HARRISBURG, PA \u2014 Thousands of Pennsylvania seniors who lost access to certain doctors can now switch or update their health coverage through a special enrollment period approved by federal officials.<\/p>\n
What This Means for You<\/p>\n
You may have until April 30 to change Medicare coverage
\nYou can switch plans or return to traditional Medicare
\nFree counseling is available to help you compare options<\/p>\n
The Shapiro Administration announced the special enrollment period after a contract dispute between Lehigh Valley Health Network and UnitedHealthcare left more than 5,400 Medicare Advantage members without in-network access to LVHN providers.<\/p>\n
A Medicare Advantage plan is a private insurance alternative to traditional Medicare that typically uses a network of doctors and hospitals. When a provider leaves that network, patients may face higher costs or lose access to their doctors.<\/p>\n
Why Coverage Was Disrupted<\/p>\n
State officials said the issue stems from a contract dispute between UnitedHealthcare and Lehigh Valley Health Network, which ended their agreement as of January 26.<\/p>\n
As a result, affected patients with UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans could no longer see LVHN providers at in-network rates.<\/p>\n
Officials said the state worked with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to reopen enrollment options, allowing impacted residents to make changes outside the normal enrollment window.<\/p>\n
What Options Are Available<\/p>\n
During the special enrollment period, which runs through April 30, eligible residents can switch to another Medicare Advantage plan or move to Original Medicare.<\/p>\n
Original Medicare is the federal government\u2019s traditional health coverage program, which allows patients to see any provider that accepts Medicare. Patients can also add a Medicare Supplement, or Medigap plan, to help cover out-of-pocket costs.<\/p>\n
State officials said affected residents can enroll in Medigap coverage without medical underwriting, meaning insurers cannot deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cImpacted UHC Medicare Advantage policyholders that see LVHN providers should shop their coverage during this Special Enrollment Period,\u201d said Insurance Commissioner Michael Humphreys.<\/p>\n
Help for Seniors<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania officials are directing residents to PA MEDI, the state\u2019s Medicare counseling program, which provides free, unbiased assistance through local Area Agencies on Aging.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can be challenging choosing the right health care coverage, especially when older adults have maintained the same benefits for years,\u201d said Aging Secretary Jason Kavulich.<\/p>\n
Counselors can help residents compare plans and determine whether switching coverage better meets their needs.<\/p>\n
What to Do Before the Deadline<\/p>\n
Officials recommend affected residents take several steps before April 30:<\/p>\n
Check whether their doctors are still in-network
\nCompare available Medicare Advantage plans
\nConsider whether Original Medicare with a Medigap plan is a better fit<\/p>\n
Residents with questions or complaints can visit pa.gov\/consumer or call 1-866-PA-COMPLAINT (1-866-722-6675).<\/p>\n
For the latest news on everything happening in Chester County and the surrounding area, be sure to follow MyChesCo on Google News<\/a> and MSN<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HARRISBURG, PA \u2014 Thousands of Pennsylvania seniors who lost access to certain doctors can now switch or update…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1867,918,2351,28,5508,30,29,3902],"class_list":["post-145364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-enrollment","tag-medicare","tag-medicare-advantage","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-department-of-aging","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-unitedhealthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}