/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/H4MW47ILPFBFLGDYY63KJGPEM4.jpg "Medicare Advantage plans’ ‘free’ dental, vision, hearing benefits come at a cost")
When Teresa Nolan Barensfeld turned 65 last year, she quickly decided on a private Medicare Advantage plan to cover her health expenses.
Barensfeld, a freelance editor from Chatham, N.Y., liked that it covered her medications, while her local hospitals and her primary care doctor were in the plan’s network. It also had a modest $31 monthly premium.
She said it was a bonus that the plan included dental, hearing and vision benefits, which traditional Medicare does not.
But Barensfeld, who works as a copy editor, missed some of the important fine print about her plan. It covers a maximum of $500 annually for care from out-of-network dentists, including her longtime provider. That means getting one crown or tending to a couple of cavities could leave her footing most of the bill. She was circumspect about the cap on dental coverage, saying, “I don’t expect that much for a $31 plan.”
Through television, social media, newspapers and mailings, tens of millions of Medicare beneficiaries are being inundated this month — as they are each autumn during the open enrollment period — by marketing from Medicare Advantage plans touting low costs and benefits not found with traditional Medicare. Dental, vision and hearing coverage are among the most advertised benefits.
Those services are also at the center of heated negotiations on Capitol Hill among Democrats as they seek to expand a number of social programs. Progressives, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), are pressing to add dental, vision and hearing benefits to traditional Medicare.
Despite the high-powered advertising of the Medicare Advantage plans pitched by the likes of celebrities Joe Namath and Jimmie Walker, beneficiaries still generally end up with significant out-of-pocket costs for many of these services, a recent study by KFF found. That’s partly because the private plans limit benefits. While people in traditional Medicare paid on average about $992 for dental care in 2018, those in Medicare Advantage plans paid $766, according to the study. For vision, people with traditional Medicare paid $242, compared with $194 for those covered by a Medicare Advantage plan.
“It stands to reason there would be lower out-of-pocket spending in Medicare Advantage than in traditional Medicare, but the differences are not as large as one might expect,” said Tricia Neuman, a senior vice president at KFF and executive director of its Medicare policy program.
More than 26 million people were enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans for this year — 42% of all Medicare beneficiaries. Enrollment in the private plans has doubled since 2012 and tripled since 2007. Unlike traditional Medicare, these private plans generally allow coverage through a limited network of doctors, hospitals and pharmacies.
Open enrollment for 2022 plans runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, and some Advantage plans offer enticements such as hundreds of dollars’ worth of groceries, home-delivered meals or $1,000 in over-the-counter items such as adhesive bandages and aspirin.
But many seniors don’t realize there are restrictions on these benefits. They may cover extras only for enrollees with certain
