Last week Mineral Community Hospital CEO Ron Gleason announced that the hospital had reached a contract agreement with Humana. The announcement came just days before the Feb. 28 deadline for people to make a decision about their Medicare coverage.

Monida, who represents the Clark Fork Valley Hospital in Sanders County, St. Luke in Ronan, and hospitals in Philipsburg, Deer Lodge, Dillon and Sheridan as well as Mineral Community negotiated the contract which will fill the gap left by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana when they withdrew from the local market with their Medicare Advantage Plan.

One of the main sticking points in the negotiations with Humana’s policy was not covering emergency department visits if they deem the visit a non-emergency. This issue, along with other points has been worked out between the hospitals and Humana.

The other alternative regarding healthcare coverage is people can go back to a regular Medicare plan with the Supplement Part D. There are hundreds of options for people regarding Traditional Medicare and part D supplement plans available that the hospital will cover.

If a person has a regular Medicare plan, it is administered through the federal government. With this plan, people can also buy supplemental insurance which pays for things like deductibles, copays, and other expenses the regular plan may not pick up. What an Advantage Plan does is roll all the plans into one plan and is administered through an insurance company. People just need to talk to their insurance agents to determine which is best for them.