COVID-19 Medicare Benefits for Retirees

The Impact of Coronavirus

As the country (and the world) deals with stymieing the spread of novel-coronavirus, knowledge is our greatest weapon. COVID-19 stands to impact all facets of modern life including public health, insurance, the medical industry, and the economy as a whole. All of this can seem like so much to consider, especially for retirees who are in the age demographic most susceptible to coronavirus.

Much has been done to alert the public on how to sanitize and prevent the spread of germs, but what about the financial repercussions? Many are losing jobs, others are on reduced pay, and plenty of businesses have outright shutdown due to the lack of business.

This is all to say that financial planning is very important for retirees, who are often on a fixed income and are unemployed. Unexpected medical bills that are not covered by their insurance or Medicare can be a great source of stress.

How Does Medicare Cover COVID-19?

Thankfully, Medicare has expanded its coverage of telehealth services in an effort to keep the elderly safe. It is clear that for many people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, continuing care is important to managing them.

However, since coronavirus transmission can happen and not express itself for up to 2 weeks, the risk of going out into public can be real. To “flatten the curve” of infection and keep as many people as safe as possible, telehealth services are to be rendered without copayment.

Routine services such as checkups and evaluations are being offered through various insurance providers as a greater push to demonstrate the use of telehealth services as well as telemedicine.

More importantly, if you are feeling under the weather or think you may have contracted coronavirus, Medicare covers the cost of lab tests for COVID-19—no out of pocket expenses are required.

Additionally, all medically necessary hospitalizations are covered as a precaution and means to quarantine individuals who have contracted coronavirus. If you are diagnosed with COVID-19 and would have been discharged, under these circumstances you are to be covered for your stay during quarantine.

While no vaccine has yet to be approved, if such a vaccine becomes approved all eligible Medicare recipients will be covered for it.

Additional Medicare Benefits and Strategies

If you would like to learn more about the ways in which Medicare is helping those who are eligible in dealing with the coronavirus situation, you can find more useful information on their website here.

The gist of the changes all surround the dire need to limit person-to-person contact in hopes to limit the spread of the virus. Changes to services and waiving of typical fees are all a part to ensure social distancing as well as making sure those who have legitimate medical needs do not go unanswered during these times.

Retiree Group Benefits

Benistar is one with the nation and our hearts go out to those affected by novel coronavirus—especially retirees, who are supposed to be enjoying their time but must take extra precautions against the virus.

Our purpose is to provide continuing service, and as such we have closely monitored the situation as well as taking best practices from the CDC. If you’d like to read more about our efforts to keep our services available and keeping our staff safe, please read more here.

We are still open to all inquiries at 1-800-236-4782. Alternatively you may contact us here.