Personally, I would go with the PPO plan. It's a sure thing that the expensive medications are cheaper. It's not a sure thing that you'll need a slew of co-pays. Insurance is always a gameble.....we had to buy our own the last couple years and bought the $10,000 deductible. Thank You God that nothing major happened. :) Good luck!

At my age [72]...and having had first hand knowledge regarding major medical costs... I don't speculate and/or look for good deals any more. After in depth research over the last couple of years...I'm convinced that there's no such thing as a medical insurance good deal. I subscribe to the best plans that I can afford and gamble that I won't need them. It's worth the peace of mind to me to know that I'll be completely covered when/if the time comes that I need the coverage. I don't want a Dr/nurse or hospital administrator looking at my rap sheet and making a treatment decision based on my insurance coverage. And...if one doesn't think that happens...one isn't very realistic. I have the best Aetna supplemental policy that exists and although I must pay a painful penalty...I have their Meds Part D plan, as well. That affords me my sanity...which has a much higher price tag than these medical plans.

JMHO

Anne

Many thanks, Juellie and Anne.

I've just also read Sushipup's sage advice on the Household Finances forum. (She agrees with you, Anne.) I realized that we could be on the hook for $8200 if both DH and I had big medical bills. And we ARE oldies, so who can say!

Maybe I can find a way to buy our meds from Canada! (How I hate that the uncontrolled cost of meds in the US has so much to do with these decisions.)

I also agree 100% with Anne. For the past few years I have told DH that good coverage is far more important than the dollars in our pockets as we age. We just re-enrolled plus we put the maximum in our flex account.

There is a long list of drugs that will have expired patent rights in 2012...that will now become available as generics. Their prescriptive prices should drop immeasurably. I've linked the list below. Among that list are popular meds such as Plavix, Singular, Lipitor and , more. Perhaps this will help you with your decision, Sue.

Anne

Here is a link that might be useful: Drug list

Before you make up your mind--have you looked into your state's plan? In our state, the state pays the Part D premium and also picks up all but $5 of the co-pay for prescriptions. There is an income qualifier, of course, but having taken care of my mother and aunt's finances for many years now, it was a pretty generous level. (Aunt had 4 pensions, Mom and a fair amount of $$$ invested, and both qualified).

With that, plus their AARP insurance to supplement their medicare, I rarely ever payed more than a couple hundred $$$ or so per year for uncovered medical/prescription expenses.

I am so glad I don't have to shop for a Medicare supplement. CalPERS provides me with Blue Cross/Blue Shield and it doesn't cost me a penny. My medication co-pays range from $5 to about $25 for a 90 day supply.

Thanks for the list, Anne. Unfortunately, none of our three meds are going generic. My Advair has a lock on one of its' two active ingredients. As I recall, they bought out the small company that made it soon after Advair was patented (around 2001).

DH's two drugs are super-expensive too, although his dosage is minimal. Before Thanksgiving DIL's sister (adolescent psychiatrist) passed along to DH a 30-count bottle of one of his meds that she ran across 'somewhere'. Even she was surprised that that bottle retails for over $600 retail.

I have no 'budget' cause to complain. We CAN afford insurance and meds. It just galls me that Americans let the insurance and pharmacy industries pick their pockets like this!

If we take the Medicare Supplementary and buy two Part D plans, we will be paying $5367 for premiums and meds in 2012. The meds are by far the biggest share.

Well, Sue...as an individual...I will be paying a little shy of $3200 for my insurance coverage for 2012 and I very rarely use either plan. I see my cardiologist once a year to make sure my numbers stay good...and my internist twice a year to keep tabs on my glucose and other blood related test numbers. Beyond that...I take no prescriptive meds. The only regular meds coverage requirement I have is for my diabetic test strips and Medicare picks that up.

So...all tolled...I think you've accomplished a miracle if you've succeeded in keeping each of you below my individual yearly premium expense...especially with your meds needs. And I know how expensive Advair is because my late husband was an asthmatic who started using it as soon as it came on the market. It replaced a couple of his outdated asthma meds and he had wonderful results with it. The day may come when I'll need it, too...but in the mean time I practice as much holistic medicine as I can and feed my body the foods that will produce the best results. So far...it's paying off in a big way and I pray it continues to do so.

Anne

Our costs would be even higher if DH's former employer didn't offer group rates. The Aetna Medicare Medical Supplement is $1140/yr. for both of us; would be only $84/yr. for just DH.

Is Medicare Part B in your $3200? I haven't included that in ours; it's another $1200 each. Adding Part B premiums puts our total at $7767 -- more than I budget for food.

Costing out Part D plans, I do better staying with United HealthCare. He's best with a BC-BS policy. My plan's premium is $410/yr. His is $456 -- plus his *penalty* that you and I have discussed in the past! For DH and me it's not the premium cost; it's the OOP drug costs.

We are both in generally good health. We eat well and are slim. DH does better with exercising than I do, but we're OK -- except for needing these three 'maintenance' drugs. There's nothing to be done about it. I'm glad we don't have to choose between meds and food. I'm just a big complainer! LOL

Thanks for commiserating!