There are many health insurance companies in New York City which offer Over The Counter ( OTC) benefits
If you are a Medicare beneficiary and have a Medicare Advantage plan, or seeking to enroll in one, there are a variety of options that can offer OTC benefits to help you get health related products. OTC benefits are good to have to purchase products like vitamins, minerals, bandages, pain relievers, cold medicines, toothpaste, blood pressure machine, incontinence products, and more. Most Medicare Advantage plans have a list of products that they cover, and that list ranges in a multitude of products that can help you save a lot of money throughout the year.
Certain companies allow you to order OTC products online, at retail pharmacies, or in person
As of 2021, some insurances can also allow you to get certain food items and beverages making your shopping experience even more convenient to your health needs.
Receiving OTC Benefits on a Month to Month Basis
Most Medicare Advantage Plans in New York offer OTC benefits on a month to month basis which don’t roll-over to the next month. In other words, if you forget to use your OTC benefit by the end of the month, you can lose your OTC for that month, and your new monthly OTC benefit replenished the following month.
Receiving OTC benefits on a Quarterly Basis
In some instance, certain Medicare Advantage plans give OTC benefits on a quarterly basis, which allows your OTC to accumulate up to the third month, and the last time to use the benefit would be at the end of the third month, until it replenished in the following month. For instance, if your Medicare Advantage plan offers quarterly OTC benefits (let’s say at 15 dollars a month) your quarterly amount will equal 45 dollars. Although you have every 3 months to use up your benefit, after the third month, if you don’t use your OTC benefit, it will replenish from the start, and you can lose that quarterly benefit if you don’t use it up by the end of the third month.
Activating Your OTC Card
You will need to activate your OTC Card to use your OTC benefits. There are several options.
Option 1:
You can your OTC Card Your Self, Manually Online:
- Prepare your health insurance member I’d card and the OTC card
- Remove the sticker from the OTC card
- Go to www.otcnetwork.com( on mobile, IOS, Android, Sefari, IE..)
- Enter your OTC Card Number ( 16 or 19 digit)
- Enter your health insurance ID card number.
- Your card should be activated, and you will see the balance and history of your card.
For more information on activating your card, please visit this link: How to Activate Your OTC Card Fast – Medicare Health Advisor – New York City
Option 2:
Try reaching out to your health insurance customer service department and they will assist you in activating your card. Most Medicare Advantage plans dedicated a personal care team to assist you in your health care questions, needs, and concerns. At times if there are mailing issues and you still haven’t received your OTC card from your insurer, you can contact customer service and request your OTC card number and ask them to activate the card and once they activate the card, although you don’t have the physical card, you can provide your OTC card number to your vendor and at times they can try to process your order.
Option 3:
Have your pharmacy or OTC vendor assist you in activating your card.
Option 4:
You can always contact your health insurance broker or agent to help you in activating your card.
All in all, OTC benefits help thousands of Medicare beneficiaries every year. If you use your benefits on time, you can end up saving money on your health care, and purchase products which can be really beneficial for your health and wellbeing.