Medicare Advantage: Simplifying Coverage for Union Members

Picture of awfblog awfblog July 31, 2025

America's Work Force Union Podcast Health, Welfare, and Safety Government Affairs and Policy Blue Cross Blue Shield

nlo 2

Guest Name:

Merrilee Logue

Guest Website:

https://www.bcbs.com/

Guest Social Media:

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Supportive Documents:

Merrilee Logue, Executive Director of the National Labor Office at Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and Duncan Lawson, Director of Market Intelligence for Government Programs at BCBSA, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss Medicare and Medicare Advantage.

Lawson explained that Medicare consists of multiple parts, including Part A (hospital insurance), Part B (doctor and healthcare provider services) and Part D (prescription drug coverage). While the government offers partial coverage for Parts A and B, many individuals need to purchase additional Medigap policies to avoid coverage gaps, he said. Medicare Advantage, also known as Part C, combines Parts A and B and usually D into a single benefit, simplifying healthcare management for members, added Lawson.

The Medicare enrollment process offers several opportunities for individuals to select the right plan. He noted that the initial enrollment period spans seven months around an individual's 65th birthday. Annual enrollment periods and open enrollment periods provide additional chances to review and change coverage. Logue emphasized the importance of researching options early, especially given recent and potential future changes to Medicare plans.

Logue said Medicare Advantage plans can be particularly beneficial for unions, streamlining administration and helping manage member benefits. These plans often include extra services not covered by traditional Medicare, such as fitness programs, vision, hearing and dental care. She encouraged listeners to check and see if their union offers Medicare coverage as they approach age 65.

Listen to the full episode to learn more about navigating Medicare options for union members.

America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.