Medicare Advantage plans

This is what I received earlier this month:
Message from Mayo Clinic Online Services, sent October 1

At Mayo Clinic, our patients are at the center of everything we do, and your trust is very important to us. Sharing information is one way to help ensure we continue to be trusted partners for your healthcare needs.

During the Medicare Open Enrollment period from Oct. 15-Dec. 7, it will be time to select healthcare coverage for the upcoming year. Mayo Clinic in Rochester is not in network with most Medicare Advantage Plans. Mayo Clinic in Rochester will be unable to schedule appointments for patients with out-of-network Medicare Advantage Plans.

Beginning in mid-October, marketing for Medicare Advantage Plans may indicate that you can be seen at any facility that accepts Medicare. However, Mayo Clinic in Rochester is not in network with most of these plans. Medicare Advantage Plans are managed by commercial insurance companies on behalf of Medicare and offer a specific network of contracted medical providers and hospitals, which may not include Mayo Clinic in Rochester. These plans require a substantial network of qualified providers to accommodate their members' medical needs.

As you consider your options, you can determine whether Mayo Clinic is within the network of a Medicare Advantage Plan by providing the insurance plan under consideration with the Tax ID information below:
Mayo Clinic in Rochester Hospital 41-0944601
Mayo Clinic in Rochester Outpatient Clinic Services 41-6011702

Mayo Clinic in Rochester accepts Medicare (Parts A, B and D), sometimes known as Traditional Medicare, as well as supplemental Medicare plans. We encourage you to learn more about your Medicare options at Medicare.gov or by calling Medicare (800-MEDICARE) or State Health Insurance Assistance Program (locate a local resource by calling 877-839-2675). Mayo Clinic is not authorized to assist with Medicare enrollment decisions.

If you choose to enroll in an out-of-network Medicare Advantage Plan, we can provide your medical records to the next in-network facility you select for your care.

Please continue to update Mayo Clinic on any changes to your healthcare coverage.

Sincerely,

Mayo Clinic in Rochester Leadership

Good Day,
My information is that Mayo does NOT accept Advantage Plans. I get an email from them(I go to the Mayo in Jacksonville FL) reminding me that they don’t accept advantage plans. If you want to be sure you can call the billing office for more information.

If you have traditional Medicare then that isn't a question you ever have to ask. If the facility accepts Medicare your covered

Seniors beware! Medicare Advantage plans take away choice of doctor. Mayo Clinic does not accept them, and many places are dropping Advantage Plans. When you first enroll in Medicare all insurance companies have to accept you for Medigap (with traditional Medicare) regardless of preexisting conditions. If you go with a Medicare Advantage plan and then discover how limiting it is and you want to go back to traditional Medicare (you can self-refer to any doctor in US that takes Medicare), you may be able to sign up for traditional Medicare BUT finding a Medigap plan to pay the 20% Medicare does not cover BECOMES extremely difficult. They are not obligated to accept you.

@vic83
Sorry, but I disagree with your comments. I am a certified Medicare counselor (not a broker) and my husband and I have had advantage plans for a total of about 35 years and we have never had a problem. Also, in CT and a few other states a person can get a Medigap plan even after they first join Medicare. Your beware is unwarranted—we have never had a doctor leave our networks (currently Aetna.) For Mayo Clinic, having traditional medicare is better, apparently.

@denisestlouie Not true for Advantage plans.

@sbcarcht Yes, that is the point that @denisestlouie made. We have Traditional Medicare with a Medigap plan. Our Traditional Medicare is accepted at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

@naturegirl5 So if I understand this correctly, the Allina Aetna Medicare Advantage Elite option is NOT accepted at Mayo, IF I would ever choose to get an appointment there, correct?? Thank you.

@moey2720 The best way to know for sure is to call Mayo or your health insurance provider and hope the person at the Insurance Company, in your case Allina Aetna, knows what they are talking about, is knowledgeable and telling actual facts instead of a "I think I know attitude."

@tsch AND what is inaccurate??? 1) At initial enrollment if you select Traditional Medicare, ALL Medigap insurance companies must accept you regardless of preexisting conditions. If you select Advantage and then want to change back, those Medigap companies can decide if they want to take you or not, and if you have serious issues, you are not profitable for them so what do you think they are going to do? 2) Traditional Medicare allows you to SELF REFER to any doctor in the United States who takes Medicare. Advantage plans require you to go to their network of doctors, with preapprovals, referrals and copays likely. People on Connect have described some of the difficulties they have had with Advantage plans 3) Maybe in CT, the State imposes some restrictions on Advantage plans, but Seniors are always giving up choice of doctor with an Advantage plan, and if they develop serious issues, they will have a lot more stress getting treatment! 4) Mayo no longer takes Advantage plans. I am a patient at Mayo and every year they send me a letter telling me that. I am so grateful I have traditional Medicare. I went from a local provider's abnormal chest x-ray to Lung cancer surgery at Mayo Clinic for stage 1 lung cancer in seven weeks with Thanksgiving and Christmas in-between. I self-referred to Mayo and got an appointment for the next day. I never had time to worry. Can't do that with Advantage Plans!!! AND......... I have read that Advantage plans actually cost government more money, also the news often reports how clinics are dropping Advantage plans, and the issue of pre-approval has been discussed on the news. MY VIEW: We need coverage not choice. Let Medicare offer a plan for the 20% not covered, Insurance companies only add cost not benefits. They need to go out and negotiate with providers every year. Providers have to hire extra people to administer plans. Just look at their financial documents and their sales and marketing costs! Healthcare is not a "free market" because we all need it. It is not served well by companies that are profit driven. And I am positive that private businesses would be very happy to be free of providing health care insurance to employees! it is just an expense for them.