{"id":334049,"date":"2025-10-26T14:51:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T14:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/334049\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T14:51:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T14:51:13","slug":"seniors-seeking-help-amid-medicare-turbulence-in-minnesota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/334049\/","title":{"rendered":"Seniors seeking help amid Medicare turbulence in Minnesota"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"rt-Text\">Minnesota\u2019s primary Medicare helpline is reporting unusually high call volumes this month as a surge in health insurance questions has pushed average wait times to around 95 minutes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rt-Text\">Minnesota Aging Pathways has been fielding about 1,800 calls daily \u2014 roughly triple the volume seen last year \u2014 since Medicare open enrollment started Oct. 15. It runs through Dec. 7.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rt-Text\">The numbers reflect challenges that seniors are facing due to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.startribune.com\/why-medicare-coverage-is-getting-more-expensive-in-minnesota-next-year\/601497778\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.startribune.com\/why-medicare-coverage-is-getting-more-expensive-in-minnesota-next-year\/601497778\">shrinking options and higher costs<\/a> in Minnesota\u2019s market for Medicare Advantage insurance. Those health plans, which are sold by private insurance companies, currently cover more than 600,000 beneficiaries across the state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rt-Text\">\u201cThe number of calls we\u2019re receiving, and the subsequent wait times, has been like nothing we\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d said Kelli Jo Greiner, the Medicare program manager for the Minnesota Board on Aging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rt-Text\">Here are some tips for Medicare beneficiaries seeking assistance, as well as answers to common questions amid the turbulence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rt-Text\">Health insurers in Minnesota are eliminating certain Medicare health and drug plan options for 2026, mainly for financial reasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rt-Text\">The biggest change is that UCare, the state\u2019s second-largest Medicare Advantage plan, is leaving the market statewide as of Jan. 1 following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.startribune.com\/ucare-implements-turnaround-strategy-cant-rule-out-layoffs-following-dollar504m-operating-loss\/601319969\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.startribune.com\/ucare-implements-turnaround-strategy-cant-rule-out-layoffs-following-dollar504m-operating-loss\/601319969\">unprecedented financial losses<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minnesota\u2019s primary Medicare helpline is reporting unusually high call volumes this month as a surge in health insurance&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":334050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[210,1141,1142,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-334049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115441033834236006","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}