By Colleen King LA Insurance Examiner

As if there isn't enough to look at and listen to these days when it comes to health care! This is the last of the regular Medicare Advantage (MA) articles I'm going to do for now, and it will deal with an odd plan called thePrivate Fee For Service (PFFS) plan.

We don't need to spend a lot of time on them because as of last year, these are on their way out; even the government has figured out these are weird.

Here's why. When you sign up for a PFFS plan, the government no longer pays your Medicare related claims, the carrier you enroll with does. And there's no contracted network like you would have with the regional PPOs. The carrier basically determines the amount they will pay. And get this, each time you see your doctor, unless it's an emergency, they have the option to not see you because of what they will get paid. Or not paid, is probably more like it.

Now, when you talk about government interruption in the doctor-patient relationship, this one takes the cake for me. That's why at this point these are being phased out in 2011. And not very many insurance companies offer them, because of the hassles. So in my opinion, you are better off with the Medicare HMOs, a regional PPO or looking at Medicare Supplements if you can. These do not fall under the MA series of plans, so that will be a separate article.

If you are in the market to make a change this Medicare season, do yourself a favor and contact an independent agent that sells Medicare products. Not all do because of the multiple certifications you need to redo each season. But this way they can tell you the pros and cons of each plan, and what potentially could work best for you.

Medicare.gov for more info