Posted on 11/06/2025 11:35:57 AM PST by Blood of Tyrants
Okay, my wife and I are approaching 65 and need advice/personal experiences on what company to go with for parts C and D? I don't know much and appreciate the experiences of other Freepers.
My wife have Medicare for c and d happy with it.
You need an expert. These people are experts.
Look at Anthem Plan G.
The single most important thing is to sign up before your deadline. If you don’t, your standard premium goes up FOREVER. FOR-EVER, as in, forever.
I (single) opted for part G. That means nothing for you/yours.
There are a number of webinars out there for Medicare advice and I would suggest listening/slogging through some of them.
Personally, I find the entire universe of Medicare too complicated to hold in my pea-brain all at one time. I don’t understand why it needs to be so complicated, but it is.
Everything depends on your zip code. Then see what options are available to you. Get the 2026 CMS book or talk to an agent. T v one if none in your area. They all get a cut so it’s true, no cost to you unless you choose the wrong plan.
Part C is called Medicare Advantage -— for no additional premium, you get extra coverage — dental, drugs, optical. Plans vary on what they cover and how much.
Part D is drug coverage only, since traditional Medicare doesn’t cover drugs.
Go go medicare.gov to find companies with plans in your area. I made a spreadsheet so I can compare pros and cons.
Make sure that you verify coverage information also on the carrier’s website, because the medicare.gov site is sometimes off on information, and doesn’t have the level of detail on coverage that the carrier’s site would have.
I have been using United Healthcare Medicare Advantage for the past three years with no complaints. Of course, fortunately, I haven’t had to use it much. I got notice that they were no longer offering my plan for 2026, and they don’t have any good alternatives, so I am now looking at Humana. From comparing them to other carriers, they just seem to have better coverage. Humana also has a larger variety of plans that are tailored to different needs.
IF you take SS early(before 65) you are automatically enrolled in Medicare and will be notified prior to turning 65. You’ll still need to figure out supplemental.
Oh and one more thing, have all of your prescription and health information ready cause plans need to know that.
I find it too complicated and I dont want to deal with it but need to. At a time when Seniors start losing their faculties they make insurance incredibly difficult to understand.
The only thing that I know for sure is that anyone that might need to change coverage needs to consider the problem of pre existing conditions if you want to get off Medicare advantage.
I had the same question so two years ago I used the SEARCH function on FR and found some excellent advise.
1) Get an insurance agent
2} If they push you towards a C plan change agents.
I also have G, BCBS, and it’s excellent.
All the Medicare plan C’s are NOT MEDICARE and are not bound by Medicare laws...My agent explained the situation to me very well even though she earns 5 x times the commission on the C plans.
Best of luck to you!
If you have any health issues or if they run in your family, stay away from Medicare Advantage!
My suggestion is to go to https://www.seniorsavingsnetwork.org and watch their videos.
Christopher Westfall is a wealth of info on anything Medicare - you can setup an appt online or call them. They will guide you to the best path FOR YOU! Note: They do not sell their advice, nor do it to try to gain more money for themselves - as many Medicare agents do.
I highly recommend Chris Westfall.
They will send you a catalog with various Advantage plans available in your area. If you are near a large metropolitan area, we have found that these are the way to go. You just have to take an hour or so to see what is available in your area.
I’ve been advised to not use a Medicare part C plan (Medicare Advantage). Sign up for Parts A and B and a Medicare supplement plan from a private insurance company to pay what Medicare doesn’t cover. Part D is for drug coverage and is through private insurance companies. Blue Cross Blue Shield, just exited these plans due to losses. A broker suggested I try Humana for part D for 2026.
I have been on Medicare supplemental with Premera for many years and it has worked well. Premera is called the Blues for Blue Cross and Blue Shield. It is only available in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and I believe in Texas.
A friend has the Humana supplemental and that has worked well with a huge heart surgery.
As someone suggested look to see what is available in your area. I read a while a go that if you start with and Advantage plan you cannot later change to Supplemental but I don’t know if that is true or not.
I have the cheap Supplemental at 129 per month but it has high deductible. My friend on Humana has virtually everything paid for.
Last year I was out of pocket about 6 grand on 60,000 of surgery. I feel I have saved money by taking my chances on only paying for cheap plan for years and then coughing up dough later. Different people have different comfort levels, but think of paying 170 a month less for ten years but then shelling out six grand later.
First you need to understand what your Medicare Part C plan covers before you need to worry about Part D.
Medicare Part A - hospital coverage
Medicare Part B - Medical treatment coverage
Medicare Part C - essentially combines Parts A and B and often times includes drug coverage and is called Medicare Advantage programs. If your Medicare Part C - Medicare Advantage program includes drug coverage, you likely don’t need a Part D plan. Medicare Part C plans may not include the Doctors and Hospitals that you would want to use. It’s really important to know what the restrictions of a Medicare Part C plan are.
I’m not knocking one approach over another, it’s what you feel comfortable with and what your particular healthcare needs might be and does the plan you sign up for cover it.
Personally, I signed up for Medicare Parts A and B and purchase a supplemental policy from United Healthcare for about $280/month, in addition I signed up for a Medicare Part D program with Wellcare with a Zero Premium.
In my case, I had open heart surgery before I went on Medicare and wanted the freedom to go to a major hospital that has an advanced cardiovascular department just in case.
For example, I live in a city with a Mayo Clinic and I wanted the option to seek treatment there and some Medicare Advantage programs don’t cover treatment at Mayo.
We have traditional Medicare and United Healthcare Plan F as a supplemental. Have had very good success with this although the Plan F of today is not as good as what we got 20 years ago.
1. Part D is the prescription drug part of Medicare. You don’t get Medicare paying any part of the prescription drug costs without it.
2. Part C is really Parts A & B combined in what’s called a “Medicare Advantage Plan”.
A. You can have Parts A and B without using a Medicare Advantage Plan.
B. Either as Medicare Parts A & B with standard Medicare or combined in a Medicare Advantage Plan (”Part C”) Social Security deducts the same Medicare Premium from what Social Security pays you; only with a Medicare Advantage Plan - they are provided by private insurers (like Aetna, United Health, Bluecross/Blueshield, ect), the insurer gets that premium from Medicare.
C. A Medicare Advantage Plan can have some additional “benefits” (Eye exams, earing aids, some dental), depending on what the insurer offers, and they need to be looked at carefully in terms of your needs, because Medicare Advantage Plans have a drawback also.
D. A drawback of Medicare Advantage plans are the insurers provide them as PPO’s or HMOs - preferred provider networks. With those networks you don’t get coverage, or as much coverage if you go to providers not in the network, which limits which providers in your area you can see without question. Usually a provider will look to see if they are part the network covered by “your” Medicare Advantage Plan, and if not they will not take you; unless your going to pay 100% out of pocket. Regular medicare A&B without going through a Medicare Advantage Plan do not have those network limitations; and sometimes you can find providers who will take standard Medicare A&B but not a Medicare Advantage Plan, because Medicare Advantage plans are plans where the insurers have negotiated to pay the providers less than what Medicare alone would pay them. (I had a brother who lost is primary care doctor because his Aetna Medicare Advantage Plan quit including his doctor in their network (because Aetna demanded to pay the doctor less than they had previously been paying - note, that lower payment to the doctor did not change how much of the cost to the patient was being covered by Medicare - that didn’t change).
There are other ins and out to it all, so continue to do your investigation, particularly before signing up for any “Part C”, Medicare Advantage plan.
Evan Ferguson
Licensed Insurance Agent
United Medicare Advisors
(866) 282-5797 Ext. 3660
www.unitedmedicareadvisors.com
Does your area have a “Council on Aging” or other Senior Resource Center?
Most of these emply a “SHINE” Counselor, who is supposed to be an expert in that area.
The one in my town in MA was very helpful to me.
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