Two questions you should answer during the Medicare Open Enrollment Period

• If you’re in traditional Medicare and have supplemental coverage, you might be paying a little more than if you are in a private Medicare Advantage plan, but you have the widest choice of hospitals and doctors. And, you have good protection against health and financial risk.
• If you’re in a private Medicare plan, you might save some money upfront, but you have a limited group of doctors and hospitals you can use. If you end up needing a lot of health care, it’s hard to know whether the doctors or hospitals in the health plan’s network will meet your needs. If you use out-of-network doctors and hospitals, you will likely spend a lot out of pocket for that care, more than your costs in traditional Medicare with a Medicare supplemental plan. Also, if you will be traveling out of area and you need care, it’s not likely your care will be covered, except in emergencies or urgent care situations.

2. Is your Medicare (Part D) drug coverage meeting your needs? If you have Part D drug coverage, you should consider your options and not assume that the plan you have is still the one that you want or will cover the same drugs with the same cost sharing next year. The Part D plans often change the drugs they cover and the terms under which they cover drugs from one year to the next, as well as midyear sometimes. What makes sense this year may not make much sense at all next year. In 2015, the average monthly premium nationally is $32.