Medicare Questions, Answered Plainly

Nothing. Carriers pay us a commission that's already baked into the plan price, whether you buy direct or through an agent. Your premium is the same either way, so there's no reason not to get local help.

You get a seven-month window built around your 65th birthday: three months before, your birthday month, and three months after. Sign up early in that window so your coverage starts the month you turn 65 instead of getting delayed.

With Original Medicare plus a Medigap policy, yes. Any provider that takes Medicare works, no network involved. With a Medicare Advantage plan, it depends on the network that year, so we check your doctors and hospital against the plan's current list before you sign anything.

There's no single right answer. Medigap runs a higher monthly bill but pays almost everything at the doctor's office, with zero network restrictions. Advantage plans cost less each month but use copays, referrals and a defined network, and usually bundle in drug and dental coverage. Your doctors, prescriptions and comfort with unpredictable bills decide which one fits.

If you don't have coverage through active employment, Medicare tacks on 10% to your Part B premium for every full year you waited, and that penalty typically sticks for as long as you have Part B. Run the numbers on our Part B penalty calculator before you decide to wait.

In almost every case, yes. Go 63 days or longer without drug coverage that counts as creditable and Medicare adds a permanent penalty once you do enroll. A cheap Part D plan today beats paying that penalty for the rest of your life.

No, but skip the review at your own risk. Carriers reset networks, drug tiers and copays every January 1. Give us fifteen minutes each fall and we'll tell you whether your current plan still holds up or whether something changed underneath you.

Most Denver plans build their networks around UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, Presbyterian/St. Luke's and Rose Medical Center, with Family Health Center clinics rounding out primary care access. Denver also has Denver Health running as the area's safety net system and dozens of specialty groups along the I-25 corridor, so contracts shift year to year. We check the current list before you enroll, not last year's.

Yes. Colorado handles under-65 Medicare beneficiaries differently in a few ways, especially around Medigap eligibility. We'll lay out exactly what's open to you rather than assume the standard 65-and-over rules apply.

We cover the whole metro area: Aurora, Lakewood, Arvada, Centennial, Littleton, Thornton, Westminster and everywhere in between. If you're a call away from I-25 or I-70, we can probably help.