Cancelling ACA for Medicare?

[reubenray]

Will I have to contact my ACA health care insurer and Healthcare.gov when I switch to Medicare and a supplemental plan to cancel or will this occur automatically?

I will be traveling at that time and I do not want to get double billed.

 

[MichaelB]

My DW has her Medicare birthday later this year. My plan is to confirm in writing with the insurer that her coverage ends on the 1st of that month, via certified letter, 45 days before the last month of coverage. They only accept one method for paying the premium, which is direct debit, and I do not trust at all their administrative processes or their customer service.

 

[ivinsfan]

Will I have to contact my ACA health care insurer and Healthcare.gov when I switch to Medicare and a supplemental plan to cancel or will this occur automatically?

I will be traveling at that time and I do not want to get double billed.

One way to avoid this is to carry your supplemental Medicare policy with the same carrier, it will switch seamlessly internally. That's how it worked for my DH. An insurance agent is good for this type of transaction.

 

[reubenray]

One way to avoid this is to carry your supplemental Medicare policy with the same carrier, it will switch seamlessly internally. That's how it worked for my DH. An insurance agent is good for this type of transaction.

Having the same carrier is not possible and dealing with an insurance agent to me is worse than dealing with a lawyer. I prefer to research online and enroll online.

 

[tomz]

We just went through this. DW became eligible for Medicare. Healthcare.gov has an option to make changes in status. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to work right so I called the help line. I was on hold for a few minutes, but not really long. After I explained the situation, the customer service rep made the changes we needed while I was on the phone with him. I checked online later and everything looked good. A few days later, we got a letter from our ACA carrier, Blue Cross of Florida, that they had received the change. I contacted the Healthcare.gov help line about 2 months before the changes were supposed to take place. I was surprised at how easy it was. I expected to have to make a bunch of calls, but all it took was one. Billing was direct debit and the amount was automatically changed to reflect the new situation. Of course, your mileage may vary.

 

[Youngster]

I spoke with my agent whom I trust, and he told me to get togehter with him about 3 months before the event. Spouse will be on medicare in October; so we will meet with him in early July. He said the process will be simple. I will be staying on the ACA plan.

 

[ivinsfan]

Having the same carrier is not possible and dealing with an insurance agent to me is worse than dealing with a lawyer. I prefer to research online and enroll online.

That's too bad, online works too, but the differences between an insurance agent and a lawyer is that the agent doesn't have a clock going running up the bill.

 

[reubenray]

I sent out several requests for supplement plans and most of the companies just sent me the info I wanted. But this one company's agent contacted me by phone and all he was interested in was their most expensive plan. He also is a retired lawyer. He kept hounding me for a meeting.

 

[MBSC]

We just went through this. DW became eligible for Medicare. Healthcare.gov has an option to make changes in status. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to work right so I called the help line. I was on hold for a few minutes, but not really long. After I explained the situation, the customer service rep made the changes we needed while I was on the phone with him. I checked online later and everything looked good. A few days later, we got a letter from our ACA carrier, Blue Cross of Florida, that they had received the change. I contacted the Healthcare.gov help line about 2 months before the changes were supposed to take place. I was surprised at how easy it was. Billing was direct debit and the amount was automatically changed to reflect the new situation. Of course, your mileage may vary.

+1
This is correct. If the plan was obtained through an exchange then any changes must be made through the exchange. This includes ending coverage. If you obtained an exchange plan through an agent, contact the agent. Also, HHS just released the following statement on the subject.

At the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), we are constantly monitoring the health of the Marketplace and are always looking to make improvements that benefit both consumers and issuers.

Transitioning Consumers to Medicare

To make sure consumers understand the steps they need to take to move to Medicare, this summer the Marketplace will start contacting enrollees as they near their 65th birthday. This outreach will provide consumers with the information they need to enroll in Medicare if they are eligible and end their Marketplace coverage if they choose to. This builds off the changes we made to the HealthCare.gov application this year which included new pop ups with reminders for consumers who are about to turn 65 that they may be eligible for Medicare.

Reference: https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Fact-sheets/2016-Fact-sheets-items/2016-06-08.html