Amerigroup plans supply aggressive premiums and $0-premium choices, however their scores for each high quality and member satisfaction are beneath common.
Right here’s what it is best to find out about Amerigroup Medicare Benefit.
Amerigroup Medicare Benefit professionals and cons
Amerigroup’s choices have benefits and downsides.
Professionals
Low-cost plans: Seven out of 10 Amerigroup Medicare Benefit plans are $0 premium.
Versatile advantages: Some Amerigroup Medicare Benefit plans supply “On a regular basis Extras,” which lets members select two additional advantages for his or her plan from an inventory together with cash towards assistive units, cash towards wholesome groceries, or cash towards dental, imaginative and prescient or listening to care.
24/7 nurse line entry: Amerigroup members might have entry to a 24/7 nurse line.
Cons
Restricted availability: Amerigroup gives Medicare Benefit plans in solely seven states. Most of Amerigroup’s rivals have a bigger footprint.
Low star and satisfaction scores: Amerigroup plans’ common star ranking from the Facilities for Medicare & Medicaid Providers, weighted by enrollment, is 3.21 stars (the nationwide common for all suppliers is 4.15 stars), and Amerigroup’s mum or dad firm, Elevance Well being, got here in seventh out of 9 suppliers in J.D. Energy’s newest member satisfaction examine.
Low-rated drug plans: Amerigroup’s stand-alone prescription drug plans obtain 2 stars from the Facilities for Medicare & Medicaid Providers.
Accessible Medicare Benefit plans
There are a number of sorts of Amerigroup Medicare Benefit plans, and so they differ when it comes to construction, prices and advantages. Amerigroup gives Medicare Benefit prescription drug plans, or MAPDs, in addition to stand-alone prescription drug plans and Medicare Benefit plans with out drug protection.
Plan choices embody the next varieties:
Accessible Half D prescription drug plans
Most of Amerigroup’s Medicare Benefit plans embody Half D drug protection, however the firm additionally sells stand-alone Half D prescription drug plans, or PDPs, in two states: Arizona and Texas. These plans present drug protection for folks enrolled in Medicare Half A and Half B, so that they don’t present medical protection.
Amerigroup gives two plan choices in every state the place it sells stand-alone prescription drug plans: a primary possibility and a “plus” possibility with enhanced protection. For instance, in the event you reside in Dallas, Texas, you may have these two choices from Amerigroup:
Amerivantage Rx Fundamental (PDP).
Amerivantage Rx Plus (PDP).
Right here’s how these two plans examine:
Amerivantage Rx Fundamental (PDP)
Amerivantage Rx Plus (PDP)
*For a 30-day provide of a coated Half D prescription drug at a most popular retail pharmacy after assembly any relevant deductible.
Premiums, deductibles, coated medicine, prices for every tier and pharmacy preparations all differ by plan. You possibly can enter details about your prescriptions and select your pharmacy on Amerigroup’s web site to test how every accessible plan would cowl your drugs.
Amerigroup Medicare Benefit plans embody a wide range of advantages, some which are constructed into the plan and others that members choose from a menu of “On a regular basis Extras,” if the plan consists of them. Listed below are some examples, though availability varies by plan:
SilverSneakers: Members can go to gyms and entry reside and pre-recorded on-line health lessons tailor-made to older adults.
Health tracker: Members could also be eligible for a well being and health tracker to assist them follow their health targets.
Meals on your continual situation: If members have a continual situation requiring particular vitamin, they can obtain as much as two meals per day for 90 days.
Over-the-counter allowance: Members might obtain an allowance every quarter that they’ll spend on eligible non-prescription over-the-counter gadgets.
Pest management: For sure continual situations, members could also be eligible to have their house handled frequently for normal pests.
24/7 nurse line: Members might have telephone entry to a registered nurse 24 hours a day.
Transportation: Members could also be coated for a sure variety of rides to and from plan-approved places.
Entry to extras: Plans with “On a regular basis Extras” let members select two of a number of additional advantages, together with cash towards assistive units, hours of in-home companionship, or cash towards dental, imaginative and prescient or listening to wants.
Right here’s how Amerigroup members can contact customer support:
Amerigroup Medicare Benefit service space
Amerigroup gives Medicare Benefit plans in seven states. The corporate additionally gives Medicare prescription drug plans in two states.
Amerigroup’s mum or dad firm, Elevance Well being, is the second-largest well being insurer within the nation by market share[0]. Amerigroup-brand plans cowl greater than 175,000 Medicare Benefit beneficiaries as of October 2022.
Prices for Medicare Benefit plans rely in your plan, your geographic location and your well being wants. One of many prices to think about is the plan’s premium. Seven in 10 Amerigroup Medicare Benefit plans have $0 premiums[0].
For 2023 Medicare Benefit plans with a premium, the month-to-month consolidated premium (together with Half C and Half D) ranges from $9.30 to $19.20. For particular wants plans, or SNPs, with a premium, month-to-month premiums vary from $17 to $35.20[0].
Whilst a Medicare Benefit person, you’ll nonetheless be accountable for paying your Medicare Half B premium, which is $170.10 per 30 days in 2022 ($164.90 in 2023), though some plans cowl half or all of this price. (Most individuals pay this customary quantity, but when your revenue is above a sure threshold, you may pay extra.)
Different out-of-pocket prices to think about embody:
Whether or not the plan covers any a part of your month-to-month Medicare Half B premium.
The plan’s yearly deductibles and another deductibles, reminiscent of a drug deductible.
Copayments and/or coinsurance for every go to or service. As an example, there could also be a $10 copay for seeing your major physician and a $45 copay for seeing a specialist.
The plan’s in-network and out-of-network out-of-pocket maximums.
Whether or not your medical suppliers are in-network or out-of-network, or how usually it’s possible you’ll exit of community for care.
Whether or not you require additional advantages, and if the plan expenses for them.
To get a way of prices, use Medicare’s plan discovering instrument to check info amongst accessible plans in your space. You possibly can choose by insurance coverage provider to see solely Amerigroup plans or examine throughout carriers. You may as well store immediately from Amerigroup’s web site by getting into your ZIP code.
Common star ranking, weighted by enrollment: 3.21
The Facilities for Medicare & Medicaid Providers maintains star scores for Medicare Benefit and Medicare Half D plans on a 5-point scale, rating plans from greatest (5 stars) to worst (1 star). The company bases these scores on plans’ high quality of care and measurements of buyer satisfaction, and scores might change from 12 months to 12 months.
Primarily based on the newest 12 months of information and weighted by enrollment, Amerigroup’s 2023 Medicare Benefit plans get common scores of three.21 stars. There are not any Amerigroup Medicare Benefit plans with a better ranking than 3.5 stars[0].
The typical star ranking for plans from all suppliers is 4.15[0].
The place did Amerigroup outperform?
The place did Amerigroup battle?
There are just a few firms that weigh in on well being plans or on the power of the corporate in query, and we’ve included two right here:
AM Greatest Monetary Energy Score: A (Wonderful)
AM Greatest is a credit standing company that focuses on the insurance coverage trade. In December 2021, AM Greatest affirmed its Monetary Energy Score of A for the core Blue Cross Blue Defend-branded insurance coverage subsidiaries of mum or dad firm Anthem, which is now Elevance Well being[0]. An A ranking on this class signifies that AM Greatest believes the corporate has a wonderful capability to fulfill its ongoing insurance coverage obligations.
J.D. Energy Rating: seventh out of 9
In its 2022 U.S. Medicare Benefit Research — the eighth it has achieved thus far — J.D. Energy measured member satisfaction with Medicare Benefit plans based mostly on six elements: protection and advantages, supplier selection, price, customer support, info and communication, and billing and fee. On these measures, Amerigroup’s mum or dad firm, Elevance Well being, scored 791 factors out of 1,000 and got here in seventh out of the highest 9 Medicare Benefit suppliers[0].
Evaluate Medicare Benefit suppliers
Get extra info beneath about a few of the main Medicare Benefit suppliers. These insurers supply plans in most states. The plans you may select from will rely in your ZIP code and county.
About Elevance Well being (previously Anthem)
Amerigroup’s mum or dad firm, Elevance Well being, is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, and was shaped in 2004 out of a merger between WellPoint Well being Networks and Anthem. In 2022, the corporate modified its title from Amerigroup to Elevance Well being, however sells Medicare Benefit plans below quite a lot of manufacturers, together with Amerigroup.
Elevance Well being gives industrial medical insurance for people and employers; Medicare Benefit and Medicaid plans; life, incapacity, dental and imaginative and prescient insurance coverage; and companies for different authorities medical insurance packages.
In 2021, Elevance Well being had $138.6 billion in annual income.
When you’ve got further questions on Medicare, go to Medicare.gov or name 800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227, TTY 877-486-2048).
