I’m going to be checking this throughout the day to see what others have to say. I’m also considering changing plans - but reverse of what the person who posted this thread..
I have spent considerable time going through our drug costs this week and have almost decided to DROP Medicare Advantage, go with Original Medicare and buy a drug plan..
With our prescriptions for COPD (inhalers), we will both end up in the “donut hole” by summer time 2019...(expensive heart meds add it up for me also). So far, I haven’t found a great deal of difference in the cost just going with a drug plan but I’m hoping I’ll run into something that makes sense.
My husband has had several 4-5 day hospitalizations for COPD complications and with Medicare Advantage, the most we have paid for our share was roughly $1,800. 20% on Original Medicare would be more but I have to weigh everything...pro/con. We’ve had Medicare Advantage for years and have not had any complaints but the drug costs warrant another look...
I’m thinking about cutting out the heart meds as I’ve had the condition for 40+ years without any trouble but went along this year with the doctor when he told me I was risking a stroke...put me on blood thinner (Xarelto-no generic) and another drug before eating and before bed to slow down the heart.
Will watch for others experience and advice as the day wears on.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone...
Most of this stuff is very individual, but there are a few things worth noting that are general.
1) Advantage is changing, and for the better. Advantage is presently less than 1/3 of seniors. That number is projected to be 1/2 in about 3 yrs. They are improving and they are outcompeting Medigap. They had problems in the past. They are erasing them one by one.
2) The standard description has always been “Medigap premiums are much higher, but once you pay them you pay nothing else. Advantage has lower premiums, but the copays and deductibles can exceed the lower premium differential” It is this which is also changing. Advantage is apparently getting their total costs equal to Medigap’s. This is huge. It means if you don’t get sick in some year, your premiums being much lower for Advantage puts money in your pocket.
3) If you try to enter Medigap after the initial age 65 decision timeframe, you have to go through what is called underwriting. This is a process of evaluting you for pre-existing conditions. At age 65, Medigap isn’t allowed to boost your premium for any pre-ex situation. If you try to enter Medigap after that timeframe, they can price your pre-ex conditions higher. Medicare Advantage must cover pre-ex conditions that Medicare covers. There are just a couple of rare exceptions (end stage renal disease).
4) This item 3) above is a big deal for people who lived outside the US. Many do. The Lake Chapala folks may be age 70+ and want to return to the US, but have pre-ex conditions. Medigap will refuse them. Medicare Advantage cannot.
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.
My father-in-law had blood clots in his groin. He had to give himself heparin injections. We gave him DMSO to apply topically and the blood clots were clinically gone in 4 weeks.
A friend of mine had a stroke that partially immobilized his left side. He called me and I said to him, you have DMSO, use it topically and generously. He fully recovered in 24 hours.
I am 83 and on no prescription meds. I plan to keep it that way. I avoid antibiotics, use high doses of Vitamin C if I feel like I am coming down with cold or anything. All mammals except primates, guinea pigs, an obscure bat found only in India make their own Vitamin C. We are primates, we do not make our own C.