[nickcarraway]

Isn’t Medicare Advantage kind of a scam?

[PghBaldy]

My mom has it, and I am impressed with the level of care she gets.

[Aria]

I nearly died a few years ago..in and out of hospital from July through November..had various procedures and ended with successful surgery. Everything was paid.

[TomGuy]

Isn’t Medicare Advantage kind of a scam?

I suppose it would depend on what you mean by 'scam'.

It also depends on the states and the plans offered.

MA typically provides more basic benefits than regular Medicare, including dental and eye. Also, there are increased benefits (lower out of pocket costs) for prescriptions.

MA plans have become more competitive over the years. Competition means better prices to the consumers.

[Nifster]

No. I prefer it

[gitmo]

Not a scam, but it can restrict your choices in the future if your needs change. I prefer Medicare Supplements over Advantage. But I know many people who are quite happy with their MA plans.

[Hootowl99]

No…. Medicare Advantage itself is not a scam. It is a downgrade though for many retired person's medical insurance coverage though compared what they were accustomed to during their preretirement years.

Beware of insurance salesmen. Most are working on commission and often have the ethics of a used car salesman. Do not expect non biased advice.

If you worked for a company large enough to have corporate medical insurance and such, they probably have a retiree benefits group. Even if you haven't worked for that company for years, you can probably still tap into their retiree services.

I have Medicare supplemental insurance through the insurance broker retained through a former employer for their retirees. 30K plus employees. The broker's agents are salaried, not commissioned. The broker is not wed to one or two insurance providers. For example, I have three different insurance companies that in combination provide the maximum range of medical, hospitalization and assisted care. Once a year during open enrollment, I review things with the broker and occasionally will tweak some details.

Pro tips…. If your health insurance is through a retiree benefit program…. ALWAYS keep the company benefits department and social security up to date with your current address and contact information. Periodically, the company will download to the insurance broker an update on all retiree's address, etc. The broker then updates this information to the individual insurance companies. If you moved 6 months ago without updating the former employer's benefits data, you could end up with a mess to untangle via temporary denied coverage or even temporary cancellation. There's a also 60 day window IIRC to notify social security (via their website) of a move. Get outside this window and you could end up with a penalty that increases the cost of Medicare.

My opinions…

[dforest]

No. it isn’t.