{"id":7574,"date":"2016-04-19T08:39:08","date_gmt":"2016-04-19T12:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/?p=7574"},"modified":"2016-04-26T08:32:58","modified_gmt":"2016-04-26T12:32:58","slug":"did-you-know-blue-cross-blue-shield-nc-and-medicare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/2016\/04\/did-you-know-blue-cross-blue-shield-nc-and-medicare\/","title":{"rendered":"Did You Know? &#8211; Blue Cross Blue Shield NC and Medicare"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-7581\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/bigstock-Older-man-concentrating-on-fin-21899309-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Older man concentrating on financial job, using calculator at ho\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/bigstock-Older-man-concentrating-on-fin-21899309-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/bigstock-Older-man-concentrating-on-fin-21899309.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \>Transitioning into Medicare <\/a>can be a big adjustment, especially for those individuals now living on a fixed income, but Blue Cross\u00a0Blue Shield of North Carolina can help\u00a0make that transition simpler.\u00a0 Did you know, for instance, that Medicare will provide extra help for prescription drug costs for certain individuals who meet specified income and resource limits.\u00a0 Similar to a federal subsidy under the Affordable Care Act for individual under-65 health plans, Medicare offers assistance to those who meet certain criteria.\u00a0 If you do qualify, you could receive extra help paying for your Medicare drug plan.<\/p>\n<p>Some people\u00a0may automatically qualify for this program.\u00a0 For instance, if you have Medicare and become eligible for Medicaid or if you receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits without Medicaid, you will likely qualify.\u00a0 Medicare\u00a0usually notifies\u00a0those who automatically qualify and do not need to apply.\u00a0 Keep in mind, you must be enrolled in a Medicare drug plan in order to receive the extra help benefit.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>For those individuals who do not qualify automatically, you can still apply if you believe you may be eligible for assistance.\u00a0 You can apply at your state Medicaid office or call 1-800-MEDICARE.\u00a0 If you qualify, you can then join a prescription drug plan on your own or let Medicare enroll you in a plan.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/understanding_medicare\/\" target=\"_blank\">Knowing your Medicare options <\/a>is one of the smartest things you can do to ensure you have the coverage you need for health care and prescription drug costs.\u00a0 In addition to original Medicare, you may want to consider a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/medicare_supplements\/\" target=\"_blank\">Medicare Supplement through Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC <\/a>to help fill the gaps left by Medicare.<\/p>\n<p>For questions regarding\u00a0NC health insurance and your\u00a0Medicare options, speak with one of our experienced agents by calling <strong>888-765-5400<\/strong> or visit our website at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\" target=\"_blank\">nchealthplans.com.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Transitioning into Medicare can be a big adjustment, especially for those individuals now living on a fixed income, but Blue Cross\u00a0Blue Shield of North Carolina can help\u00a0make that transition simpler.\u00a0 Did you know, for instance, that Medicare will provide extra help for prescription drug costs for certain individuals who meet specified income and resource limits.\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,54],"tags":[867,88,874,875],"class_list":["post-7574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bcbsnc-insurance","category-medicare-supplement-coverage","tag-bcbnsc-medicare-supplement","tag-medicare","tag-medicare-options","tag-part-d-prescription-coverage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7574"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7692,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7574\/revisions\/7692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}