits and offer different amounts of money to help you pay for items you’d find over the counter at a pharmacy and some of them even cover neat things like fitbits, electric toothbrushes, and water picks! You will not find this benefit on a Medicare Supplement. For more information on Medicare Supplements, check out our Educational spotlight on those. I’ll link it in the description of the episode!
Typically, the benefit works like this: When you sign up for a medicare advantage plan, you’ll receive a book from the plan that outlines the plan's benefits. If your plan covers OTC items, you’ll be able to determine how much they’ll allow. More often than not, it’ll be a quarterly amount of money. Now, you can’t just walk into your local CVS or Walgreens and expect to walk out with a free pack of band-aids! These books that plans send you will include a catalog that you can order items from.
They have all kinds of cool stuff you can get. Vitamins, supplements, first aid equipment, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and pretty much anything from the pharmacy! But if you go looking for chocolate bars and soda you’ll probably be disappointed! This brings me to my next point.
Why would insurance companies give you money to spend at the pharmacy on a plan that’s already most likely $0/month in premium!? Because they want to keep you healthy! It’s to their benefit as well as yours to stay healthy and take vitamins and have medical equipment to take care of yourself.
This benefit sounds so great! I wish I had something like that. I’d use it on a fancy new toothbrush!
Does your plan include a benefit like this? If you aren’t sure, that’s what Certified Medicare Planners are here for. Give us a call and we’ll help you find out if this is a benefit you already have! And if you don’t, well AEP is only 5 months away and we can help you find a plan that meets your needs and cover that OTC benefit.
I hope you enjoyed this week's episode and have a better understanding of that Over-the- Counter benefit you hear about on TV! Don’t forget to like our video, subscribe to our page so you can be notified when we post new episodes and share with all your friends! But, most importantly, have a great week!