Posted on 11/22/2018 7:12:14 AM PST by TNoldman
Hi FRiends,
Happy Thanksgiving I hope you are having good weather and a relaxing time.
I have a Question on Medicare Plans. My Wife and I are thinking about Advantage Plans to replace Traditional Medicare. We are 81/83 now and active. We currently have Traditional Medicare with a Gap Policy.
The latest offerings from United Healthcare Advantage Plans seem to have taken care of out-of-network services with their Passport which create instantaneous in-network charges in most States that we visit. Emergency care is Covered in any State. Our current Doctors accept this Advantage Plan.
Our Saving would be about $5000./year (both of us) or a 50% reduction in our Total Healthcare Costs.
What do you think?
Anyone with the Industry experience and/or personal or Family member experience please let us hear from you.
Decision time on or before Dec. 7th!
“”DMSO, DiMethyl Sulfoxide, quickly dissolves blood clots, and can stop a stroke. FDA does not like it, I think because it has so many healing benefits.””
WOW - that takes me back to the ‘70’s when I ordered DMSO and it was sent in a plain brown wrapper like a bottle of booze - LOL. I used it for years for back pain if I remember. I believe it was originally used as a horse linament. If I remember right, it was warm to the hands to apply it and warm after it was applied.
I think it would be too late to use DMSO for the blood clots the doctors are talking about - you wouldn’t know about a clot until a stroke happened and that’s what anyone needs to avoid. Using it topically wouldn’t do much good in that case - at least I don’t think so. I’m a great believer in alternative treatments and never doctored medically - never had a shot in my life until I was diagnosed with COPD and didn’t want to chance the flu - same with my husband but of course, he received plenty of them in the military.
First time he’d ever been in a hospital (other than the day he was born) was when he was bitten by a cat and ended up in the hospital for 3-4 days.. Never heard of such a thing but we learned!! My only experience with hospitals was giving birth. Never used any prescription meds...I think “all the fun” was reserved for our old age - HA!
We are the same age as you and were well on our way to the same state of health if we had been smarter in our 30’s-40’s and stopped smoking! “Too soon old and too late smart.”
The body doesn’t store Vitamin C - it’s washed out easily in the kidneys so your body needs plenty of it..
Good going and good for you. Not much common sense out there today and good to run into someone who has it.
Thanks for the info. I don’t understand when I check prices, what are the “hundreds” of dollars in prices? I’ve googled different medications and get $400-$500...and certainly that’s not what they cost a person on a Medicare drug plan so what good does it do to check? Have to admit the journey this week has made me pretty confused - trying to get this done before 12/7 so we’re not locked in to the same thing as last year if I can find something better...
Are you talking about paying for a medication without insurance that was $413? WOW!
I was cashing out my HSA Or MSA before leaving my place of employment, so I purchased a years supply of a daily brand name med that I use. When I called around for prices for a years supply, Walmart was the clear low price option.
Is it really Medicare vs Advantage? Wouldn’t it be Medicare vs Advantage or Supplemental?
When I went on Medicare, I had no choice; at 65 we ALL go on Medicare. Having Medicare, then you can choose between an Advantage Plan or a Supplemental Plan. We chose Supplemental Plan G or F (can’t recall which) through Mutual of Omaha. Advantage had some OK benefits, but the coverage was much better on a Supplemental (I think it’s also called medi-gap.)
We contacted AMAC, the “conservative alternative to AARP” and were put in touch with an agent who shopped around for the best option for us. That was five years ago. Then my husband turned 65 three years later and went through the same agent. He’s been a good touchstone when we needed.
Whatever you do, if you go to any government sponsored seminars, take in the info but then do your own research beyond that. Two women who facilitated the Medicare workshop we attended were in love with Obamacare and would never give us straight answers to basically any question about Advantage vs Supplemental.
When I said Traditional Medicare I meant Medicare A,B and Supplement(Gap) and a separate Part D Drug Plan
GGpa, where does one find GMSO. I have some problems with circulation in my legs. I managed to avoid doctors so far, but really be thankful for anything that I don’t have to ingest. I stay on a vitamin regimen including Vit-C as my go-to for everything. I walk outside as much as weather permits. So far I haven’t had any medical issues that I can’t control. I refused my fam. Dr’s attempts to push Statins on me for high Cholesterol. 25 years ago he told me I was going to stroke out if I didn’t take the Statins. I refused then and he finally “guessed” that my Cholesterol is genetic. Last visit he reminded me that I was going to stroke out. I reminded him that I’m almost 85 (Dec.3) and I’m certainly going to die from something. If it isn’t painful I won’t need to take any medicine to keep me alive. He shakes his head and prays for me. I laugh and tell him his prayers are keeping me alive.
I think that is the plan I have. I have a supplement plan with my former employer that I pay $135 a month for, and regular Medicare plus D. I rarely have received any bills for dr. bills and the part D makes any prescription that I take (eye problem) $10 or less.
Oh. I understand. FWIW, we have our Part D with Walmart and have been satisfied.
we used to say: “Kaiser is GREAT .... until you get sick”
For the eight years we lived in California we had Kaiser HBO, and we loved it. Sure, you needed to use their facilities and doctors, but they all were wonderful. Actually, when we decided to leave California, we strongly considered Georgia because they have Kaiser there. (Ended up in Tennessee due to a job offer DH couldn’t refuse.)
For her last couple of years, my mom was on a Kaiser Permanente Advantage plan. There was a large facility just a couple of miles from her home. People there were friendly and it looked to be a pretty good solution for her.
But one thing struck me. She could drive herself there, but she couldn’t walk very far. Here in my small town—population > 40,000, we have two hospitals. Both offer free valet parking at every entrance. You drive up, a volunteer valet gets you a wheelchair if you need one, gets you into the facility and parks your car.
At the K-P facility, there was none of that. They had handicapped spaces near the entrances but no one was at hand to help you get in. There were wheelchairs, but you had to look for/find them yourself. Bottom line, if my mom needed to go, she had to call a friend to take her. So she didn’t go. Thus, things that should have been looked at and dealt with weren’t.
Perhaps it is just a difference in culture and expectations. Small Midwest vs suburban California.
You surely mean HMO, not HBO. If an HMO works for you, that’s great. Where I live HMOs are nonexistent. We have a PPO (preferred provider organization) advantage plan from Blue Cross that we have been happy with so far.
Right. HMO. Sorry.
Some people sometimes get a garlic like taste in their mouth. I never have had that experience and I have used a lot of DMSO.
DMSO Source
You can also check EBay
We use a lot of Vitamin C. We also make our own liposomal Vitamin C. Works!
Cholesterol is not a disease. Avoid Statins like the plague.
DMSO applied topically will help circulation in your legs. I dilute it to 60% using distilled water. It is easier on the skin. DMSO is ubiquitous, it goes everywhere. The garlic odor is usually not noticeable when applied topically. Taking it internally may result in odor.
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