By Charles W. Moline

For the Austin Daily Herald

Open enrollment is only a few weeks away and we are getting ready, learning about the new plans and pricing for insurance policies when the 2020 Medicare and MNsure open enrollment periods begin.

Medicare open enrollment (age 65 and older) begins Oct. 15 and goes through Dec. 7. This is the time of year Medicare Subscribers can make changes to their Medicare and RX plans.

We can tell you that exciting changes are being made to benefits and premiums with many of the major insurance carriers available in our area, though we have to wait until Oct. 1 to get into specifics. This is of utmost importance as many individuals were deemed enrolled in plans their insurance carrier picked for them last year. This year is a good time to review your plan and make certain you are getting the most for your premium dollar. It appears lower premiums in health and prescription drug plans may be seen. This is good news for Medicare eligible consumers.

Mnsure open enrollment (under age 65) starts Nov. 1 and goes through Dec. 23. If this looks like you have less time than normal, it is. Mnsure will not be extending open enrollment this year for the first time in many years. We have heard that premiums will be flat for southeast Minnesota consumers.

Anyone who is on an individual plan and receiving an advance premium tax credit will be getting a letter from their insurance company the end of October. As part of this letter it will show you what you have been paying in 2019 and what your new estimated premium will be for 2020. These estimates are never accurate because the new tax credits are unknown until Nov. 1.

For this reason, people have been surprised when they see the “actual” premium in January.  We encourage everyone who is on an individual plan to contact a Broker to make sure there are no premium surprises. A broker can help you with enrollment, but most importantly be your advocate should you have problems with MNsure or the insurer. Advisornet Financial is a Mnsure Broker Enrollment Center for SE Minnesota.

As a MNsure Broker Enrollment Center we have access to an advanced team of personnel at MNsure and dedicated contact numbers to ensure clients are taken care of correctly and quickly.

All assistance is provided at no cost for Medicare or Mnsure assistance/enrollments.

Charles Moline CLU, ChFC is senior advisor for Corporate Financial Services dba