if you travel much, make SURE it's good on both states and have out of network coverage,,, the Blues are my recommendation
The fact that you travel a lot is usually a big negative for an “Advantage” plan.
Your provider may not work in the states or cities that you enjoy traveling to.
As long as you are in good health, it won’t matter that much.
But if you get sick or injured outside of your provider’s coverage area, expect some big time expenses to show up on your Medicare statement.
*** Medicare bump ***
Bkmrk for later reference.
Medicare Advantage programs make money and keep your costs low through by limiting your healthcare freedom to choose providers and limiting treatment options. Be aware of this and and do not be swayed by the free or low cost extra benefits. Ask tough questions about from who and where you can seek any needed treatment. If money is not a problem, you may be better off with traditional Medicare plus supplement and drug coverage. Medicare Advantage is great until you get sick.
This is a great 40 minute video Medicare explanation by a Cincinnati based company called Medicare Simplified. We used them to assist us with our Medicare decisions. They made the process easier enrolling for the different plans. But any questions we had during enrollment, form questions etc they assisted us with.
ACA (ObamaCare) took money from the Advantage Plans to make ACA less expensive. Your decisions today and the plan you choose will probably be the plan you have for the remainder of you life, because changing plans will be either expensive or pre-existing conditions will not be covered, probably both. In my own words, you have one chance to take a bite at the best apple for your situation.
But even if you don’t use them, this is still an excellent explanation of Medicare and the nuances of Medicare.
http://medicaresimplifiedvideo.com/Full_Video.htm
Thanks to you all for your advice. I’ve just made arrangements for Part D and am all set.
Talking to a SS represenative on the phone a number of years ago, she said do not leave the orginal medicare, get a gap insurance. I pay for a gap insurance and the deductible and SS billing pays the rest. The advanta plans are HMOs. Once u leave the orginal medicare U CANNOT GO BACK!
Bookmark,
We just got rid of our Medicare Advantage plan & I do NOT recommend it. The biggest problem is when you go out of your network. I know people who went to Florida last winter & needed medical treatment in the hospital. They encountered many problems. We just switched to an AARP supplement & also bought their drug plan.
Bookmark
if you travel much, make SURE it's good on both states and have out of network coverage,,, the Blues are my recommendation
My plan is Highmark Medigap Blue. It does not pay for my prescriptions but I get them through the VA. The price varies by state. I have the name and number of the guy that helped me when I first started looking for insurance a couple of years ago. He doesn't work for any insurance company and did not try to sell me anything. He sent me info on several different plans. Let me know if you want me to send you his info.
My experience with a Medicare Advantage PPO was a nightmare. First of all, the list of the name in-network doctors closely resembled a list of 9/11 hijackers and “Dreamers.” Virtually no Americans. Their list was also a big lie. I would call and they would assure me a certain doctor was in their network. Twice I was kicked out of practices because their doctor wasn’t on the plan or because I had no pre-existing relationship with the doctor so they wouldn’t see me for urgent care. When I finally found a doctor in network the next time I needed a script called in, the doctor would no longer be in network which meant finding a new doctor or going out of network and paying a $85 co-pay and co-insurance just to get a script renewed. After 4 years of frustration and tears, I went with traditional Medicare and Medicare supp. Costs more money upfront (approx. 150/month for supp and Part D) but if you can monetize psychic costs, much less!
I’ll be 68 in March. I have Medicare Plan G and Plan D.
I decided to go with G because with it the annual deductible in $183 and when you do the math, the higher premiums for Plan F are more than $183 a year. So, Plan G is less expensive that Plan F.
With Plan D, one prescription I need is less than $40 a month, as opposed to more than $400 a month without any discount programs. And the premium is about $24 a month.
I got G & D through a broker in Dallas. His advice was right on and he never pressured me. If you FR message me, I can give you his contact info.
BTW, to qualify for Plans G & D, you have to sign up for Plan B direct with Medicare, through your local Social Security office. The cost is as low as $108 a month, IIRC.
We have been insured with Humana Advantage for several years. There were problems with United Health Care and my doctor. They were slow or no pay and were disallowed by the doctor group.
Humana is very very proactive. That is Humana makes an analysis of your health and then suggests wellness practices that might improve your well being and thus reduce their outlays.
Humana knows the weaknesses (reluctance to act for their own well being)of old folks and encourage positive action to improve wellness. At first, Humana knew I was diabetic and took pains to insure I took the necessary measures to mitigate the diabetic problem as best it cold be.
Humana has a very good website where you have a space “My humana” where there is your specific info and is quite helpful
Humana has an online pharmacy that is very easy to deal with and keeps track of your meds and if you need to refill. Even though I have full control of my faculties, this is very good. My physician group likes to deal with them and they seemingly get along well with each other.
I recently had major surgery. Humana assigned a nurse to monitor my recovery and if needed assist with all the various ancillary parties involved with hospitalization and recovery. She hovered in the background if needed.
You have a specific nurse on call if you want to speak to her. I never do but she checks in once a month to remind me she is there.
My humana policy costs $39 per month. They offer a policy here for $0 pr month but I chose ja little.
As a matter of interest, the law require the insurance to pay 80% for services. For the $39 per month I think there is an overcharge. To compensate, Humana offers a $25 credit per quarter at their pharmacy to be used to purchase over the counter meds and such.
There were charges for the hospitalization that ere also apparent over charges. To compensate, the vendor providing recovery care provided frozen meals for 15 days.
Although there were lots and lots of various entities involved with my surgery and recovery, Humana absorbed all the billing and payment chores and took pains to explain exactly what I had to pay as defined by the policy. Considering the magnitude of a 10 day hospital stay and two week intensive home recovery management, Humana looked after it all extremely well.
If Obama had killed my Medicare Advantage, I would have killed him.
I recommend Humana....... your specific location might be different than mine
I’m 75 looking forward to 90
When I was turning 65, I went to a conservative company, AMAC (Association for Mature Citizens). They specialize in “Senior Benefits for Conservative America.”
Through them, I found an agent who walked me through the whole confusing mess of Medicare and plans like advantage and supplemental. He helped me find an excellent plan, helped with filling out forms, etc.
Three years later, my husband signed up through him. We are in TN.
A few months later, my sister signed up through him. She is in FL.
This year, friends at church did the same.
Even now, when we have questions, he’s great — knowledgeable and responsive.
I sent you FReepmail with contact info if you’re interested.
I had a supplement plan w/ BCBS, think it was plan F plus drug coverage.
Got to be over $300/mo+.
Couple yrs ago went with an Athena Advantage PPO plan, $0 outlay over the SS Medicare deduction. Figured the money I saved would pay any 20% I would have to pay out.
Sure enough last summer I got the ‘Premier Pkg’ heart operation, 3 valves and a pacer. My total outlay is in the vicinity of $3-4k. Think I made out!
The HSRP (hospital suggested retail price) was around $850k!!
My agent told me to bring my medication list and see which plan covers them best.
If you have regular doctors/specialists already, ask them what insurance they take. I was warned off Advantage and Blue Cross, as my doctors/hospital did not take either of those.
There are 3 types of advantage plans: HMO-Health Maintenance Organization which is the cheapest but has the least options on doctors. PPO-Preferred Provider Org which gives you more options on doctors but you will have more out of pocket costs. PFFS-Private Fee For Service which is the highest cost but allows you to make direct deals with any doctor or hospital.
Go to the SS website and fill in some blanks there and they will give you a list of all the advantage plans from all the different insurance companies that are available in your area and they will note which companies have bad references.
In Florida you probably will have lots of options. I live rural and there are only 2 companies that offer HMOs here.
Whatever you do, you can change it during a future enrollment period.