Today, Agility learned this State of Emergency the Governor of Texas issued on October 14, 2024 expanded to include the following Texas counties:
- Anderson, Angelina, Aransas, Atascosa, Austin,
- Bastrop, Bee, Bell, Brazos, Brewster, Brooks, Burleson,
- Caldwell, Calhoun, Cameron, Camp, Cherokee, Colorado, Comal, Culberson,
- Delta, DeWitt, Dimmit, Duval,
- El Paso, Ellis,
- Falls, Fayette, Fort Bend, Franklin, Freestone,
- Goliad, Gonzales, Gregg, Grimes, Guadalupe,
- Harris, Hays, Henderson, Hidalgo, Hopkins, Houston, Hudspeth, Hunt,
- Jackson, Jeff Davis, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells,
- Karnes, Kaufman, Kenedy, Kleberg,
- La Salle, Lamar, Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Limestone, Live Oak, Loving,
- Madison, Matagorda, McMullen, Milam, Montgomery, Morris,
- Nacogdoches, Navarro, Nueces,
- Polk, Presidio,
- Rains, Red River, Reeves, Refugio, Robertson, Rockwall, Rusk,
- San Jacinto, San Patricio, Smith, Starr,
- Titus, Travis, Trinity,
- Upshur,
- Van Zandt, Victoria,
- Walker, Waller, Washington, Webb, Wharton, Willacy, Williamson, Wilson, Wood,
- and Zapata Counties.
The current Medicare Advantage Special Election Period (SEP) for this disaster is changing to make these new Texas counties eligible with a new expiration date of June 30, 2025. It is still the Medicare agents’ responsibility to confirm a beneficiary is eligible to use this SEP before they use it.
Medicare agents should do the following to confirm beneficiary eligibility:
- Ask the beneficiary if they can show proof they lived in an impacted county at the start of the SEP eligibility period or rely on help making healthcare decisions from friends or family members who lived in an affected county.
- If they do not have proof, ask them to attest verbally.
- Confirm they had another valid election period available during the incident period and did not make an election during the other valid election period due to the stated disaster or other emergency.
- Once eligibility is confirmed, proceed with the application.
- On applications, use election code SEP DST.
For more information about other Medicare Advantage SEPs nationwide, you can refer to our article on this subject, which we wrote with the help of our partners at Humana.
Agility’s Medicare expert, Carolina Alcorta, is very knowledgeable about Medicare SEPs and can discuss any specific questions you have about them or anything else related to Medicare. To speak with Carolina directly, contact Carolina at (305) 744-2588 or email [email protected].
Visit our Medicare Contracting website to see what Carolina can train you on, and ask her to add you to our weekly free email list for more tips and other vital information.
