Types of Medicare Advantage Plans in UTAH

The Different Types of Medicare Advantage Plans in Utah

Utah finally as a Medicare Advantage plan available in all counties.  Depending on the county where you live in Utah, you might have a lot of Medicare Advantage plans in your area, or you might just have one.  Let’s talk about the different types of Medicare Advantage plans in Utah.

The highly populated counties like Salt Lake County, Utah County, Weber County, Davis county, Cache county, Wasatch County, Summit County, Box Elder County, Morgan County, Tooele County, Washington County, Iron County, have a bunch of options to choose from. 

The lower populated counties in Utah do have options, but there are few and in some cases just one. 

Medicare Advantage Plan

A Medicare Advantage plan is a Medicare health plan that usually combines all your Medicare parts into one plan.  Medicare Advantage plans are also referred to part C. All Medicare Advantage plans in Utah have Part A (hospital coverage), Part B (doctor coverage), and most have part D (prescription coverage) all in one plan. 

Most Medicare Advantage plans also include Dental, Vision, Hearing, Transportation, Gym Membership, Over the counter benefits and other benefits that you don’t get with original medicare.  

HMO

Most Medicare Advantage plans in Utah are either HMO or PPO plans.  Medicare HMOs are health maintenance organizations through which Medicare beneficiaries can access their Medicare services. In a nutshell, if you go with an HMO medicare advantage plan in Utah, you need to make sure your doctors and providers are in your plan’s network.  Some HMO plans in Utah require you to get a referral to see a specialist.

PPO

A Medicare PPO plan stands for Preferred Provider Organization. It means that the plan has network health providers that have agreed to see the plan’s members at contract negotiated rates.  It also means you can go out of your preferred network if you choose, but you will most likely pay a higher cost.

You do not need to get a referral to see a specialist with a PPO plan. If you go with a PPO, I highly recommend you stay in your plan’s network for your services so you don’t pay out-of-network higher costs.

$0 Premium

Most Medicare plans in Utah have a very low monthly premium, and a lot of them have a $0 premium.  Medicare pays the Medicare Advantage plan an amount of money for you to be on their plan, and that is how they’re able to keep their premiums so low. 

Different Companies

There are a lot of similarities between the different medicare advantage plans in Utah.  The main difference is going to be what doctors and hospitals take the plan. Here is a list of some Medicare Advantage plan companies in Utah in 2020:

• United Health Care
• Aetna
• Humana
• Select Health
• Regence
• Molina
• Lasso (Medicare Savings Account Plan)

Some companies offer multiple plans in Utah and some only offer one plan.  All of these companies have contracted with Medicare to be able to offer these plans in Utah.  

MSA

There is one Medicare Savings Account plan in Utah.  This plan is similar to an HSA but it’s called an MSA (Medicare Savings Account).  Just like an HSA, the MSA (medicare savings account) is a high deductible plan. Once you reach your deductible, then the MSA pays 100% of your medical costs.  The MSA plan in Utah is a $0 monthly premium.

Here is the beauty of the MSA, the MSA plan deposits a certain amount of money (just north of $3,000 in 2020) into a bank account in your name, to help cover the costs of your medical expenses.  You can use this money for any kind of medical cost: Hospital, Doctors visits, dental work, vision, the list goes on and on. The MSA is pretty new to Utah and there are definitely some pros and cons of the MSA so call us, and we can walk you through it. 

Customized for you

Every person is different and everyone’s own health needs are unique.  A medicare advantage plan in Utah could be a great fit for your situation.  Call us and we can walk you through the different plans so you can make the right decision.  We know the plans in Utah like the backs of our hands. We live here, so we know the doctors, the hospitals, the clinics and all the other important stuff you need to know when picking a Medicare plan in Utah.