DES MOINES, Iowa — Medicare open enrollment ended last week, and a recent brief from the Harkin Institute at Drake University found many older adults who use Medicare as their health insurance face a lot of challenges navigating which specific plan to use.
On top of the traditional Medicare program, the average Medicare beneficiary also has 39 Medicare Advantage plan options to choose from.
Researchers at the Harkin Institute said that many options can be overwhelming and lead to people choosing plans that might not be the best fit for them.
Dr. Rayna Stoycheva and her research partner embarked on a project examining some of the challenges older adults deal with in the Medicare enrollment process by examining survey data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Stoycheva said the vast amount of information available and the way it's presented to people can be staggering.
"We are curious why — what is behind that the way that the information is structured? It seems like, especially booklets and stuff, that you have to read through that will be also very overwhelming,” Stoycheva said. “If it's many, many pages of you know, plan descriptions, that would be also overwhelming."
Because of the overwhelming information, Stoycheva said oftentimes people will rely on their loved ones for guidance, which isn't necessarily the best choice.
"So, what works for your friends and family, in most instances, probably is not going to work for you," Stoycheva said.
This initial brief focused on identifying some issues, but Stoycheva said they've begun to think about possible solutions too.
"We think one potential really promising alternative in the future is to use AI, to use technology, in a way that customizes and tailors what is presented to people — and not just pages and pages of different plan information that then they have to synthesize," Stoycheva said.
Another goal is having more one-on-one interaction for these decisions.
"I think, overall, the goal should be to develop a system that assists readers retirees in making their decisions, as much one-on-one customized as it can be done, you know, reasonably," Stoycheva said.
She also said one of the best things people in Iowa can do to navigate this process is work with a counselor at the State Health Insurance Assistance Program.