Here we go again! No idea what is going on yet people are making absolute statements of "fact" and not knowing what they're talking about. Unfortunately you asked the wrong people. What you need to do first is find out what you signed. Short of advice to find out what you signed, forget all advice that is given under presumption and guess. I'm glad to hear you're going to check on what you signed. KUDOS! I'm sure you learned your lesson to sign NOTHING without getting a copy. No copy? No signature. Period. Hospitals and clinics are amazed and angered often when I won't even sign until a duplicate is out. Also, don't take their word that they'll get you a copy afterward. I made that mistake once. Cynic Rule #4: No copy? No signature! And saying "...the HIPAA law protects you" is an ignorant statement in this case. HIPAA does not protect you if you sign a waiver, which is often the first thing you have to sign for medical care. For anyone to make absolute statements of what is happening or can happen is naive since we don't know what was involved. I would doubt that it's a scam since it's through the Dr's office and given their liability in the event of a scam, they're not likely to take a chance. However, they might think something is good for you that you don't think is good for you. You're doing the right thing by finding out what you signed. Then you can start asking intelligent questions and stand a chance of getting some at least somewhat educated answers. Good luck!

It is good that you are starting to look now. There are several types of continuing care communities but I will only give you the basics. Some charge a residence fee and then a monthly maintenance. Both fees are called many things so the terminology may not be the same. The residence fee is basically purchase of a space on which you pay rent, maintenance, This fee can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. There may or may not be a separate fee for dining. Some insists that for the first month or so that you must dine in the dining area. Others you may be charged for a set number of meals and you pay extra over that. Part of the selling spiel is that if you do not like the place you can recover part of your money. The clause in many is that the recovery is only after there is a new tenant. Any updates for the new tenant is taken from your fee. One place in Minneapolis I looked at they were refurbishing it for a new person and it had been vacant for two years. If the market is good the time should be much less than that. If the place becomes less desirable it could be longer. Some there is no fee to move in and there is a monthly fee with various add-ons such as dining, use of gym and swimming pool, certain activities, etc. The best ones, may not be more expensive, include every thing in one fee. Both types normally have both independent and assisted living facilities but normally they will be separated so look at both. Assisted Living: There is generally a base fee then you are charged additional for each level of care. You have to check your contract to see what is covered in a continuing care facility. In this state if you require two or more people to assist you must use a skilled nursing home facility. Most use a Hoyer lift but if you are heavy or unable to bend body parts and a one person operates the lift and the other places your body this is considered as needing skilled care. The final chapter: Nursing Home for if you really get sick. Some will allow you to remain in your living quarters or will move you to another area/building. However many do not have a skilled facility only assisted and independent. You would want to live in a community that has activities that allow you to go places rather than in house only activities like bingo, cards, etc. I did not like the continuing care facilities where you have a large upfront cost because I would worry too much about changes in management or bankruptcy of the facility. Both types of continuing care places will have annual increases in charges so what may be affordable now will be less so in 20 years from now. I do suggest that you start looking now so you see what is available and help decide what type of lifestyle you think you will like after retirement. You may even find one and move in before retirement.

Keep perfect records for this entire year. You may be completely wrong about the type of coverage you need. Figure out exactly how much you're going to spend this year on co-pays etc for the various doctors and medications. Armed with this information, you can make a much more informed decision. In my case, I'm actually money ahead to purchase a high deductible plan with a relatively low maximum out of pocket. The premium is so much less, that the premium savings plus the reduced co-pays etc actually cover all my expenses until I reach my maximum out of pocket. January is brutal each year, but absolutely every penny of everything is covered 100% for the remainder of the year. This year for example, my 1st PET/CT scan cost me $3700 and everything since then is 100% covered, provided I stay in network.

"regional version of Blue Cross" gives me pause. You'll have to check with HR on your specific policy. With Cobra being federal, they have to offer you a plan but it could possibly be an alternative plan if you move from the area of coverage. We ran into something similar years ago when the company DH was working for was purchased by a firm across the river in Oregon. The insurance sounded more than adequate without any payment to cover part of the premiums to be withheld for employees or their families. What we discovered was after one of DH's coworkers accumulated several hundred dollars in allergy testing for one of his children was we were covered by Blue Cross of Oregon which paid considerably less at Washington locations. Scramble in change of plans for us and by years end we had Blue Cross of Washington but with an expensive interim for a few.