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Use the official Medicare site for reliable information.
Menu of Benefits Enrollment pages: Enrollment Menu
Based on reports from HP Alumni Association members who have completed enrollment. Join forums: https://www.hpalumni.org Not officially endorsed or supported. Question? Email us: info@hpalumni.org (Updated Nov 22, 2025)
Much information about Medicare on websites or in the media is oversimplified, out-of-date, or biased for business reasons.
Advantage plans are more profitable for insurers than Medigap plans -- thus the heavy advertising for Advantage and none for Medigap.
The fact that Medigap plans are available is often hidden. Sutter Health's "Your Health Insurance Information Guide" only covers Advantage. The loss-of-coverage letter from UnitedHealthcare -- notifying you that you will no longer have an HPInc or HPE group plan -- invites you to buy a UHC Advantage plan, but doesn't mention UHC's Medigap plans.
Many health insurance websites carry authoritative-sounding information -- and appear to be operated by government, non-profit, or other impartial sources -- but are actually collecting sales leads. (Including the official-looking "medicare -dot- com" and -dot- org sites.)
The official Medicare site http://www.medicare.gov is
very thorough and well done. (Not medicare <dot>
com ! )
1. First, check the
very clear, official "Medicare & You"
book.
Use the very clear official "Medicare & You" book. You were sent the paperback via U.S. Mail. You can download it.
The pdf file is very well done -- terms, phrases, and issues are hotlinked to sections in the book or to other articles on the medicare.gov site.
There are several key tables in the book:
- Pages 9-12 explain Parts A, B, C, D, and Supplemental "Medigap" plans. Pages 11-12 compare the differences between Original Medicare, Original + Medigap, and Medicare Advantage plans.
- Pages 13-20 explain what you need to do -- and when.
- Pages 21-22 explains how your other insurance works with Medicare.
- Pages 75-78 cover Supplemental "Medigap" plans, including a table of the various types of Medigap plan -- A through N.
Download the file at https://www.medicare.gov/publications/10050-medicare-and-you.pdf Click on terms, phrases, and issues to go to sections in the book -- or to other articles on the site.
Even if you have a paper copy, download the document file and use Adobe Reader's search feature to find specific words or phrases (Ctrl-F, F3, or Command-F.)
2. Very helpful articles from the official
Medicare site:
- "Understanding Medicare Advantage Plans"
https://www.medicare.gov/publications/12026-understanding-medicare-advantage-plans.pdf
- "Choosing a Medigap Policy"
https://www.medicare.gov/publications/02110-medigap-guide-health-insurance.pdf
- "Your Guide to Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage"
https://www.medicare.gov/publications/11109-your-guide-to-medicare-prescription-drug-coverage.pdf
- Retiree insurance. "If
you're retired and have Medicare and group health plan (retiree)
coverage from a former employer... "4 things to know about
retiree coverage"
https://www.medicare.gov/supplements-other-insurance/retiree-insurance
- How Medicare coordinates with
other coverage. COBRA. Coverage based on current employment
or current employment of spouse. Workers' compensation. Veteran.
TRICARE. And more.
https://www.medicare.gov/supplements-other-insurance/how-medicare-works-with-other-insurance
- What is the cryptic "Notice of
Creditable Coverage" letter?
https://www.medicare.gov/basics/forms-publications-mailings/mailings/costs-and-coverage/notice-of-creditable-coverage
3. If you don't find the answer to your question in the book, use your browser's "search within the site" feature to look up specific topics on the medicare.gov site.
Copy-and-paste this example into your browser -- with out
the brackets -- then modify
the search terms to suit.
[ guaranteed issue site:https://www.medicare.gov ]
If you search with that example, the official article on
"Guaranteed Issue Rights" comes right up.
4. State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) websites
and trained volunteers have
information about local, personalized counseling and assistance
to people with Medicare and their families. Highly
recommended by HPAA members. (And several HPAA members help
out.) https://www.shiphelp.org/
5. Health insurance agents. You may not qualify for
an HP/HPE-subsidized health insurance plan -- or, even if you do, have low
years-of-service such that you should consider non-company
alternatives. An experienced independent insurance agent
licensed to sell health insurance in your state can help you
sort through the complexity -- and adds nothing to the cost of
any plan you buy from them.
Next step: Menu of key Enrollment issues:
Link to this page: https://www.hpalumni.org/enroll-medicare-info
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