New to Medicare or planning for retirement?

Frequently Asked Questions

Everyone has questions. You pretty much have to be a Medicare expert to navigate your way through and make sense of all the terms and options. We are here to help. Below you will find some of the common questions people ask. If you don't see what you are looking for, feel free contact us to ask us your particular question!


We are licensed insurance agents! We know the plans and how they work in the Santa Barbara and surrounding areas and can guide you to the best solution for you. We want to help!

With Medicare and a Medicare Supplement plan, people can go to any doctor and hospital anywhere in the US as long as they accept medicare. Some people are attracted to this freedom. These plans are "standardized" by Medicare, and any carrier who offers these "Lettered" medicare supplement plans offers the same benefits, the only difference is premium. Premiums are rated by age and differ carrier-to-carrier. We broker through all of the main carriers to provide the best plans at the lowest rates.

If people choose to enroll in a medicare supplement plan, they must add their drug/prescription coverage separately. These stand-alone rx plans are called "Part D" plans.

The second option that Medicare Beneficiaries have are called "Medicare Advantage Plans" otherwise known as "Part C" of Medicare. While you have to be eligible/enrolled in your basic Medicare to be able to have a Medicare Advantage Plan, these Medicare Advantage plans become your main coverage for your doctor, hospital and prescription coverage meaning that you use one plan card at the doctor, hospital, or pharmacy. These plans also come with additional benefits such as gym membership, OTC allowance, hearing (which is not covered by original medicare), etc. The trade-off, so to speak, is that folks will not use their Medicare card as their primary insurance, and they would need to make sure their doctors accept the plan.