Find out more<
During the Medicare Advantage open enrollment period, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee will be in your community to educate seniors about the healthcare options available to them and the benefits of a BlueAdvantage℠ plan.Lisa Wright, principal consultant and other Medicare advocates from BlueCross will be holding educational meetings all across the state that are free and open to the public. Anyone wanting to learn more about Medicare Advantage is welcome to attend. Below is a list of meetings scheduled for East Tennessee. All meetings are scheduled for 10 a.m.Oct. 17, East Ridge Community Center, 1517 Tombras Way, East RidgeOct. 19, Hampton Inn, 4355 Frontage Road NW, ClevelandOct. 21, Hampton Inn, 100 Hampton Drive, South PittsburgOct. 27, Comfort Inn, 2811 Decatur Pike, AthensOct. 31, Calvary Baptist Church, 5201 Dayton Blvd., ChattanoogaNov. 30, Calvary Baptist Church, 5201 Dayton Blvd., Chattanooga
In the past three years, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has doubled enrollment in its Medicare Advantage plans, topping 100,000 members this month for the first time.
As the enrollment period for most seniors to sign up for Medicare plans begins next week, officials of the Chattanooga-based health insurer said Thursday they hope to continue to attract more Medicare recipients to their plans.
In Tennessee, BlueCross still trails Humana, which has more than 130,000 Medicare Advantage members, primarily through customers gained through its 2008 purchase of Cariten Healthcare. But BlueCross has quickly become the fastest growing provider of the Medicare managed plans after introducing a no extra premium plan in 2013.
"We're in all 95 counties with that zero-premium plan and people like the value proposition - no cost is always good," said Todd Ray, vice president and general manager of senior products for BlueCross. "People also like that we aren't a distant national company."
Medicare Advantage plans, unlike traditional Medicare, provide an out-of-pocket limit (not to exceed $6,700) for services covered under Parts A (hospital insurance) and part B (medical insurance). Most Medicare Advantage plans also include Medicare prescription drug coverage (Part D).
In 2016, a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 31 percent of all Medicare recipients, or 17.6 million seniors, were enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan.
Although BlueCross is scaling back its coverage and service territory for its individual health plans offered through the health exchanges under the Affordable Care Act, the insurer is continuing to offer and promote Medicare Advantage plans with preferred provider organizations (PPOs) in all areas of Tennessee. BlueCross holds a quality rating of four out of five stars from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Nationwide, United Healthcare and Humana remain the biggest providers of Medicare Advantage plans.
Ray said about three-fourths of BlueCross enrollees in their Medicare Advantage plans pick the zero premium option.
The national growth in Medicare Advantage enrollment reflects the large number of seniors aging in to Medicare as well as beneficiaries switching from traditional Medicare to Medicare Advantage to help limit their overall expenses and to pick up coverage for prescription drugs, wellness programs and other services not covered by traditional Medicare, Kaiser said.
Open enrollment for Medicare Advantage plans for 2017 is from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7.