CarePlus Medicare Advantage Review 2023

CarePlus Health Plans, a subsidiary of Humana, offers Benefit of Medicare projects in Florida. All CarePlus plans are highly rated and most offer $0 premiums.

Here’s what you need to know about CarePlus Medicare Advantage.

Advantages and disadvantages of CarePlus Medicare Advantage

CarePlus offers have advantages and disadvantages.

• Inexpensive packages: Most Medicare Advantage plans from CarePlus have a $0 premium.

• Member satisfaction: CarePlus’ parent company, Humana, ranks second out of nine leading providers in JD Power’s 2022 Medicare Advantage Member Satisfaction Index.

• Drug coverage: Most CarePlus Medicare Advantage plans include prescription drug coverage.

• Limited availability: CarePlus offers Medicare Advantage plans in only one state: Florida.

• Only HMOs: CarePlus only offers HMO plans, which generally offer the least flexibility when seeking medical care.

Medicare Advantage plans available

There are several types of CarePlus Medicare Advantage plans, and they vary in structure, costs, and benefits. CarePlus offers Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug Plansor MAPD, as well as Medicare Advantage plans without drug coverage.

Plan offerings include the following types:

CarePlus Medicare Advantage plans include a variety of benefits not available with Original Medicare. Here are some examples, although availability varies by plan:

• Over-the-counter allowance: Members can receive a monthly stipend which they can use to pay for over-the-counter items such as cough medicine and painkillers.

• Care card: Members may be eligible for a pre-loaded card that they can use to pay for dental, hearing or vision services that exceed what the plan pays.

• SilverSneakers: Members can visit gyms and access live and pre-recorded online fitness classes suitable for seniors.

• Meal delivery: Members may be able to receive a number of home-delivered meals after an overnight stay in a hospital or qualified nursing facility.

• Chemotherapy related wigs: Members may be eligible for reimbursement of wig costs related to chemotherapy treatment.

• Part B Premium Refund: Some plans may include a certain amount towards your monthly Part B premium.

Here’s how CarePlus members can contact customer service:

• Call Member Services at 800-794-5907 (TTY: 711). From Oct. 1 to March 31, services are open 7 days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. And from April 1 to Sept. 30, services are open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

CarePlus Medicare Advantage Service Area

CarePlus offers Medicare Advantage plans in Florida only.

CarePlus’ parent company, Humana, is the second-largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans in the country.^[0]

Costs for Medicare Advantage plans depend on your plan, geographic location, and health needs. One of the costs to consider is the premium of the plan. Most CarePlus Medicare Advantage plans have a $0 premium^[0]

In 2023, all CarePlus Medicare Advantage plans that are not special needs plans have a $0 premium, and approximately 80% of CarePlus SNPs have a $0 premium. CarePlus SNPs with a monthly premium cost between $14.70 and $18.10 per month^[0]

Even as a Medicare Advantage user, you will still be responsible for paying your Health Insurance Part B premium, which is $170.10 per month in 2022 ($164.90 in 2023), although some plans cover some or all of this cost. (Most people pay this standard amount, but if your income exceeds a certain threshold, you’ll pay more.)

Other reimbursable expenses to consider include:

• If the plan covers part of your monthly Medicare Part B premium.

• The plan’s annual deductibles and any other deductibles, such as a drug deductible.

• Co-payments and/or coinsurance for each visit or service. For example, there may be a $10 co-pay for seeing your primary care physician and a $45 co-pay for seeing a specialist.

• The maximum in-network and out-of-network payouts for the plan.

• Whether your medical providers are in-network or out-of-network, or how often you can go out-of-network for care.

• If you need additional benefits and if the plan charges for them.

To get an idea of ​​costs, use Medicare’s plan finder to compare information between plans available in your area. You can select by insurance company to view only CarePlus plans or compare between companies. You can also shop directly on the CarePlus website by entering your zip code.

Average star rating, weighted by listing: 4.0

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services maintains star rating for Medicare Advantage plans on a 5-point scale, ranking plans from best (5 stars) to worst (1 star). The agency bases these ratings on the plans’ quality of care and measures of customer satisfaction, and the ratings may change from year to year.

Based on the most recent year of data and weighted by enrollment, CarePlus’ 2023 Medicare Advantage plans achieve an average rating of 4.0 stars^[0]

The average star rating for plans from all providers is 4.15^[0]

There are a few companies that weigh in on health plans or the strength of the company in question, and we’ve included two of them here:

AM Best is a rating agency specializing in the insurance sector. In September 2022, AM Best affirmed its financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) for the majority of Humana Inc.’s health and dental insurance subsidiaries, including CarePlus health plans.^[0]

An A- rating in this category indicates that AM Best believes Humana has an excellent ability to meet its ongoing insurance obligations.

In his Medicare Advantage Study in USA 2022 – the eighth to date – JD Power measured member satisfaction with Medicare Advantage plans based on six factors: coverage and benefits, choice of provider, cost, customer service, information and communication, and billing and payment. On these measures, CarePlus’ parent company, Humana, scored 824 points out of 1,000 and ranked second among Medicare Advantage’s top nine providers.^[0]

CarePlus Health Plans was incorporated in 1985 as Florida 1st Health Plans. The company changed its name to CarePlus Health Plans in 2002 and is headquartered in Miami. Humana acquired CarePlus in 2005.

CarePlus offers Medicare Advantage plans and covers more than 200,000 members in Florida.