I now have $60 per quarter grocery benefits without having applied for them, with Medicare Advantage. Standard?

StarSong said:
I got a notification from Kaiser Permanente about getting some kind of allowance like this for 2024, but have no idea how to access it so I can learn more about it.
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Go to the Kaiser website online, register there if you do not already have an account. Then look up the details for your plan. The notification you received should say which plan you have, or it is on your KP card.
Look up the benefits for your plan, and it will explain what benefits you have and how to access them.

If you have the Healthy Benefits Plus benefit, KP will send you a benefit card in the mail that is like a visa/mastercard with numbers just like they have.
Once you receive the card, go to the HB+ website (they also have an app), and register. It will show how much money is in your benefit account, and also where you can use it.

I use mine online to shop at Walmart, and it looks like it can also be used in the store at places like Dollar General, Walgreens, CVS, and other stores; but each area might be different.
You might also use this account for OTC products, or KP might have a separate benefit for that. You should have a catalog for the available OTC products and information on how to order those.
 
Change was made to our benefit of $105.00 per quarter. Now at $75.00 a quarter. Used to have Medline as the supplier when ordering online. Free shipping no tax on whatever was ordered. The web site was easy to use with a great variety to chose from.

This year Amazon is the supply partner with limited variety to chose from & difficult way to order online. Toss in taxed on whatever is ordered but still free shipping.

New plan is to use the benefit at either Walmart or CVS pharmacies.
 
RandomName said:
I called up my Medicare Advantage plan to ask how much drug store over-the-counter benefits I had left, and they informed me I now
also have $60 per quarter for groceries. I didn't complain, just accepted the fact. :)

Is it standard to get grocery bens without even applying? I am over 65, maybe that's why I got them.

Anyone know?

Thanks
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You're welcome
 
They are probably just swamped because of it being the first days of the month and the new year; so everyone is either trying to get registered like you are, or they are trying to check their allowance balance. Some people actually shop from the app, too; so with all of that happening right now, it might be hard to get through.
The same thing happens to me, so just keep trying, and eventuallly the website won’t be so swamped and you will get through, @StarSong.

Even Walmart and Kroger were overloaded on Monday, and I was not able to shop or add the new HB card until yesterday.
 
I used my OTC card yesterday fora 16 pack of Ensure vitamin shake. The retail cost was $27, and the card only paid for $15. Hmmm. Better than a kick in the head, I guess.

I tried the card again today, on a 6 pack, since it was only $11 and I thought the card would pay for it all, but I got an error message saying something like 'not authorized for this type of product '. Maybe I'm supposed to only get the 16 pack.
 
Here is what I have found thus far, reading about the places the Healthy benefits Visa debit card can be used, and testing it out. Although it says the card can be used at Kroger stores, when I tried to add it to my online payment options there, it said I could not add this type of card; so I am guessing that this is an in-store option only. I do not understand why this is so, but I then tried Sam’s Club and found the same thing.
Because of the cold weather and icy roads, we have not gone anywhere for a week now, so I have not had a chance to try the card in an actual store.

The card works online with Walmart and also with Amazon; so that is good to know. It is also supposed to work with some drug stores, like Walgreens and CVS, so once the weather is back to Alabama normal, and we are out and about again, then I am going to try the card in stores and see if it does or does not work.
The information said that it also works at some dollar stores, like Dollar General and Family Dollar, but that would be in-store only, too.
 
Happyflowerlady said:
Here is what I have found thus far, reading about the places the Healthy benefits Visa debit card can be used, and testing it out. Although it says the card can be used at Kroger stores, when I tried to add it to my online payment options there, it said I could not add this type of card; so I am guessing that this is an in-store option only. I do not understand why this is so, but I then tried Sam’s Club and found the same thing.
Because of the cold weather and icy roads, we have not gone anywhere for a week now, so I have not had a chance to try the card in an actual store.

The card works online with Walmart and also with Amazon; so that is good to know. It is also supposed to work with some drug stores, like Walgreens and CVS, so once the weather is back to Alabama normal, and we are out and about again, then I am going to try the card in stores and see if it does or does not work.
The information said that it also works at some dollar stores, like Dollar General and Family Dollar, but that would be in-store only, too.
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Wow you really have a lot of choices/places to use your card. Mine is only good at CVS, but I'm really not complaining. 🙂
 
Yeah I was sent a visa for wellcare insurance benefits, don't know what I can use it for yet, wellcare website does not work
for me...so they are sending me a catalog.....but I'm suspicious,
no one gives money for nothing, so how are the recouping these funds??
 
hawkdon said:
Yeah I was sent a visa for wellcare insurance benefits, don't know what I can use it for yet, wellcare website does not work
for me...so they are sending me a catalog.....but I'm suspicious,
no one gives money for nothing, so how are the recouping these funds??
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It's not money for nothing. Hundreds of thousands of people are paying into the health care system every year, and it's a fraction of what is paid out. That sixty dollars a quarter is a bone they toss us old dogs after they finish eating the steak.
 
I found out that my Humana OTC card changed the rules to only allow $15 per month. So I have to wait til 2/1/2024 to use up another $15.
 
I know someone with an OTC card that is mail order only. Some things are normal price, some things are outrageously over priced, for example, $3 for one 8-ounce bottle of ensure.
 
The different insurance companies all offer differing benefits with the advantage plans, and most companies have several plans to choose from, or depending on which plan you qualify for.
We have had Humana for several years now, and had good benefits with our plan; but after Devoted Health came into Alabama, they were offering even better benefits for us, as well as all of the same conditions and coverages we had with Humana. It made sense for us to change over, and our agent assured us that if we did not like the new plan, he could easily move us back to the Humana plan.

If you just do an online search for the healthy benefits program, you should find an overview of what they allow you to use the benefit for, and where it can be used, or you can contact the healthy benefit people directly. There should be contact information on the back of your benefit card.
 


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