You don't have to buy the RX/meds plan do you.

If you don't buy the Rx plan as soon as you turn 65 you better hope you never need it in your lifetime because the government will slap penalties on you forever if you do.

DH used to have the BC Medicare supplement.
I heard about Bankers Fidelity Medicare supplement, which cost less than his BC, and has NO co-pays for dr visits, etc. - NONE, for any thing.

My total cost for the coming year...Medicare/Bankers Medigap/AARP Part D coverage will be $266.

Alisande, I don't plan on taking anything except pain pills. I hear a different story every time I say I don't have prescription insurance. First there is an enrollment period, if you don't enroll during that time you will be penalized. Now you are saying if I don't enroll before I am 65 I will be penalized. He**, I am already 74.....

Monica, I am interested in your post about Bankers Fidelity..... I think I am fixed up for Medicare..starting in February. I am going to be paying more than $266 for sure.
Do you have a deductible??
I want to find more information on your company!

Well, when my husband was working, our insurance cost nothing...that is the price of getting old...and I save big bucks with that Part D insurance.

Alisande, I don't plan on taking anything except pain pills. I hear a different story every time I say I don't have prescription insurance. First there is an enrollment period, if you don't enroll during that time you will be penalized. Now you are saying if I don't enroll before I am 65 I will be penalized. He**, I am already 74.....

Vala, I commend you for not needing any meds. I don't take any either, and I hope I can say the same when I'm 74. I'm a firm believer in doing all we can in terms of lifestyle, etc., to avoid them. But I don't see how you can say you don't plan to take anything but pain meds. Future health really isn't something we can plan on with any certainty. Life is full of surprises, not all of them pleasant.

I didn't mean that you should be penalized now for not signing up for Medicare Part D. The penalties are added if you decided to enroll. In effect, you would be punished for not enrolling when you first signed up for Medicare.

I'm going to check out Bankers Fidelity, too. Thanks, Monica! It doesn't help that Medicare is charging me $200 for Part B this year......

Alisande, I understand, from reading the Medicare site, that the higher rate you are paying, for a higher income one year due to a property sale, is only for 2 years. When you file 2 years of lower income IRS returns, your Medicare premium will drop.

I wanted to add something to my reply. I just called my insurance company, they explained the penalty to me. I have not had any med insurance since 2006 when they started this. I would be penalized 1% for each month I didn't have insurance. At the present time I would be penalized 60%, but it only adds up to a couple of dollars a month for 5 years, then I don't have to pay the $2. penalty. It's nothing. Think of how much my premiums would have been if I had paid them for 5 years.

Two years??? Oh, crap, Monica! I thought they'd reduce it once they see my 2011 return. At least that's what I thought the Medicare rep told me on the phone. I can't imagine how they rationalize waiting two years.

Thanks for the warning. At least I won't go into shock if I have to pay another $1,200 next year.

Alisand,

I have BCBS Plan F with them admin. my Part D drug plan. The auto transfer out of my account for Plan F will cost me $149 in 2012. Part D is also deducted from my account but its not by BCBS @ $90.80. Part B is deducted from total benefits each month by Medicare. The total for this coming year will be $$336.30. Thats an increase of $2.60. I've checked other avenues but so far haven't found anything without a downside. In my area, BCBS is widely accepted whereas other companies are not or have restricted approved providers themselves. Or the savings is not there. The increase I'm seeing is not worth making a change.

Is the difference in your increase and mine due to late enrollment alone or do you have some expensive meds that might account for it? I must admit I don't quite understand how the drug plan works.

I find it baffling that anyone would be penalized for the period of time they chose to not have coverage. What's the liability there? I can halfway understand the increase in part D if there are more tier 2 and up meds as those total costs would be higher while our cost remains at $38.00 plus. On the other hand why would medicare pay more than the approved amount for meds anymore than they will for dr.'s visits?

This whole medicare/SS system along with the IRS code is designed to keep us in the dark about how deep the govt. has their hand in our pockets. JM not so HO.

I am 66 and still working & on my employer's health plan with credible drug coverage. I enrolled in medicare part A only. When I retire, I will enroll in part B and my state's retirement health plan.

*"I find it baffling that anyone would be penalized for the period of time they chose to not have coverage. What's the liability there?"*

That's because it's an INSURANCE policy. It's just like you don't get to buy a Homeowner's insurance policy AFTER you have a fire, and expect it to pay to replace your home! Insurance doesn't work that way. Insurance spreads the cost over many subscribers. Buy it or don't, depending on your particular circumstances.

I'm also baffled by maybee's comment "Well, when my husband was working, our insurance cost nothing..." UM, well, that's probably not accurate. Your husband's employer paid for part, and deducted the other part from his paycheck. It sure as heck wasn't FREE.

mary_c - I was thinking the same thing about maybee's comment. The insurance didn't cost nothing - even if your husband didn't have to make a payroll contribution for the coverage his employer paid plenty.

Healthcare is so expensive - even if you pay $5760 per year for insurance it's a drop in the bucket compared to what you'd pay if you had much of anything wrong. Our neighbor fell and hit her head - $15,000 for tests and observation to make sure she didn't have any serious injuries.

This is a good example of what happens when the government decides that people who make more money should pay more - a concept many people seem to be in favor of these days. Unfortunately that sometimes doesn't turn out the way people think it should when it hits closer to home.

When my DH was unemployed for 10 months, our insurance, through Cobra, was $800/month. And that was on $1800/month unemployment benefits. We were blowing through savings just to pay the mortgage, utilities, food, etc. One month after he got a job, the Feds decided to pay 65% of Cobra for the unemployed. I wished they'd have made that retroactive! So much of life is about the timing. . . .

The gov't is also trying to keep people from going to emergency rooms for not-so-emergency reasons by emphasizing the importance of routine health checks and care. The best way that occurs is if you have health insurance -- you're sure as heck gonna take advantage of it, which the gov't thinks will spot any problems, like chest congestion before it turns into pneumonia and it lands you in the ER and starts racking up a huge bill. The costs of the uninsured are sky high.

My Medicare kicks in today. I will be 65 later this month. I had been paying $658/month for a non group BC/BS plan. I chose to go with the AARP supplement, United Healthcare which will cost $118.92. Close friends have it, have made many claims and are very happy with it. My MIL also had it and had no problem with it. Medicare will cost me $115.40/mo. Walmart/Humana Rx plan is $15.60/mo. Grand total $249.92. A far cry from the $658 I was paying for BC/BS. I'm thrilled.

I can see why you're happy, Mare. I have the AARP United Healthcare supplement, too, but I've been paying $203/mo. In 2012 it will go up--by about $30, I think.

Pris, my Medicare Part B is costing me $200/mo. because I sold a piece of property last year and Medicare viewed the proceeds as income--which I guess it was. I don't view it that way because a) I paid $18,000 in taxes on that transaction and b) losses in the stock market swallowed up much of the proceeds. My Rx (Part D) plan costs about $40/mo.

Mary_c: Good point!

I think penalizing is the wrong word. I think what it really is...you are older and more prone to health issues which equals more claims. When I bought my BCBS supplemental, it was a lot cheaper than now, not just because of inflation, but because of more claims. It is understandable that if I had waited to get it until now it was probably start at a much higher premium.

Supplemental insurance can be priced several different ways.

One is the community-rated standard, which charges the same for all in the geographic area. Another is attained age pricing, and the third is Issue age, priced at your age at time you get insurance. Not sure I understand them all, but not all policies are priced by the same methods.

I meant, it cost "us" nothing...and it didn't back then..it "did" cost the employer, though....it was very, very good insurance...for us yes....maybe for the employer not so good...we were very lucky with this...we pay a good amount now for Medicare/BC-BS supplement and Part D

I think "penalizing" is a good word....why should all the rest of us pay for Part D (whether we need meds or not)and others just wait until they need the meds. Insurance is just that "insurance". If you wait until you need meds and then want insurance to cover them, you "should" be penalized. We have some friends who made fun of us for paying for a BC/BS supplement when they just had Medicare and nothing else. This went on for several years...they had no health problems...then one of them got cancer and had heart problems. Medicare pays all but 20%, but 20% of a lot is a LOt...

Alisande, thanks for starting this thread. I have to start looking for Medicare coverage beginning in May. I've done some research but I still have a lot to learn.

In the meantime I am looking for self paid insurance to cover me for four months, until May. My COBRA ($468 a month!)ends at the end of December.

Blue Cross is making me jump through all kinds of hoops to get insurance and I may still be turned down. I am entitled to some other plans that either cost and arm and a leg ($7-800 a month) or only cover hospitalization. The insurance I get through COBRA is not eligible for conversion.

The whole thing is driving me out of my mind and causing me a lot of stress. I am threatening to wrap myself in bubble wrap to avoid illness or injury for four months until I can get on medicare.

I've learned a lot reading all of your comments. Does anyone have a particularly good source for Medicare info?

I've paid $499.00 a month for COBRA. It was extended
beyond 18 months. My DH became eligible for Medicare...that
is why I lost my insurance.
I've got one more premium to pay for January 1. I have not received my little slip of paper to send in, but surely I will get it. Then I will have Medicare on February 1.
ALL of our charges for Medicare for both of us will be less
than $499.00 including suppliments

dedtired -- The government's own site is pretty simple to use: www.Medicare.gov

You'll need to look at what/how you'll pay for Medicare Part B; a possible 'Medigap' supplemental policy to pay what A and B don't pay; a Part D plan for prescription drugs. (I'm presuming you've worked enough quarters to qualify for 'free' Part A.)

You can make your own patchwork, or go with an "Advantage Plan" that combines all of the above.

As you cost out plans, look at the premiums, the deductibles, the OOP (Out Of Pocket) minimums and maximums -- and with drug plans, the total cost of premium + YOUR prescriptions. I find it impossible to do this on 'monthly' basis; I figure annual costs.

As has been discussed above, enrolling in Part D as soon as you are eligible for Medicare is mandatory (if you don't want to pay a penalty later). My DH didn't take a Part D when it became available in 2006. When he did enroll in a Part D plan for this year he learned that he had to pay a penalty ($7.60/mo.). This is not 'peanuts' considering that the Part D premium in only around $34/mo.

In case any of you meant me when you said we should be penalized, let me make this clear. I do not intend to buy prescription insurance now or ever. I would be on 6 prescriptions now if my former doctors had their way. I tried them, but had severe pain, depressed, gained weight, losing hair, etc.. What's the point in living to be like that.

My sister was on 8 prescriptions at one time. She was dragging around like she was 100 years old, she finally quit taking all of her meds but one and she is like her old self, walking with a spring in her step and laughing again.

Two or three years before my Mom died she said, "why is it taking so long to die". She had dementia, could no longer read or understand TV, she just sat and stared at the wall or slept. We decided to take her off all of her meds. She wasn't any worse without them. My husband had Alzheimer's, it is a horrible way to end you life. I do not want to outlive my memory, I will do nothing to prolong my life and if you think I am unusual, I am not. Some I know have already planned to end their life if they are diagnosed with some horrible disease.

I goofed! In one of my posts above I said:

I can see why you're happy, Mare. I have the AARP United Healthcare supplement, too, but I've been paying $203/mo. In 2012 it will go up--by about $30, I think.

I have my Part D coverage with AARP/United Health, but my Medicare supplement is Blue Cross. You can tell this whole thing is making me dizzy. :-)

Susan, you should check out AARP, United Health Supplement. I think you have til Dec 7th to switch. I got the best plan, no deductible. Since I'm a new enrollee, I got the discounted rate, which will be increased 3%/ yr til the reg rate is reached, I think it's 10 yrs. The reg rate is approx $172, you may be able to get in at the discounted rate as a new enrollee. Everyone that I asked who has this Ins is very happy with it.

Thanks, Chisue, that's great info.

I see so many ads on tv about the Advantage plans, but it looks like they are all HMOs. I really want a PPO plan if I can get that. Am I right? Are the Advantage plans all HMOs?

Careful about PPO medigap plans, because a lot of doctor groups are dropping it. It isn't even available here anymore. I'd check with your local doctors before going that way. OTOH, people up in the Bay Area who have Kaiser, the original HMO, are pretty happy with it, altho they have co-pays.

Alisande, where do you live? NY? PA?

There is a lot of just plain confusion in this post, all around. If you're in NY, see if your county is listed here. If not, just click a county and check the prices that come up. I'm in Monroe County, for example, where two of the plans have zero monthly payments (one with part D, one without--for those who can use VA pharmacy)and one is $102/mo. including Part D (which is mandatory).

You said "I have my Part D coverage with AARP/United Health, but my Medicare supplement is Blue Cross. You can tell this whole thing is making me dizzy. :-) " Why two different plans? Did you attend any of the info sessions where they explained this? If not, I'll try to find another piece of info you will need.

Here is a link that might be useful: An example of medicare plan

Vala, you are very fortunate to be able to self-insure yourself for possible drug needs. I envy you. Most of us are not in that position.

I agree with you about living a lousy life propped up by maintenance drugs that seem to make us sicker, but all drugs are not for such purposes. I cannot imagine living in constant pain, perhaps for years, because I cannot afford to buy the drugs I need to allieviate it. Nor can I imagine paying the $2400+ per month that insurance pays for my husband's heart medicine. He suffers no side effects from his drugs, but he would not be alive if not for the drugs. He's only 71 and very vigorous!

I hope your gamble pays off for you.

I am truly blessed with a wonderful teacher retirement system in Alabama. Don't have to worry about that.

BT, those are Medicare advantage plans. I posted about them separately this afternoon. I had always avoided them, but want to take a look at at least one of them now.

I started out with my Part D coverage from Blue Cross, but switched to United when BC jacked up the premium by quite a bit after the first year--and I hadn't even had a claim on it.

Yes they're advantage plans. We got amazing coverage from DH's coverage this year. He chose the $0. monthly premium because he uses the VA docs and prescriptions. But when he landed in the hospital several times, (no VA hospitals locally) they paid thousands. We paid $300 each time up to 3 and I'm waiting to see if they bill us for the 4th & 5th but they're not supposed to according to their plan, and I haven't gotten a bill since September. Fingers crossed--one was even out of network, while he was at hunting camp.

They all have different plans and coverage/co-pays, so it pays to check them carefully. BCBS, locally, was more expensive and complicated than the one I linked but YMMV.

Susan, the plan that I have with UHC isn't an Advantage, PPO, or HMO, it's a traditional Medicare supplement with no deductible. I checked them all out carefully and even had the help of an Ins broker who sells Ins from many different companies. He recommended UHC highly and told me that it was superior to BC/BS in some ways and much cheaper. He probably could have made more money selling me a more expensive policy but seemed honest. I had already made up my mind about going with AARP/UHC when he called but it was good to have him to answer some questions that I had. If you go to this site
http://plancompare.medicare.gov/pfdn/FormularyFinder/LocationSearch
and type in your zip code it will take you to a page where you type in your current meds and it will compare Part D plans and let you know what the cheapest one is for you based on your current meds. That's how I chose the Walmart/Humana plan.

dedtired -- There are 'advantage' plans that are PPO's. DH's former employer offered us one from Aetna for 2012 and I seriously considered it because our expensive meds were much, much less for us under that plan. However...it left us open to 20% copays. (This one was basically Medicare benefits plus a drug plan.) Our MD and hospitals did accept this 'advantage' PPO. It paid the same for in- and out-of-network doctors.

Look at what you will get just from Medicare. It covers a lot of 'normal' stuff, like an annual 'wellness visit' (mini-physical), mammograms, colonoscopy, flu shots, other 'preventive' services. You may not need enough more to warrant buying a supplementary policy, depending on your health.

At 70 and 73, we decided to continue with the Aetna 'medigap' supplement we had for 2011. It's $744/year for both of us and pays the 20% Medicare doesn't pay.

Example: The doctor bills $300 for a service, but he accepts Medicare assignment. The Medicare-approved cost of his service is $100. Medicare pays $80. Our Medigap policy pays $20. He can't bill for his 'missing' $200 because he's agreed to take Medicare assignment.

Our medigap policy will also pay a bit more for the MD who 'balance bills'. This MD can bill 15% more than the Medicare-approved fee, and our supplementary policy will pay it.

In 2011 we had zero doctor, lab or diagnostic bills. Medicare and our supplement paid everything. I think our 20% copays on our bills might not have totaled as much as we paid for the policy in 2011, but I don't want to gamble about 2012. (And, the premium actually DEcreased.)

If you don't anticipate needing expensive prescriptions, take the cheapest-premium Part D plan. It you DO have expensive prescriptions, tally the premium and what your drugs will cost under a plan.

As long as the insurance and pharmacutical companies own Congress, this is the way we have to live.

Breenthumb, I meant to tell you I'm in PA. I checked out a couple of Advantage Plans this afternoon and will probably end up going with one of them (see today's thread).

Sherrmann, well said. I tend to be down on a lot of prescription drugs (over-prescribed, etc.), but one of my dogs, Angel, took a very necessary heart pill every day of her life....and it was an active and unusually long life, too! Fortunately, it wasn't expensive.

Before I went on medicare, I was paying $1600 a month for Blue Cross Blue Shield for husband and I. Of course, they were paying $15,000 a month for his chemotherapy. In any case $500 a month for medicare is cheap by those standards. As we age, we will be putting more and more demands on the medicare system. Health insurance is a commodity but you can't afford to be without it. Medical expenses have bankrupted more than one family.

I can't help with this, but we just received a letter stating our AARP Healthcare Ins., no longer is available to cover Part D, drug coverage, in our area. Now what? It says you can get other insurance, but doesn't give any recommendations. I guess we have until Dec 7th to sign up with someone else?
I hate this rigamarole.

foggyj -- Go to www.Medicare.gov and compare the various Part D plans available to you. (You'll input your zip code.)

Sorry for the very short notice from your current plan. That seems unfair!

I wonder why they would drop drug coverage from an area? It's still available here--and not everything is.

BCBS left our area, but they still give us coverage I think because there are so many retired employees here.

My sister tried to get Mom and I to take out her supplemental coverage to save money. I told Mom no, you can afford the coverage, stay with what works. If we had gone with hers we would been scrambling for coverage. I believe if you have good coverage stick with it, don't take a chance on a new one. When you try to get back with what you had they may not accept you.

chisue, and mare, thank you for the information. The letter was addressed to my DH, who has been covered with the AARP -plan D, for a couple of years now. We moved to another state in March. We've continued to pay AARP monthly. They were notified of the change in address, and now 9 mos. later say, he's out of the area for coverage! HUH? I signed up with them two months ago, and I didn't get any letter. The whole thing is strange. My DH, nor I, take expensive meds. He wants to wait until next October to sign up for anything. I don't agree. Like has been said, you never know what in store for us.
I'll look this info up- thanks.

foggyj -- Remind your DH that if you go without Part D coverage for more than 63 days in a row you will pay a penalty when you do sign up. If neither of you has or expects to have expensive prescriptions, go with the cheapest premium Plan D.

Have you called the insurer? Most of them are available 24/7 during open enrollment.

DH had no prescription meds and did not enroll in a Part D plan when they first were offered in 2006. When he did enroll in one for 2011 he discovered that he had to pay a penalty. The premium is only around $30/mo.; his penalty is $7.60/mo. (These penalties are not just 'peanuts'.)

Let us know how this works out, please.