Senior changing insurance frequently. Is there a way to prevent this?

My father, with early dementia, changes his Medicare/Medicaid provider frequently. Whenever the TV commercials says to "Call now!" he calls right away. Is there a way to prevent him from changing insurance besides taking away the phone/TV? (That will have to happen sooner or later.) In 2020 he changed insurance six times.

It's getting frustrating and expensive having to pay doctors/caregivers and seek reimbursement from whatever insurance company he has at the time.

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Thank you for your replies.

I contacted Social Security to start the process of becoming his designated payee. During that conversation I asked about frequent Medicare/Medicaid changes. The SS representative said that, once I become his designated payee, I can contact SS and they can “put a note with his file to require your permission to change Medicare providers.”

First I’ve heard of that but I’m new to all of this. I’ll try it once I’m eligible. I’ll be sure to update with my success or failure.

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If he is dual Medicare Medicaid. He can switch the Medicare without contacting Medicaid. The Medicare providers are aggressive in their advertising and switching to their company. I saw a consumer feature on local TV about the problems these companies are causing for seniors and their families.

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I don't doubt what you wrote, but it hasn't been like that for my MIL here in MN. We get a choice once a year. After that, very little to no solicitations. Maybe differs by state, although Medicare is a national program, perhaps Medicaid determines how it plays out during the year in each state?

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I didn't think you could change providers that often. I thought you could only change at open enrollment.

I would check with Medicaid if this is allowed. I was getting calls for my nephew wanting him to change over. I called the caseworker and she told me not to do it. It screws them up and then they have to switch it back. In my State Medicaid gives you 3 companies to choose from. If any changes need to be made, they go thru the caseworker. Medicaid determines if you pay copays, deductables, etc. My nephew pays none of these. He pays very little if anything for his prescriptions. I think its based on income which he has very little of.

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Can you check with the carrier to see if there is a way to prevent him from making outgoing calls other than ones he has in his contact list.
I have never called one of the providers so I do not know what questions they ask but if you are POA I do not think he can make changes.

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The providers he calls wouldn't know he has dementia or has a PoA. They will enact his request and then the PoA is left to find out about it by surprise and then waste time having to undo it.

That being said I agree with JoAnn that you can't change your provider for Medicaid except once a year so I don't know how he's changing companies. I don't know about Medicare.

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Senior changing insurance frequently. Is there a way to prevent this?

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