The Medicare Part B Give Back Benefit is a rebate that some Medicare Advantage plans may offer. It involves the plan carrier paying some or all of the Medicare Part B monthly premium.
Medicare Part C, also known as Medicare Advantage, is a bundled Medicare plan that private insurers offer. Generally, these plans include Medicare parts A and B, known as Original Medicare, and additional coverage.
People with Medicare Advantage must pay their annual Part B premium to remain covered. Medicare Advantage plans vary in their cost, what an individual pays per treatment or as a yearly deductible, and the benefits they offer.
Some additional benefits include routine dental, vision, or hearing services, as well as gym memberships. One extra benefit some plans may offer is the Give Back Benefit. This is a Part B premium reduction that may cover some or all of the Part B monthly premium.
Some plans offer Medicare Give Back, a benefit that reduces the Part B premium by adding money to an individual’s Social Security benefit or charging a lower premium if a person has not claimed these benefits. Some insurers refer to Medicare Part B Give Back as “money back.”
Medicare provides private insurers with a certain amount of funding, known as the bid, for each Medicare Advantage member. Some state insurers can connect the enrollee with care for a price lower than the bid.
This difference between a higher bid and lower service costs is known as the rebate. According to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the rebate will be $2,350 in 2024.
Insurance providers must use the rebate to provide services to the enrollee. They sometimes put this rebate toward additional benefits, such as lower out-of-pocket costs or extra dental, vision, hearing, or fitness benefits.
The rebate may instead result in lower premiums, forming the Give Back Benefit. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that 19% of all Medicare Advantage plans reduce the Part B premium for their enrollee in some way.
Any individual eligible for Medicare is also eligible for a Part B Give Back Benefit, so long as they enroll in Medicare Advantage through a company and plan that offers it.
To be eligible for Medicare, a person must be 65 years of age or live with a qualifying disability. People who receive disability or retirement benefits from Social Security before 65 years of age are automatically eligible, while others must apply directly.
People with Medicare Advantage must first have enrolled in Medicare Part A and Part B, also known as Original Medicare.
An eligible person can apply for a Medicare Advantage plan during three specific enrollment periods:
- Initial enrollment: This starts 3 months before a person’s 65th birthday month and ends 3 months afterward.
- Open enrollment: This runs from October 15 to December 7 yearly. People can drop Original Medicare and join Medicare Advantage for the first time or switch between Medicare Advantage plans if they seek other benefits, such as the Part B rebate.
- Medicare Advantage open enrollment: This window runs from January 1 to March 31 every year. During this time, people with Medicare Advantage have the same opportunities as those in open enrollment to switch or join Advantage plans.
Under certain circumstances, a person may also be able to make changes to their Medicare Advantage plan during a Special Enrollment Period.
Medicare Advantage plans often have specific service areas, so eligibility for a particular plan with Part B Give Back depends on an individual living in its service area.
The Part B reimbursement often takes the form of a lower premium.
People who receive monthly Social Security benefits may also receive the reimbursement as a higher monthly Social Security check.
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the first Give Back payment may take up to 2 months to become visible as a higher Social Security check or discounted premium.
If this has not appeared within 2 months, an individual can contact their plan provider. The insurer can refund the difference between the full and discounted premium. Any amounts due for refund will appear either as a higher monthly Social Security payment or a one-off check.
Any plan offering a Give Back Benefit will be a Medicare Advantage plan from a private insurer. For this reason, a person needs to consider crucial factors of different Medicare Advantage plans that affect the premium, coverage, and service area.
When picking a Medicare Advantage plan, a person can ask the provider about the following elements and about any benefits such as Give Back that may make it more appealing:
- whether a person’s preferred or nearby healthcare providers are within the plan’s network
- if the plan permits care from out-of-network healthcare services
- if the plan includes prescription drug coverage and whether any drugs a person currently takes are on the formulary
- which benefits the plan offers other than Give Back, such as fitness membership benefits, meal services, hearing, vision, or dental services, and whether these are helpful to an individual
- the premium of the plan and any out-of-pocket costs that treatment incurs
Medicare offers a helpful tool to help people work out the best Medicare Advantage plan for them.
Some Medicare Advantage plans offer a Medicare Part B Give Back Benefit. This means that the insurer reimburses or reduces part of the Part B premium that people must pay along with their Medicare Advantage premium.
Medicare gives each Medicare Advantage plan a $2,350 bid for each enrollee. If the cost of care an insurer provides amounts to less than that, they transfer this into other benefits or reimburse the member. This either comes off the individual’s monthly premium or goes directly into their Social Security benefits check.
Discuss Give Back Benefits with an insurance provider when considering enrollment in a Medicare Advantage plan.