Medicare Options Compare Help
There are several ways to move around this tool:
- Grey Buttons: In general, to advance to the next step in the tool,
youll use the grey buttons. Depending on where you are in the tool, the buttons will say
different things, like Continue, Compare, Enter Drugs, etc. Click on the button, and
you will go to the next step.
- Tabbed Menu Bar: Sometimes, in the upper portion of the web page
youll see different "tabs" with words on each tab, going horizontally across the page. If
you see a tab, you can click on it to get more information on a particular topic. The tab
that is white indicates the page you are on, while the other tabs are "faded" grey in the
background. An example of a tabbed menu bar appears below. This example tells you that you
are at the "Cost Rating Methods" tab.
- Back Links and Buttons: To go back to the page you were on
before you got to the current page, some (but not all) pages on this tool will have a link
that you can use. Click on the link, and it will take you back a page. You can also use the
back button on your browser to get back to the previous page.
- Starting Over: If you want to start over in the tool, you can use
the Home link to get back to the Home page of the Medicare Options Compare.
- Learning More: At many points throughout the tool, you have the
chance to learn more about a particular topic. You can get to this information by clicking
on the link in the green Learn More box on the right side of the screen.
Follow these steps to compare the health plans available in your area:
- Choose to Find and Compare Medicare Health Plans on the Home Page.
- Decide whether to do a Personalized or General Plan Search (Step 1 of Find and Compare Medicare Health Plans) and click the grey Begin Plan Search button.
- Provide the requested information (Step 2 of Find and Compare Medicare Health Plans) and click the grey Continue button.
- Review your current coverage (Step 3 of Find and Compare Medicare Health Plans) and click the grey Continue button.
- Select the plans you want to compare (Step 4 of Find and Compare Medicare Health Plans) by clicking on the small checkboxes on the left side of the table. Then, click the grey Compare button.
- If you want to see fewer plans, you can click the + link to Select Criteria to Reduce Number of Plans Shown, add in your criteria, and click the grey Update Results button.
- All plans are sorted by Estimated Annual Cost. If you want to sort your results in a different way, click on the underlined heading in the column and it will automatically re-sort the plans.
- Review information on the plans you compared:
- You can print this page if you like by clicking on the grey Print this Page button.
- If you want to see more details about a particular plan, click the grey View Plan Details button.
- If you want to compare drug costs for the plans, click the Enter Your Drugs button on the right-hand side of the screen.
- In Steps 5 and 6, if you want to see any of the following information, click on the link for that information in the Learn More box on the right side of the screen:
- Average monthly out-of-pocket costs for the plan
- Quality graphs for the plan
- Data on why people leave the plan
Follow these steps to compare the Medigap policies available in your area:
- Choose to Find and Compare Medicare Health Plans on the Home Page.
- Enter your zip code in the Medigap Policy Search box on the right side of the page, then click on the grey Go button.
- Compare the high level summary of benefits offered by each Medigap policy.
- To see more details on a policy, click the View Details link on the left side of the table underneath the policy you want to view. Review detailed coverage information on the policy you selected. You can print this page if you like by clicking on the grey Print this Page button.
- To get a list of companies offering the policy in your area, click on the grey View all companies button. You can print this page if you like by clicking on the grey Print this Page button.
Thank you for using the Medicare Options Compare. We hope it will make your health care coverage decisions easier.