The New Age of Medicare Application and Benefits Management in 2013

Medicare continues to be one of the most important types of health coverage for people across the United States, with millions of senior using it to cover their health care expenditures. Under the ACA reforms, Medicare has been expanded. This has been done to ensure that the Donut Hole disadvantages that were unleashed in 2010 are undone and people can undertake more preventive care services without having to pay any copays or deductibles. In the State Exchange ecosystem, the importance of Medicare hasn't been compromised. This is reflected in the fact medical insurance software vendors have received requests for healthcare software solutions to fuel the exchanges that provide dedicated Medicare solutions like a Medicare quote engine along with online tips and tools to help consumers with Medicare eligibility / enrollment. This is understandable since the central point of making the health insurance market easier for consumers cannot be more relevant to any other segment than the seniors for whom Medicare application and streaming through plethora of supplementary plans was proving to be quite demanding.

The demand for Medicare-centric solutions is also being reflected among the private exchange developers who are facing increasing requests from the private payers to equip their existing portals with Medicare sales portal operability. Most of them are demanding a Medicare sales portal within their online portal where a recommendation engine suggest the best of Medicare supplement plans to purchase and guidance through call centers, toll free numbers, live chat, etc. to guide about the Medicare application process. This has been done to address the issues that seniors face when they need to search and sort from different Medicare plans. With the presence of a Medicare search and quote engine, choosing the most relevant plan becomes a lot easier.

Apart from a Medicare enrollment portal, medical insurance software solutions providers are also finding requests for providing online capabilities to manage Medicare cancellations and renewals. The more demanding of Private Exchange hosts are seeking solutions that allows them to manage late payments, bad enrollments and application letter history with a few clicks of the mouse.

Other capabilities that being expected from medical insurance software solutions provider include the ability to communicate directly with the CMS Medicare system—this is vital for ensuring ongoing compatibility with the CMS guidelines that tend to get updated rather often. This is why some insurers are seeking medical insurance software solutions where the Medicare eligibility can be determined within seconds after providing some basic personal details like age, gender, employment status and income proof.