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Supplemental (medigap) has about 8 varieties at various add-on costs. In the huge pile of mail I got, AARP and I think Aetna had nice tables of what features come with each. I like value and didn’t want to pay even more beyond Medicare B. These all seemed expensive with features I wouldn’t use and some I might.

In our city the NO COST Advantage programs that cover the 2 major hospital systems and the Christian-oriented clinic we use are a no brainer. I chose the one without drug benefits as I am in excellent health. I did a spreadsheet showing $1000 a year in value with free vision, dental, and physical exams and other benefits. On the no drug program specialist visits are $5, hospital in or out patient are $25 for 7 days instead of $295, and there lower max out-of-pocket. Both have $100/year for contacts, and a $240/year “wallet” for health clubs and other uses. I even get $40 free stuff from CVS every quarter (overpriced on selection list, probably worth $15, but still included). Go here, enter your zip code, and check the summaries: https://www.medicare.gov/plan-compare/

Worldwide emergency/urgent care is important to me, which my Advantage provides (and I just learned so does a high-end credit card I have). As a backup, I know how to get certain treatments overseas at low cost. Not sure if this will benefit me now though.

Just had my first “Welcome to Medicare” exam today...

Looking for advice. I only have 3 days to sign up.
I’ll start tomorrow i hope to look at Blue Cross website
It’s my current provider
.
so i’m leaning toward using BC/BS one stop shop.
A cousin told me to skip advantage as the PPO’s are poor in my rural area of SC.
Looking at A,B,D
want vision/hearing dental too
i think i need medigap and a supplement G plan.
anyone done this recently? any advice is welcome, thanks in advance.

My husband and I have Medicare Advantage plans. It’s an HMO and we are quite pleased with it. All of our doctors are on the plan. We don’t have to find our own doctors who take Medicare which is something that people who have a Medigap plan (as I understand it) have to do. We also never have to deal with the government. We only deal with our insurance provider.

We can use out-of-network providers, but we would pay more. I don’t see the need, because we are quite happy with our current options. The only premium we pay is just the regular Medicare premium that comes out of Social Security payments.

If we would need medical care for a minor or major emergency while traveling, we are covered.

We have no co-pay for seeing our primary care provider and pay $40 to see a specialist. That is going down to $35 next year.

We get free memberships to a number of different fitness centers and the YMCA via the Silver Sneakers program, which is part of our Advantage plan.

Each month, we each get $25 worth of various OTC health and personal care items from CVS at no charge.

I wish they would charge at least a small co-pay to see our PCP if it would save the program a little money.

Various vaccinations and tests are also free for us, and they have been good about covering medications that some insurance companies don’t.

If we were to move out of state, we would be able to switch plans even if it weren’t the time of year when people normally can switch.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.