When Carbondale resident Mimi Jervis first turned 65, she signed up for Medicare, and her health insurance got a lot cheaper.
“At first, it was just wonderful,” she said. “But then what you notice is that more and more, some things aren't covered.”
Medicare is a federal health insurance program available to all adults over 65 and some younger adults with disabilities.
Like many other seniors in Garfield County, Jarvis will have to deal with changes to prescription drug coverage during open enrollment, which started on Oct. 15.
If she switches plans, she’ll have fewer to choose from — there are eight different Medicare plans offered in Garfield County this year, according to Laura Kay Good, a federally certified Medicare counselor.
Almost a decade ago, there were 23 plans, she said. That’s a drop of almost two-thirds.
“It's kind of scary, but there's still options out there,” Good said.
While Good says the total number of Medicare plans have dropped in Garfield County specifically, this year, seniors across the country are facing reduced Medicare Advantage plan options. Advantage plans are different from traditional Medicare because they’re run by private companies, rather than the federal government.
Advantage plans have been increasingly popular with Medicare customers, in part because they include dental and vision coverage. But they’ve also become less profitable for insurance companies.
Garfield County already lost all its Advantage options last year.
In Eagle County, the situation is similar. As of this upcoming enrollment year, they will no longer have any Advantage plans.
Pitkin County, however, will have 12 Medicare Advantage plan options offered through insurance company Devoted Health. But those plans have drawbacks too, according to Silt-based Medicare broker Aurora McCarroll.
“[Devoted doesn’t] have any agreements, even with their PPO side, with Aspen Hospital or Valley View,” McCarroll said. “They're slowly starting to get providers in their network. But it is a brand new carrier to the area, so it's going to take some time.”
On top of the dwindling Advantage plan options, seniors will also have to deal with changes to prescription drug coverage. In Garfield County this year, there are no zero premium Medicare drug plans. Good, the Medicare counselor, said local seniors previously on those plans will need to set up a new one, otherwise they’ll lose prescription drug coverage for 2027.
While these shifts are felt nationwide, they are especially acute in rural areas.
“That really hurts us in rural areas because we only had one plan,” McCarroll said. “So now it's putting all of those people in a supplement, and then that's driving the rates for the supplements up.”
So what can seniors do about all this? Good and McCarroll recommend every enrollee meet with a counselor or broker like themselves to walk through their options.
Battlement Mesa resident Penelope Olson has seen it from both sides, as Medicare recipient and counselor. Although she hasn’t seen major changes to her plan, deciding whether to continue with it still requires a lot of research.
“The nuances of everything are very difficult to follow, and it is a very hard thing for people to try to figure out on their own, unless they use an agent, a broker or … counselor,” Olson said.
As a counselor, Olson has been helping fellow seniors in Garfield County figure out their options. She said even just working through the basics of Medicare can be tricky, especially for seniors less familiar with technology.
“I feel like these older people are really getting left out in the cold because they don't know how to get a Medicare.gov account on the computer,” she said. “I really feel for those people.”
Until open enrollment ends on Dec. 7., Olson and Good will continue offering free guidance to seniors in Garfield County. To schedule an appointment, contact High Country
Volunteers at 970-896-6210 or email Laura Kay at programs@highcountryvolunteers.org. Spanish translation is available.
Additional free guidance is also available nationwide through 1-800-MEDICARE and online at medicare.gov.
McCarroll offers free consultations and is leading info sessions around Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin counties. Her next one will be at the Carbondale Branch Library on Oct. 31 at 11 a.m.
