How to Compare Information
Important to your Health Care Decision

  Specific checklists. As in previous years, the LRO Benefits Team has prepared checklists for you to compare both Medicare and non-Medicare options to those offered by Alcatel-Lucent. As you search for commercial insurance and prescription drug plans , download the appropriate checklist and fill in the various options to compare the details for yourself and your dependents.

• 65+ Medicare PFFS (covers SecureHorizons MedicareDirect)

• 65+ Medicare HMO

• pre-65 Basic POS

• pre 65 Enhanced POS

• pre 65 Indemnity

• pre 65 HMO

• 65+ Prescription Drugs (covers Medco PDP plan)

Alcatel-Lucent documents. The Alcatel-Lucent documents for 2010 that provide information on the health and prescription drug plans are posted on the  Welcome link.

Medicare documentation. Start by visiting the medicare.gov web site. It provides many links so you can find insurance vendors and costs of various Medicare plans. You should also read and familiarize yourself with other Medicare guides, including the following (these are lengthy to print out, so ask for a paper copy from Medicare).

• Medicare and You 2010 Provides a full overview of original Medicare, Medicare Advantage and Medigap supplemental insurance. The publication for 2010 is usually mailed to individuals about November 1st.

• Medicare Medigap plans (also called Medicare Supplement Insurance plans). These may be an alternative to Medicare Advantage SecureHorizons, depending on your personal situation.

• Medicare Advantage plans (also called Medicare Part C - including commercial Private-Fee-for-Service [PFFS] plans). Also, read more from Medicare about PFFS plans, like the SecureHorizon's plan available through Alcatel-Lucent. 

• Medicare Part D drug plans (also called Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs)). Data for Plan Year 2010 will be available soon.

  Local, personalized help. For a summary of plans available in your State and local help with your decision, almost every state has a help group group called the State Health Insurance Counseling and Assistance Programs (SHIPs). They provide help on an individual basis for your choices.

• Find SHIP phone numbers and Web sites under the  State Help link, to the left.

• At these locations (either by phone or on their Websites), you'll often find a downloadable summary of health care plans by state and advice on how to choose a health care plan.

  Insurance company performance. If you are considering one or more insurance companies, one way to narrow your choice is with nationally-available rating systems. One note of caution: these ratings may not include the exact insurance policy you are considering. Still, their overall experience is something of a guide to how the company, itself, chooses to meet its customers needs.

• J.D. Powers, a well-established rating company, provides Health plan Ratings for many of areas of the country. Click here to read their ratings.

•  A Health Plan Report Card (by state and insurance company) An interactive site that provides a scorecard on the quality of individual health plans, by State. These scorecards are frequently referenced by state agencies. From the National Committee on Quality Assurance.