A Few Things To Know About Your Otc Benefits
The OTC allowance can either be a monthly or a quarterly benefit period. Its important to remember these two things.
Many seniors use these benefits to ensure they have necessities, like toothpaste and toothbrushes. When living on a fixed income with rising costs, the OTC benefit can help stretch your retirement dollars.
What Is It And How To Use It
Many of this years Medicare advantage plans have an OTC benefit. This benefit provides each member a monthly fixed amount of money to use to order common over-the-counter items available to order through a catalog or at your local pharmacy.
If your plan has this benefit you will receive a monthly, quarterly or annual amount to purchase over-the-counter products, including things like:
- Smoking Cessation: Nicotine replacement patches
- Oral Health: Toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss
- Pain Relief: Ibuprofen, acetaminophen
- Cold Remedies: Cough drops, daytime/nighttime cold medicine
- Digestive Health: Heartburn relief tablets, daily fiber
- First Aid: Bandages
- Incontinence: Bladder control products
The monthly benefit with most plans does not roll over month to month. In other words, it is a use it or lose it system so make sure you understand how your benefit works.
If youd like to learn more about what your plan offers or need a copy of the catalog for ordering, use the form below and well call you or you can call us at 207-370-0143.
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How Do I Get Over
These over-the-counter benefits are only available through Medicare Advantage health plans. To enroll in an MAPD with an OTC benefit, you must have active Medicare Parts A & B and live in the plans service area.
The over-the-counter benefits included with HMO or special needs plans usually contain a higher allowance. Some PPO plans have the benefit. However, the benefit amount may be lower.
To qualify for a Medicare Advantage plan, you must live in the service area and maintain an active Medicare Part A and Part B. People with Medicaid can be eligible for an SNP plan.
These special needs programs have enhanced benefits, and Medicare helps cover the cost-sharing. The beneficiary is responsible for copays, coinsurance, and deductibles.
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What Do I Do If An Item I Need Is Not Available Or I Cant Find It Online
If youre ordering online, you will be able to see when an item is no longer available. You may be able to find a similar item that you can order. When you order by phone and an item isnt available, the representative will try to find an alternative item thats close to the one you want. When this happens and youve ordered multiple items, they may arrive separately in different shipments because they may be from different locations. Alternative items may automatically be sent to you if an items availability changes after youve placed an order.
If youre a Peoples Health Secure Health or Peoples Health Secure Complete member and youre shopping in-store, you will need to first find approved alternative items in your catalog or on the Healthy Benefits Plus website, then purchase the approved alternative.
Easy Ways To Enjoy Your Benefits
- Onlinego to carepartnersct.com/order-OTC, log-in with your OTC Card number and your CarePartners of Connecticut member ID number, and select the items you want to purchase. You can also access the online ordering site through your secure online account.
- call MonFri, MonFri, 8 a.m.7 p.m. ET, and a Medline representative will take your order.
- fill out the mail order form included with the Medline catalog. You will receive a catalog by mail.
OTC items ordered online, by phone or by mail will be delivered approximately 2-5 business days after the order is received by Medline.
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Do I Pay For Shipping
No, all shipping or delivery charges are covered by your plan when you order online, by phone or by mail and meet the minimum purchase requirement.
Peoples Health Secure Health and Peoples Health Secure Complete members: Note that Walmart may use different methods to get your order to you as timely as possible. The method determines the type of packaging used for your order. For instance, some items may be shipped to you in a box when the items come from a Walmart fulfillment center. Other times, your order may be fulfilled at a local store, and the items will be delivered to you using a local delivery resource, like DoorDash or UberEATS. Because the order is prepared directly in a store instead of a fulfillment center, the order will be delivered in the same plastic bags that are used for in-store purchases.
Anthem Medicare Advantage Members In California Can Now Spend Their Over
The partnership, launched on January 1, is intended to make it simpler and easier for older beneficiaries to engage in self-care in a cost-effective manner.
Beneficiaries can purchase first aid supplies, orthopedic support braces, pain relievers, vitamins, and other items to maintain wellness and address minor health concerns.
Dig Deeper
Creating an enhanced healthcare experience for Californians and giving them easier access to the products and services that aid consumers in leading healthier lives requires us to develop meaningful solutions for the individuals enrolled in our plans, said Josh Martin, President of Anthems Medicare West Region.
We are pleased to work together with CVS Pharmacy because we share the common goal of helping individuals manage their health in more effective ways. We believe that collaborations like this can make a tremendous difference for consumers who often are managing chronic medical conditions.
Many of Anthems Medicare Advantage options include an over-the-counter allowance, sometimes up to $300 per quarter.
For older adults on fixed incomes, the allowance can support better health maintenance, chronic disease management, and preventive care to avoid more expensive healthcare needs.
Anthem has a similar partnership with Walmart, which also began on the first of the year.
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What Can I Purchase With My Medicare Advantage Otc Card
Thankfully, getting your much-needed over-the-counter medications has never been easier. Always check your online Medicare OTC card catalog to see what products your plan covers.
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Products covered can vary depending on your provider and plan.
But most policies include the following:
- Cold and cough medications
Healthfirst Medicare Advantage Plans With An Otc Plus Card
If youre a Healthfirst Medicare Advantage plan member with an OTC Plus card, you have the flexibility to spend your benefit in more ways and at more places.
Use your OTC Plus card to pay for non-prescription drugs, health-related items, healthy foods, and even home Internet service.
Save at your neighborhood pharmacy, farmers markets, online, and other participating retailers.
Remember to activate your OTC Plus card and bring it with you to participating pharmacies and other retailers, as you cannot use your Healthfirst Member ID or Medicare card to purchase OTC items.
Healthfirst plans with an OTC Plus card:
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How Your Otc Benefit Works
At the beginning of each calendar quarter, your OTC card is loaded with the quarterly OTC amount for your plan.
Your balance does not carry overtry to spend the full amount before the end of each quarter.
Dont throw out your cardit will be reloaded at the start of the next calendar quarter.
Use the Medline catalogYour over-the-counter benefit can only be used to purchase items from the catalog supplied by Medline.
$0 Meal Delivery After An Inpatient Hospital Stay
Nutrition plays a critical role in maintaining optimal healthand we want to help! BCBSRI offers our Medicare Advantage members a meal delivery program through ILS Meals by Independent Living Systems. Youll get a weeks worth of meals delivered to your doorup to four times a yearwhen you get home from an inpatient hospital stay.
Home delivered meals offer a convenient and affordable way to recover once you are discharged from an inpatient hospital stay. The hospital discharge planner will help coordinate this benefit.
Benefits of the meal delivery program are:
- Meals delivered directly to your home following hospital stays
- Easy to heat in conventional ovens and microwaves
- Flash frozen for guaranteed freshness
- Nutritionally balancedcarbohydrate, sodium, fat, and portion controlled
- Menus designed and reviewed by registered, licensed dietitians and updated every six months to provide variety
13 Menu types to meet your unique needs
*Indicates heart healthy meal
- Low-carbohydrate meals recommended to control diabetes
- Ethnic options*
- Meals that do not contain fish
- General wellness*
- Prepared in adherence to Jewish law
- Gluten free diabetic*Excluded to control for carbohydrate content
- Gluten free*Contains less than 20 ppm gluten per meal
For more information on the meals program, call Independent Living Systems at 833-853-8946 and provide your BCBSRI Member ID number. Call Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Deliveries are made Monday through Friday only.
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There Are A Few Different Ways To Order Your Otc Items:
If you prefer not to leave your home you an order items either online or over the phone:
Additional Anthem 2022 OTC catalog information:
I Received My Online Order In Multiple Shipments Why
The items you ordered may not all be available from the same fulfillment center. If this happens, to make sure you get your items as quickly as possible, the items may be shipped separately from each fulfillment center.
If youre a Peoples Health Secure Health or Peoples Health Secure Complete member, note that Walmart may use different methods to get your order to you as timely as possible. The method determines the type of packaging used for your order. For instance, some items may be shipped to you in a box when the items come from a Walmart fulfillment center. Other times, your order may be fulfilled at a local store, and the items will be delivered to you using a local delivery resource, like DoorDash or UberEATS. Because the order is prepared directly in a store instead of a fulfillment center, the order will be delivered in the same plastic bags that are used for in-store purchases.
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Why Choose Otc Medications
OTC medications are typically used for symptomatic relief of minor health conditions, including headaches, colds and fever. OTC medications usually cost much less than prescription medications.
Prescription Drug: Clarinex® OTC Option: Alavert® Savings: A difference of more than 42% a month! Plus save time and the cost of a visit to your physician.
OTC medications are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration , which means they are held to high standards of safety, effectiveness and quality.
What Is A Medicare Advantage Otc Card
A Medicare Advantage over-the-counter drug card is a prepaid card administered by a Medicare Advantage plan. You can use this card is to purchase select OTC products at participating locations. Over-the-counter drug cards can be used to buy various health and wellness products, as well as medications, vitamins, durable medical equipment, and more.
Your Medicare Advantage insurance plan provider is in charge of reloading your Medicare OTC card each month depending on your plans benefits. Most major retail stores and pharmacies with OTC products accept these Medicare OTC cards, so utilizing your benefits should not be difficult.
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How Can I Get A Medicare Advantage Over
Whether you receive a Medicare OTC card will depend on the Medicare plan you have. If you enroll in a plan with the OTC benefit, you will receive your card with your plan materials and policy cards after you first enroll.
Once you receive your Medicare OTC card, your carrier should provide you with a guide on how to use the cards benefits. Your carrier will likely have a website that shows eligible products that you can buy and different locations that will accept your Medicare OTC card. Here, you will also be able to find details of your over-the-counter benefits and directions for how to buy OTC drugs and products.
Anthem Partners With Walmart To Provide Over
Health insurer Anthem has teamed up with Walmart to expand its senior members’ access to over-the-counter medications.
Through a new partnership beginning in January 2019, Anthem’s Medicare Advantage members will be able to use their insurance to shop for over-the-counter drugs and other items, such as first-aid supplies and support braces, at Walmart’s 4,700 stores and online. Anthem serves more than 1.7 million seniors in Medicare Advantage plans.
The Indianapolis-based insurer expects the partnership will reduce seniors’ out-of-pocket costs.
“We believe that programs like this can make a tremendous difference for healthcare consumers who often live on a fixed income or are managing chronic medical conditions,” Felicia Norwood, president of Anthem’s government business division, said in the announcement.
Anthem Medicare Advantage members currently buy over-the-counter medications and health-related items through a catalog by purchasing online or by phone, according to a company spokeswoman. Anthem also offers some customers a retail card to use at a limited number of retail stores. Over-the-counter benefits help consumers access medications and other health-related items often not covered under Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans.
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Important Tips And Guidelines
- You will receive your online order within 2-5 business days.
- Unused benefits do not roll over to the next benefit period. You cannot exceed your quarterly benefit amount.
- Get more from your OTC benefit and shop around. Prices, brands, and items vary from store to store. Purchases made online or by phone using the catalog may also be different than what you find in stores.
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Anthem 2022 Otc Catalog
If you are a member of an Anthem Medicare Advantage plan, information about the Anthem 2022 OTC catalog will e useful. It is important to note that all Medicare Advantage plans do not offer an OTC benefit. Members can confirm the benefits offered by their plan either by checking the summary of benefits provided for their plan or calling the member services number listed on the back of your membership card.
What is an OTC benefit:
An OTC benefit is a specified amount provided to members of participating plans that covers approved over the counter health related items. This benefit covers things such as OTC pain relievers, antacids, band aids, oral care and vitamins, as well as various other non-prescription health items.
Please keep in mind This benefit is provided on a quarterly basis.
On the first day of each quarter, your benefit amount is loaded to your card and available for use. Any unused OTC benefit amount rolls over to the next quarter. All unused OTC benefits expire on December 31 of the benefit year.
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Easy Access To Otc Benefits Account Balances & More From A Single Benefits Prepaid Card
AEP 2023 is bringing big changes to how your current & prospective clients access popular benefits like OTC, Healthy Grocery, Flex Accounts, and MORE! Now all their spending allowance-based benefits and funds will be accessible through ONE Benefits Mastercard® Prepaid Card! Your clients will enjoy using a proven and familiar benefits prepaid card they can use as debit or credit . *
This easy-to-use card is automatically loaded with the monthly, quarterly, or annual benefits included in their Medicare Advantage plan. That means they can begin shopping as soon as their plan is effective.
One, integrated call center supports your clients questions about all of their plans spending allowance-based benefits.
*Note Benefits vary by plan and member eligibility. Members will still have a separate member ID card for their Medicare Advantage plan medical benefits.
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1 Badger, Cary. The Rise of Over-the-Counter Programs in Medicare Advantage Plans. . HealthScape. Retrieved from https://healthscape.com/insights/the-rise-of-over-the-counter-otc-benefits-in-medicare-advantage.
MedicareAdvantage.com is a website owned and operated by TZ Insurance Solutions LLC. TZ Insurance Solutions LLC and TruBridge, Inc. represent Medicare Advantage Organizations and Prescription Drug Plans having Medicare contracts enrollment in any plan depends upon contract renewal.
Plan availability varies by region and state. For a complete list of available plans, please contact 1-800-MEDICARE , 24 hours a day/7 days a week or consult www.medicare.gov.
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