Independent insurance · Sioux Falls
Medicare, life, and annuities — handled with care.
Independent insurance for the Sioux Falls area. We compare the plans we offer on both sides of the Big Sioux and match them to your life — no pressure, and no cost to you.
How it works
Medicare guidance at Big Sioux Benefits, in 3 steps
Schedule a free consultation
Tell us your doctors, prescriptions, and budget. No cost, no pressure.
Personal plan comparison
We compare the Medicare Advantage, Medigap, and Part D plans we offer against your needs.
Enroll & ongoing local support
We handle enrollment and stay your local advisor for claims, appeals, and annual reviews.
Our services
Medicare Enrollment Assistance
Turning 65 or new to Medicare — we guide every step.
Plan Comparison
Advantage vs. Supplement vs. Part D, compared for your situation.
Annual Coverage Review
Plans change yearly. We check yours every fall so you never overpay.
Claims Support & Appeals
A real local advocate when something goes wrong.
Turning 65 Consultations
A clear roadmap for your Initial Enrollment Period.
Drug Cost Review
Make sure your prescriptions are covered at the best price.
Medicare products we offer
Medicare Advantage
Medicare Supplement (Medigap)
Part D Prescription Drug Plans
Dental, Vision & Hearing
Hospital Indemnity
Life & Final Expense
Local & data-driven
We know the Siouxland Medicare market — by the numbers
Sioux Falls (Minnehaha County) has 22 Medicare plans for 2026 — and across the Big Sioux in Iowa, Sioux County has even more, at 28 (CMS PY2026). We compare both sides so you don't have to. See Sioux Falls plan data →
From the blog
Latest Medicare guidance
Does Medicare Cover Dental Care Before Surgery? Sioux Falls, 2026
CMS is direct about it on its own Medicare Dental Coverage page: dental services are covered under Part A and Part B when they are "inextricably linked to the clinical success of" another Medicare-covered procedure, a narrow exception layered on top of Medicare's usual no-dental rule since the Calendar Year 2023 Physician Fee Schedule final rule. CMS's current list names nine scenarios, from organ transplant and cardiac valve replacement to head and neck cancer treatment and, as of the CY2025 rule, dialysis for end-stage renal disease. CMS estimated the original 2023 rule would generate roughly 190,000 additional dental services nationwide, and KFF's independent analysis of CMS's own estimates puts the 2024 cancer-treatment addition at up to 155,000 eligible beneficiaries. It's billed like any other Part B service: the 2026 Part B deductible ($283) and 20% coinsurance apply, with no separate dental cost-sharing. Since July 1, 2025, providers must attach a specific billing code, the KX modifier, or a qualifying claim can be processed as ordinary, uncovered dental work. Sanford Health's Sioux Falls transplant program and Sanford Heart Hospital's TAVR program are exactly the kind of local care where this comes up. Here's the full guide: the nine covered scenarios explained, what it actually costs, the paperwork rule that can sink an otherwise-valid claim, how this differs from a Medicare Advantage plan's routine dental benefit, and what to do if a claim gets denied anyway.
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Does Medicare Cover Eye Injections for Macular Degeneration?
CMS is direct about the coverage: Part B "may cover certain diagnostic tests and treatments (including treatment with certain injectable drugs)" for macular degeneration, and after the Part B deductible you pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount for the drug and your doctor's services. The part nobody explains before the first appointment is what that 20% is a percentage of. CMS's own Medicare Part B Spending by Drug file, data year 2024, puts the average Medicare-approved amount per claim at $1,918.34 for Eylea, $2,419.05 for Vabysmo and $3,141.51 for Eylea HD — making your share roughly $384 to $628 per injection, every four to eight weeks, with no annual ceiling at all under Original Medicare by itself. Eight Eylea injections in a year works out to about $3,295.74 out of pocket in 2026 after the $283 Part B deductible, and a Medigap Plan G would cut that to the deductible alone. In South Dakota, CDC's modeled estimates put any age-related macular degeneration at 20.91% of adults 65 to 84 and 50.84% of adults 85 and older, with the vision-threatening stage that gets injected at 1.49% and 12.61%. Here's the full guide: why these are Part B drugs and not Part D drugs, what one injection really costs, a worked year in dollars, what Medigap and Medicare Advantage each do to the math, and the questions to ask before the next appointment.
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What the 2027 Medicare Pay Cut Means for Seeing Your Doctor in Sioux Falls
CMS's own CY2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule fact sheet, issued November 4, 2026, finalizes a real cut to what Medicare pays physicians starting January 1, 2027: the conversion factor drops to $32.95 for clinicians in a qualifying Alternative Payment Model (-1.83% from 2026's $33.57) and to $32.63 for everyone else (-2.31% from 2026's $33.40). That's a cut to what Medicare pays the doctor, not a new bill sent straight to you — but KFF's review of CMS's own Opt-Out Affidavits data, published January 17, 2025, found only 1.2% of U.S. physicians had formally opted out of Medicare nationwide as of November 2024, with South Dakota among the dozen lowest-opt-out states at 0.5% or lower. The real exposure is narrower: CMS's own rules let a non-participating provider legally bill up to 15% above the Medicare-approved amount, on top of standard coinsurance, with no annual ceiling under Original Medicare. Here's the full guide: what CMS actually changed, the three ways a doctor can bill Medicare, why a cut under 3% can matter more than it sounds, what this looks like in the Sioux Falls area, and exactly how to check your own doctors before it affects you.
Read →Common Medicare questions — answered
Does it cost anything to work with Big Sioux Benefits?
No. Our help is free to you — licensed agents are paid by the insurance carriers, not by you. You get unbiased local guidance at no cost.
Which areas do you serve?
We serve the Sioux Falls metro & Siouxland — eastern South Dakota, northwest Iowa & southwest Minnesota, including Sioux Falls, Brandon, Harrisburg, and Tea (SD) plus nearby northwest Iowa communities like Sioux Center and Rock Valley.
When can I enroll in or change my Medicare plan?
Your first window is the Initial Enrollment Period around your 65th birthday. After that, the Annual Enrollment Period runs Oct 15–Dec 7 each year, plus Special Enrollment Periods for qualifying life events. We'll tell you exactly which window applies to you.
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