A Medicare Advantage Plans are offered by private health insurance companies that are approved by Medicare and have a contract to provide you with Medicare benefits.

Many Medicare advantage plans offer extra coverage such as vision, hearing, dental, and general checkups and other health and wellness programs.  Most advantage plans include Medicare prescription drug coverage, and most are usually a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) or a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO).

The Medicare Advantage Annual Enrollment Period runs from October 15 through December 7 of each year.

These plans may require that you choose a primary care physician (PCP) get a referral from your PCP to see a specialist and use only doctors, hospitals, and other medical facilities and services that are part of that health plan’s provider network.