[TigerClaws]

Humana is okay, not great.

Hear good things about Blue Cross.

Hear good things about People’s Choice.

[GuySwell]

www.selectquotesenior.com

They’re an insurance broker in Kansas who can help you online or over the phone. There’s no charge to you for their help. There are many brokers you could turn to for help. I’ve heard good things about this one and I have no connection to the firm.

[Kozy]

I went Plan F for supplemental. I use USAA. Nice people and they market Humana .

[amihow]

Advantage plans own you. They manipulate you and your doctors IMO.

Better straight Medicare and a supplement plan F if you can afford it. Or pay 10% Medicare does not pay yourself.

[UB355]

Wife and I have the United AARP @ $25.00 month payment. We have been happy with it

[stilloftyhenight]

Humana is great if you are healthy. Once you have serious issues, they are NOT good. So it’s basically free but if you are not in good condition, go with someone else. Fyi, I’ve heard that from 2 different nurses that I know personally.

[TexasKamaAina]

I had a Blue Cross advantage plan. Changed to Medicare plan G. Cost me about $1000 more per year than the advantage plan, but deductible is only $183. Find a good broker.

[Catmom]

Please try to find a good local retirement planner.

It’s part of their job and, if they’re well reviewed, should be your best source of advice.

[Aliska]

I wanted to start a Vanity when it was open enrollment but don't like to do it so I'll ride along on yours if you don't mind.

I've been on AARP United Healthcare for several cycles/years now, usually about Dec 7 thru Dec 7 of the following year, can't remember the one I started with, and it could be worse but they work like HMO's in that you can only go "in-network" with some exceptions. That seriously limits your options.

I can't juggle evaluating all those options because I hate the insurance business and my mind balks, started thinking about Aetna with State Farm but thought maybe Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield might be the Cadillac one. But it might cost a lot more.

At this point it seems like the whole system is a ripoff. People who get the best care and options have a policy they had before they go on Medicare and use both.

The last years before I was eligible for Medicare, I had a Wellmark catastrophic plan ($5K/year deductible), and the premiums/month which they insist have to be deducted from my checking account, went up a lot towards the end. It's probably better than what it would be now, can't imagine.

The people who have the best deal are Medicaid recipients. They get better care than I do although doctors can refuse to take them. The only fly in that ointment is you have to be low income duh and, it's subject to uncertainty, but they can seize any assets you might leave behind when you die in order to recoup what they paid out for your care. Or it might just be nursing home at the end.

They get dental, eye, medical, psychological, only limit I've seen with a close relative was something about couldn't have a second pair of prescription eyeglesses.

If I went too far here and threaten to hijack your thread, I'll back off.

[TomGuy]

Medicare Advantage varies from state to state. In-state plans may vary in premiums ($0 up).

Drug coverage depends on the plan, but drug coverage is mandatory. If you refuse it, you will get an annual penalty. If you enroll later, you will still be assessed the cumulative penalty each year.

Check out available plans and compare them either through your state CMS or Medicare.gov.

Last year, I went with the new AARP United Healthcare because of zero premium and low drug costs. About half-way through the year, UHC dropped my primary care physicial and dozens of area doctors from their network — due to contract negotiations. I dropped them for 2018 and went with another company.

[Moonmad27]

Now that I’ve retired, I just have Medicare. No drug coverage because now my two meds are cheap generics. Do I really HAVE to get one of these additional plans?

I always said no to AARP but now I’m wondering.

[Nifster]

Humana sucks.....go with the Kaiser option. They handle Medicare patients much better

[GOPJ]

Medicare puts out a book - in the back of the book is a list of all the ‘advantage’ plans IN YOUR AREA. AND a list of what their ‘out of pocket’ maximum is - that's the line that matters.

Some of the zero premiums + free silver sneakers gym membership and free trips to the doctors etc etc have yearly ‘out of pocket’ maximums over $10,000. Too risky for me.

I went with a medicare supplemental plan "F". It cost about $200 a month - - haven't paid a dime for any medical care in years... since signing up. If you consider the supplemental plans, DON'T let the agent talk you into anything other than the "F" plan - the rest of the plans are junk. And the "F" plan is only guaranteed for the 3 months AFTER you turn 65. They can turn you down for that plan after that time. The government forces insurance companies to offer it - and they all have to offer the same minimun care - but they can charge different amounts. So call around if that's your choice. What you pay for the EXACT same policy could differ by $50 or more a month depending on company.

[Salvation]

I like Kaiser Permanente

[catnipman]

Advantage plans are total traps if you have poor health or unusual conditions. They essentially make money by trying every way possible to minimize providing medical care. You can use ONLY THEIR clinics, THEIR doctors, and THEIR hospitals, even if the nearest ones are 100 miles away. My advice is: don’t do it.

Best bet is a good Plan F and Plan D. Play F’s are standardized, i.e., identical by law, so go with the cheapest one - in our state, AARP’s United Health Care is the cheapest.

Plan D is much more difficult to figure out. I just switched to one this year with a very large formulary, no deductible, doughnut hole coverage etc.

This will all cost you more up front, but you’ll end up with the best medical care in the world, with the option to obtain medical care from almost any facility in the U.S. and almost any doctor in the U.S.

[Ken H]

I’d like to second what another poster said about Advantage plans owning you. They may be good now, but you never know how they’ll rewrite the rules 5 or 10 years down the road. I don’t like the idea of a gatekeeper.

Once you’re in an Advantage plan, you can’t switch to Plan G or F without medical underwriting.

[exit82]

Bump for later reading.

[MAKOTHEDOG]

Humana is is fine if it meets your needs, mainly if your doctors and such are in a network. Your doctor might not be in a network an therefore an Advantage plan might not appeal to some people.

Supplement/ Medigap plans:

Can be used in any state or US territory
See any doctor that accepts medicare
Can have no out of pocket costs (Plan F but G is a close second because cost saving s paying the annual Part B Deductible) for Medicare approved services and if the doctor accepts Medicare.
No Drug Plan... Need a stand alone plan

Medicare Advantage:

Work in a network (HMO or PPO) HMO- need to use network doctors and hospitals. PPO costs are less in a network but can pay more to uses services out of the network

Copays and Co Insurances (% of the cost)

Do typically come with drug plans.

Everybody has different views about which direction one should go. You can see in my profile who I am with if you need questions asked just email me here. I will be happy to talk to you about all of your options.

[Just_Sue]

I’m a former Medicare Insurance Agent (now retired). I was healthy when I chose to go on Medicare, but knowing that your health can deteriorate as you age, I chose to buy a supplement rather than go on an Advantage Plan. Turned out to be an excellent choice as I did in fact develop some issues that my supplement covers in full.

My husband was also in good health at retirement, and he chose an Advantage plan. $0 cost. BUT, he really got sick and now he can’t qualify for a supplement which would save us a lot of co-pays and other costs.

You just need to make a decision that makes sense to you. Supplements are government controlled, so shop price. They all have to provide the same benefits.

Check with your current health provider and see what plans they are associated with. That way if you choose an Advantage Plan, they can remain your doctor. Advantage plans are HMO’s whereas Supplements allow you to go anywhere.

[Intolerant in NJ]

Just our experience - wife and I have been on Medicare for about fifteen years each - our former employer provides coverage which in turn selects several Medicare plans of various descriptions from which we can select every year, but they assign us to one primary plan which we can abandon to go to another if we want - up until last year this worked fine - the plan to which we were assigned (a Horizon product) was "original Medicare" and covered virtually all our needs - we're both relatively healthy - for nominal costs - in January 2016 we were notified that our plan had been changed to an "Advantage" plan - not a lot of difference in costs to us, but right away we had to start getting preapproval for special tests and some consultations from the company - something we had never faced before - fortunately most physicians ordering special consults or tests will have their office staff get the prior authorization, but it is an added irritant - apparently to many of the doctors themselves - toward the end of last year the orthopedist my wife sees regularly started lectures at almost every appointment about how bad Advantage plans are, and urging us both to get back on an "original" Medicare plan - he says advantage plans receive an average payment for each patient from Medicare which they then use to pay patients' bills as they come in - this is fine as long as the average cost per year is less than the yearly average the plan gets (about $8000), but once it goes over that the plans start to monitor very carefully and resist paying in every way they can additional bills raising their costs - essentially the plan and not Medicare is now paying the bills and apparently hassle the docs and sometimes the patients themselves about needed treatments and tests to hold their costs down - fortunately neither one of us has had bills amounting to the critical level yet, so we have no idea how uncomfortable this might become for patients or how disruptive it might become for the doctor-patient relationship - wife asked several other doctors she sees for their opinion - both agreed it was a problem, although one added that we had good coverage so why fight it - for us to go back to an available original Medicare plan would cost us some money up front, but it might be worth it in case either gets really sick and requires extensive care.....

In short - it seems doctors don't like Advantage plans - they probably limit some payments to the docs and probably cause them major headaches in pursuing the care they think their patients need - apparently some doctors are not accepting patients with such plans, so you might be limited in who you can get to see - the plans seem okay from the patient's standpoint - as long as they don't get really sick, in which case they might have major problems in getting all the care they need when they need it because the plan is out to save itself money - the tradeoff seems to be a bit higher upfront costs in return for a better chance of getting extensive and costly care later if needed - good luck.....