Open enrollment for the 1999 Medicare supplement plans will be held from March 1-31, the Benefits Office has announced. You do not need to do anything if you want to remain in your current Medicare supplement plan. Changes made during this period will take effect on May 1.
An information packet has been sent to all current participants. If you do not receive a package by the end of this week and think you should have, call the Benefits Office at x3-6151 or send e-mail to benefits-www@mit.edu. The web site also contains the details of the open enrollment.
Anyone interested in changing to another supplement plan must submit an enrollment form by March 31. To obtain detailed plan information and enrollment forms, contact the Benefits Office either by phone or by e-mail; the information will be mailed to you on the next business day.
Those who are currently enrolled in Medicare supplement plans or who are nearing Medicare eligibility are invited to attend one of the seminars listed below. The sessions will provide information on Medicare and the supplement plans available through MIT. After the presentation, representatives of each plan will be available for individual consultation.
A representative from the Federal Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) will also provide preliminary information on a new set of retiree health plan options that may be available later in 1999. The new options called "Medicare + Choice" or "Medicare Part C" are designed to supplement the current Medicare program. These new Medicare options do not change employees' ability to choose an MIT-sponsored supplement plan for health coverage. At some point in the future, HCFA will mail Medicare beneficiaries a description of the new plan choices.
In past years, MIT has offered the Medicare supplement plans open enrollment every March. This year, MIT will hold an additional enrollment period in November 1999 for changes to become effective on January 1, 2000. Thereafter, the annual Medicare supplement plans open enrollment period will be held in November instead of March.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on February 24, 1999.
