Medicare Blog

what is osb in medicare

by Jazmin Wiegand Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
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Optional supplemental benefits (OSBs) are benefits that are not covered by original Medicare and which Medicare Advantage organizations (MAOs) offer to plan members for an additional premium. If offered, members can elect to purchase OSB coverage from their Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and receive additional benefits.Sep 30, 2021

What are the top 5 Medicare supplement plans?

Optional supplement benefits (OSB) are services not covered by Medicare that enrollees can choose to reject, or they can choose to buy and pay for these benefits directly usually in the form of premiums and/or copayments or coinsurance. Learn more.

What companies offer Medicare Advantage plans?

An Optional Supplemental Benefit (OSB) is an added benefit option, available with select plans, that a member may choose to elect in additionto the medical benefits covered by their Medicare Advantage plan. Certain Aetna Medicare Advantage plans (MA/MAPD) offer OSB packages that provide additional dental and/or vision and hearing coverage.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Medicare?

Oct 01, 2021 · Humana MyOption optional supplemental benefits (OSB) are only available to members of certain Humana Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. Members of Humana plans that offer OSBs may enroll in OSBs throughout the year.

What is optional state supplement?

Oct 26, 2018 · Optional supplemental benefits (OSBs): Some Aetna Medicare plans (MA/MAPD) offer optional supplemental benefits (OSB) for an additional monthly premium. The OSBs provide additional hearing, vision or dental coverage, or a combination. Please review this email to ensure you’re ready to assist your clients who have OSB choices this AEP.

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What are OSB plans?

An Optional Supplemental Benefit (OSB) is an added benefit option, available with select plans, that a member may choose to elect in addition to the medical benefits covered by their Medicare Advantage plan.

What is OSB dental?

Oral System Balance, or OSB, is different and focuses on something more basic: the oral structure. That is to say, how the teeth, gums and particularly the tongue are situated in the mouth, naturally affects your eating, speaking and, most importantly, your breathing.

What is Type A Medicare?

Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) Part A covers inpatient hospital stays, care in a skilled nursing facility, hospice care, and some home health care.

Does Humana Medicare Advantage cover oral surgery?

With Original Medicare, you may only be covered for emergency or complicated dental procedures, such as surgery on your jaw. That's where Humana Medicare Advantage Plans with dental benefits come in.Oct 1, 2021

What is oral systemic balance?

Oral Systemic Balance supports both breathing and swallowing by using removable, retainer-like oral appliances (orthotics) to improve jaw, tongue and upper throat function—and by so doing is able to quickly and dramatically provide relief of pain.

What are the 3 types of Medicare?

There are four parts of Medicare: Part A, Part B, Part C, and Part D.Part A provides inpatient/hospital coverage.Part B provides outpatient/medical coverage.Part C offers an alternate way to receive your Medicare benefits (see below for more information).Part D provides prescription drug coverage.

Do I need Part B Medicare?

Medicare Part B isn't a legal requirement, and you don't need it in some situations. In general, if you're eligible for Medicare and have creditable coverage, you can postpone Part B penalty-free. Creditable coverage includes the insurance provided to you or your spouse through work.

What is Medicare Part A deductible for 2021?

Medicare Part A Premiums/Deductibles The Medicare Part A inpatient hospital deductible that beneficiaries will pay when admitted to the hospital will be $1,484 in 2021, an increase of $76 from $1,408 in 2020.Nov 6, 2020

Does Humana dental cover bridges?

The Copayment, Deductible, and Coinsurance amounts are your share of the costs for covered benefits....Complete Dental.Primary BenefitsSealantNo Charge (limit of 1 per tooth per lifetime, age 14 and under)BridgesN/AEndodontics50% after deductible (limit 1 per lifetime, per tooth)Additional Information19 more rows

Does Medicare pay for denture relining?

Many of you may wonder if a health insurance plan can cover denture reline cost. In general, health insurance companies include dentures as part of their health program and plans. However, government plans such as the original Medicaid or Medicare may not cover your dentures and denture reline cost.Apr 16, 2020

Does Medicare cover dental?

Dental services Medicare doesn't cover most dental care (including procedures and supplies like cleanings, fillings, tooth extractions, dentures, dental plates, or other dental devices). Part A covers inpatient hospital stays, care in a skilled nursing facility, hospice care, and some home health care.

Does Humana have a gym?

Humana has partnered with SilverSneakers ® Fitness to offer a plan that gives you unlimited access to every participating gym and fitness center in the network. That's a gym membership at more than 17,000 locations with unrestricted access to every facility. At-home kits are offered for members who want to start working out at home or for those who can't get to a fitness location due to injury, illness or being homebound. Get—or stay—fit with this optional supplemental benefit and be a part of an active, welcoming and fun community. Go to SilverSneakers.com, opens new window to learn more and to find participating locations in your area.

Does Humana have a waiting period?

Our vision plans offer coverage for routine vision exams, plus discounts on frames and contact lenses. There's no waiting period for Humana members, and members can choose from an extensive network of EyeMed Vision care providers.

Does Humana cover root canals?

But if a $100 toothache turns into a $1,000 root canal, a supplemental dental plan from Humana can help.

How do new members enroll in OSBs?

New members can enroll in an OSB, if one is available with their plan, when they first enroll. On the enrollment form, in the Choose Your Plan section, they just need to check the checkbox next to the plan and OSB option they want.

How do current members enroll in OSBs?

If current members want to add an OSB to their existing plan, they don’t need to submit a new application. Instead, they should call this dedicated Aetna toll-free phone number: 1-855-893-1446. On the call, they’ll need to verify their member ID, name, phone number and address, and provide payment information for the OSB premium. That’s it.

How can members disenroll from an OSB?

If members want to cancel their OSB, they can disenroll at anytime during the year. To disenroll, members can call Aetna Member Services, using the phone number listed on their member ID card.

Find out what OSBs are available in your market

To learn more about the OSBs available in your market, you can review the summary of benefits for your markets’ Medicare Advantage plans. Or, you can contact your local Aetna Medicare broker manager.

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Overview

  • Optional supplemental benefits (OSBs) are benefits that are not covered by original Medicare and which Medicare Advantage organizations (MAOs) offer to plan members for an additional premium. If offered, members can elect to purchase OSB coverage from their Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and receive additional benefits. This differs from mandatory s...
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Key Takeaways

  1. An increasing number, but decreasing percentage, of plans in the MA market are choosing to offer OSBs. This is due in part to a large number of new plans in the MA market in recent years, and the d...
  2. A significant increase in the prevalence of mandatory supplemental preventive and comprehensive dental coverage has likely contributed to the decrease in dental OSB prevalen…
  1. An increasing number, but decreasing percentage, of plans in the MA market are choosing to offer OSBs. This is due in part to a large number of new plans in the MA market in recent years, and the d...
  2. A significant increase in the prevalence of mandatory supplemental preventive and comprehensive dental coverage has likely contributed to the decrease in dental OSB prevalence, as mandatory coverag...
  3. Preventive and comprehensive dental services are the most common benefits to be included in OSB packages. Only 2% of plans in 2021 offered OSBs that did not include dental coverage.
  4. The size (by enrollment) of an MAO was a significant predictor in the likelihood of a plan offering an OSB in 2017 but has become less significant in the years following.

Analysis

  • We utilized publicly available data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for this analysis, which was summarized utilizing the 2021 Milliman MACVAT® tool. Benefit data for all years was summarized from the plan benefit packages (PBPs) published by CMS for each year reviewed, for 2017 through 2021.1
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OSB Prevalence by Plan Type and Enrollment

  • Figure 1 summarizes the plan count and market share of MAOs offering OSBs from 2017 to 2021, considering preferred provider organization (PPO) and health maintenance organization (HMO) plans separately. We included HMO and HMO-point-of-service (HMO-POS) plans in the HMO plan type.
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OSB Prevalence by Benefit Type

  • Plans offering OSBs have the flexibility to include multiple supplemental benefits in one OSB package. For example, a plan could offer an OSB package that includes dental and vision coverage, and members who elect to purchase this OSB package would receive both benefits. Certain supplemental benefits are much more likely to be offered as part of an OSB package tha…
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Optional and Mandatory Coverage

  • Some plans design OSBs offering richer coverage on a specific benefit that the plan also offers as a MSB; for example, a plan could offer a larger optional eyewear limit in addition to its mandatory eyewear limit. All plan members would receive eyewear coverage up to the mandatory limit, but members could also elect to pay the OSB premium and receive eyewear coverage up to the high…
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OSB Premiums

  • Beneficiaries who elect OSB coverage pay an additional premium to receive this coverage. CMS enforces two rules related to a OSB premiums: 1. The plan’s projected margin on the OSB must be less than 15% of the premium. 2. The plan’s projected OSB margin plus OSB administrative expense must be less than 30% of the premium.4 As long as these conditions are met, plans ca…
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Methodology

  • In performing this analysis, we relied on the 2017 through 2021 Milliman MACVAT®. The Milliman MACVAT contains MA plan details and benefit offerings sourced from publicly available data released by CMS, which is then compiled, sorted, and summarized into a user-friendly format. We relied on 2013-2015 historical BPT data released by CMS for actual OSB enrollment information…
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Caveats and Limitations

  • Julia M. Friedman and Mary G. Yeh are actuaries for Milliman, members of the American Academy of Actuaries, and meet the qualification standards of the Academy to render the actuarial opinion contained herein. To the best of our knowledge and belief, this information is complete and accurate and has been prepared in accordance with generally recognized and acc…
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