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Change is in the air, ladies and gentleman! And this weekend, Los Angeles got a taste of that, when Margot Robbie, director Cathy Yan, and the full cast and crew of Birds of Prey took over Hollywood, in a gloriously chaotic stunt that turned the city into “Harleywood” for four-straight mayhem-fueled days. The massive Hollywood […]

A Brief Overview of Medicare Supplement Plans

While Medicare Parts A and B, also known as Original Medicare, cover some health care costs, they don’t pay for everything. That’s where an AARP Medicare Supplement insurance plan may help. Medicare Supplement insurance plans, also known as Medigap, from private insurers help you pay for the costs not covered under your Original Medicare benefits. 

Medicare Supplement plans are set by the federal government which means that the basic benefit structure is the same from one insurance company to the next. However, some plans do offer additional benefits.

There are 10 standardized Medicare Supplement plans. Each plan has a letter assigned to it. The letters are specific to Medicare Supplement plans and have nothing to do with the parts of Original Medicare. For example, Medicare Supplement Plan B is not the same as Medicare Part B. 

Each Medicare Supplement plan offers the same basic benefits but some offer additional benefits. In Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin, Medigap policies are structured differently.

Insurance companies can choose which Medigap policies it wants to offer, as long as they comply with the state’s requirements. Insurance companies that sell Medigap policies:

• Don’t have to offer every Medigap plan
• Must offer Medigap Plan A if they offer any Medigap policy

In this article, you will learn about AARP’s Medicare Supplement plans.

AARP Medicare Supplement Plans

Through UnitedHealthcare, AARP offers eight Medicare Supplement plans. In 2019, they had over four million members enrolled within their supplement plans.

Although all of the plans are the same regardless of which insurance company you choose, each private insurer has the option to offer additional benefits.

One of the benefits that AARP’s plans emphasize is their speediness of service. They reportedly successfully process 98% of claims within 10 days. In addition to timeliness, some additional benefits may include:

• The ability to see any specialist without a referral
• Limited claim forms to fill out
• Coverage during your travel 
• Medicare Part A hospitalization coverage—usually there is a coinsurance fee associated with Medicare Part A, some AARP supplement plans will cover this cost plus coverage for 365 additional days after Medicare benefits end
• Medicare Part B medical expenses—usually there is a coinsurance or copayment fee associated with hospital outpatient services under Medicare Part B, some AARP supplements plans will help cover these costs
• Blood — some plans will cover the first three pints of blood each year
• Medicare Part A hospice care—usually there is a coinsurance or copayment fee associated with hospice care, some AARP supplement plans will help cover these costs 
• Skilled nursing facility care—usually there is a coinsurance fee associated with skilled nursing care, some AARP supplement plans will help cover these costs
• Medicare Part A deductible—some AARP supplement plans will cover your deductible
• Medicare Part B deductible—some AARP supplement plans will cover your deductible
• Medicare Part B excess charges—some AARP supplement plans will cover these additional fees sometimes related to extended care
• Foreign travel emergency care—some AARP supplement plans will extend coverage to you during your travels outside of the United States
• Annual out-of-pocket maximum—some AARP supplement plans will limit how your out-of-pocket costs and cover the remaining balance if your expenses exceed this amount

Reasons to Consider AARP Medicare Supplement Plans

Overall, Medicare Supplement insurance plans give you more complete coverage by helping you pay for some of the out-of-pocket costs that Medicare does not cover. 

With AARP Medicare Supplement plans: 

• You’re able to keep your own doctor who accepts Medicare patients
• See any specialist without a referral
• There are no claim forms to fill out
• Coverage goes with you anywhere in the U.S. when you travel

The Costs Associated With AARP Medicare Supplement Plans

The cost of each plan is dependent upon your area or region and specific coverage needs.

Are You Eligible For AARP Medicare Supplement Plans

To be eligible for Medicare Supplemental coverage, you must already be on Medicare or turning 65. You can enroll for Medicare coverage up to three months before your 65th birthday and up to three months after your birthday. This is known as the Open Enrollment Period. If you already receive Social Security benefits, you will be automatically enrolled in Medicare. 

The Open Enrollment Period for buying Medicare Supplemental coverage is six months after you turn 65. During this period, the insurer cannot take into consideration any pre-existing medical conditions if you enroll during this “open enrollment” period. Even though the carrier cannot prevent you from buying supplemental insurance, they can make you wait another six months until the coverage goes into effect for pre-existing conditions. 

If you are worried about the expense of copays, coinsurance, and deductibles not covered by Medicare, an AARP Medicare Supplement plan may be a good fit for your insurance needs. 

To enroll in AARP Medicare Supplement plans, you must first become an AARP member. You can complete the AARP membership application online. If you have more questions about AARP’s Medicare Supplement plan, you can contact AARP for more information, or request a free quote. Call toll-free at 888-OUR-AARP (888-687-2277) or email member@aarp.org. 

We take the instantaneousness of media for granted. It’s a cliche now, but we all have machines capable of taking high quality video in our pockets. News outlets looking for amazing and disturbing video can now get it from any of dozens of onlookers with a phone. But in years past, breaking news was the purview of gonzo journalists who made a cottage industry out of putting themselves near danger. The new documentary Whirlybird, premiering at Sundance, tells us the complex story of husband-and-wife team Zoey Tur and Marika Gerrard, who took to the skies and basically invented helicopter news coverage.

Zoey, known then as Bob, was a self-made, adrenaline junkie news finder. Marika was devoted to getting the scoop and delivering the truth. Together they became the biggest names in breaking news during the chaotic ’80s and ’90s in Los Angeles. Their company, Los Angeles News Service, covered everything from the L.A. riots to the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase. And they taped everything. Documentarian Matt Yoka digitized hundreds of hours of LANS’ footage to create a compelling and upsetting view of Los Angeles of the time, and how success caused Tur to hit rock bottom and go on a journey of discovery.

Los Angeles News ServiceThe footage we get in Whirlybird is astonishing. We see the raw footage, including outtakes before and after the live segments on the news. With this, we see a picture of Tur’s demanding perfectionism and how that eventually turned abusive. The documentary has interviews with Tur, Gerrard, their children Katy (now an NBC correspondent) and Jamie, and pilot Larry Welk. It’s an insular look at what was going on, but this is in no way sugar coated. The footage alone paints the picture of someone seething with rage, terrified of failure, and fighting the inner battle of who they really are.

The story at the heart of the documentary is one of loneliness in the face of family, and failure in the face of success. Tur had a heart attack at 35 from the stress of trying to achieve perfection in a field that would forget about you in a week. And as L.A. became less friendly, Tur became harder and more despondent. In addition to the news footage we see a great many home movies; Tur never decompressed, was always on and capturing the “truth,” perhaps at the expense of everything else.

Los Angeles News ServiceZoey Tur looks back on her life as Bob with such regret, and it’s heartbreaking to see how badly she didn’t know how else to be. A self-proclaimed a-hole, Tur reminded me of a less psychotic version of Louis Bloom from Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler. When making a name for yourself in the salacious and voyeuristic world of action news, you have to embrace the darkness. When you have a family, that comes at a price. And it’s especially hefty when you work with your significant other in such a line of work. Early on, the dangerous helicopter footage made me nervous; by the end it was Tur’s volatility that was the real terror.

Featured Image: Los Angeles News Service

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

The post In WHIRLYBIRD, The Cost Of A Scoop Is Your Soul (Review) appeared first on Nerdist.

The beauty of coming to a film festival like Sundance is you’re exposed to movies from a cross section of filmmakers, on topics you probably wouldn’t seek out otherwise. Friday night saw the premiere of Eliza Hittman‘s Never Rarely Sometimes Always, a movie I didn’t know much about going in. It’s a staggering piece of filmmaking and acting, about a topic that’s uncomfortable to many. It’s one of the most affecting and heartrending movies I’ve seen in quite a while, and all of that with minimal dialogue, resting on next-level performances from two young actors.

Sidney Flanigan plays Autumn, a 17-year-old high school student in blue collar Pennsylvania. She comes from a home of casual substance abuse and works at a grocery store. Autumn begins to suspect, and fear, that she may be pregnant and goes to a clinic for a test. Sure enough, she is. She then has to make a supremely hard decision, and one she can’t make in her home state, lest her parents find out. Her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) decides the two of them should take a road trip to New York where Autumn can get an abortion without anyone finding out. But two underage girls in the big city with very little money is a supremely dangerous situation and as happens, complications arise.

The narrative of the movie is very straightforward, but the journey is everything. So much of the film rests on the face and inner life of Autumn. She doesn’t talk much, but we know so much about her and what she’s feeling and thinking buried under the surface. Flanigan and Ryder have an amazing on screen bond that feels incredibly truthful. Their relationship, their closeness is innate; we don’t need pages of dialogue to get who these girls are and what their plight is. It’s natural and undeniable.

Focus Features

Hittman has a complete grasp of the story she’s telling. It’s not about moralizing or proselytizing but about exploring a very real predicament that hundreds and thousands of young women in America have to deal with. The movie opens with Autumn performing a song in a school talent show, with her family watching; in the middle of it, a teenage boy shouts “slut” at her. This is the world she comes from. Boys can have sex all they want and it’s cool; if girls do it, they’re castigated. And good luck trying to be pregnant on top of that.

The film’s standout scene is Autumn’s pre-procedure interview at Planned Parenthood. The caseworker asks a series of questions to obtain Autumn’s sexual history. Almost the entire scene is a single shot of Autumn, listening to questions and asked to answer “Never, rarely, sometimes, or always.” With each subsequent question, though no specifics are ever given, we get a full picture of Autumn’s entire life. The most telling of all are the unanswered questions, met with tears and darting eyes. It’s a harrowing but completely moving scene.

Ultimately Never Rarely Sometimes Always is about two women with mountains of societal and community pressures on them, sticking together through the worst of it. So much of their mutual love and affection goes unsaid, but we know they’re in it together. Through every cross-state bus ride or nights in port authority.

This is a triumph of filmmaking. Minimal in approach, but maximum in impact.

Featured Image: Focus Features

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

The post NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS is Stunning and Heartbreaking appeared first on Nerdist.