A few minutes ago I saw a post from about six weeks ago where someone asked if anyone had any advice about Medicare supplemental insurance. I am about 70% of the way through reading a Kindle book (price is $5.99) entitled Medicare Demystified: A Physician Helps Save You Time, Money, and Frustration, written by Ronald Kahan, an M.D. who specializes in Dermatology (although his specialty doesn't come into play in this.) I turned 65 last summer, and although I do have Medicare Part A (hospitalization), I do not have Medicare Part B (medical) because I am still covered by my husband's group insurance through his employment as a state employee. But, he is retiring soon and that means I will have to sign up for Medicare Part B. I, too, had a zillion questions and much confusion about Medicare supplemental insurance (also referred to as Medigap insurance). The state retiree system has a whole bunch of choices for Medigap insurance, and I wanted to ensure that I made an intelligent, informed choice. I highly recommend this book. No, you don't need a Kindle to read it. Amazon has free readers you can download onto virtually any device -- desktop computer, laptop, tablet, mobile phone, etc. This book clearly explains Medicare (often referred to as Original Medicare), including Parts A (Hospitalization), B (Medical), C (Medicare Advantage), and D (Drugs), as well as Medigap Insurance (Medicare Supplemental Insurance). It gives a lot of different scenarios and explains how they would affect you depending on which coverage you do or don't have. Considering the escalating costs of medical treatments, $6 is well worth it to avoid the angst and extra money paid out that would be the result of making the wrong choices.

I received the Plan Guide for the MA plan my former employer will be handing me off to when I turn 65. It's a PPO but there is no difference in the amount of co-pay/reimbursement for any medical services whether you're In or Out of Network. In fact, any out of network provider is eligible for reimbursement as long as they participate in Medicare and accept "The Plan". I was confused since my current policy penalizes me for going out of network and expressly will not pay at certain medical facilities not in their network. I called a representative and checked on every doctor we've used in the past 25 years and facilities we'd avoided because they were out of network. Only one doctor had refused this new Plan but their office had submitted for reimbursement indicating that they wanted to participate. The MA rep said they would contact this office for clarification and get back to me. All 3 area hospital are participants whereas only one was in the current plan. This really does seem to be a positive evolution in providing medical services but I'm sure there are some pitfalls; I'm just not seeing them.

Elmer, neither of my parents lived long enough to be covered by Medicare. My mother was 53 and my father was 56 when they died 33 days apart in 1970. My husbands parents both had died before we met very early in 1981 (his mother in 1969 and his father in 1980). I really had no one to talk to about it who had personal experience with it (I am more than a year older than my husband). I have had plenty of experience being given information by others (people who are paid to know the facts) that I then relied on, only to find out too late that they were wrong and didn't know what they were talking about. Some of these errors in trust ended up costing me financially. Therefore, when it came time to think about signing up for Medicare, I didn't want to trust anyone else for the information. I wanted to read and learn for myself, to have a full understanding of how things really work when it comes to Medicare. I've said plenty of times before, and I'll say it again now, that I know my husband and I are incredibly lucky to be State of California retirees. There are many health insurance plans from which to choose when you are an active employee, and when you retire, you keep the same plan unless you choose to change to a different plan. (And you can change every year during Open Enrollment, if you so desire.) You can retire from State service at the age of 55 (earlier if you are disabled), but when you turn 65 you must sign up for Medicare unless you are covered by your still-employed spouse's health care plan. In my case, my husband was still actively employed when I turned 65, so I was exempted from the Medicare requirement. However, knowing now what I didn't know then, I should have chosen to switch to Medicare immediately because the State's monthly contribution to health insurance more than covers the monthly premium for Medicare and our Medicare Supplement policy, but didn't fully cover the monthly premium for our PERSCare Anthem Blue Cross PPO policy. We were paying $527.74 out of pocket (well, a payroll deduction from my husband's monthly pay), which was over and above the $1,125 the State contributed each month, as well as having a yearly deductible (which is waived for preventative care), and a $20 copay for office visits. Now, we pay NOTHING. (Well, that's not quite correct -- we do have to pay the IRMAA fee for the prescription drug coverage [which is part of our Supplement policy], but that's because our income is over the threshold amount for paying just the regular premium. Although the State reimburses us for the monthly IRMAA for Medicare Part B, the law doesn't allow for reimbursement of the IRMAA for Part D. But the Part D IRMAA is less than $30 for the two of us.) My husband retired a year and a half after I did, but he didn't turn 65 for another year. But, as soon as he retired, I had to sign up for Medicare because I lost the "coverage by a still-employed spouse" exemption. Our PERSCare Anthem Blue Cross PPO policy became our Medicare Supplement policy when we started coverage with Medicare. One thing that is admittedly odd is that the State pays more towards retiree health benefits than it does for active employee health benefits. But, since we're retired, that's ok by me. :-) The State contributes $1,349 each month. Our PERSCare Anthem Blue Cross PPO Medicare Supplement Policy is $779.52 for the two of us, leaving $345.48 extra. Out of that extra, the State reimburses us for our Medicare Part B premiums and the Medicare Part B IRMAA fees. There is still some $ left over, but the State keeps that. Our Supplement policy covers the deductibles for Medicare Part A and Part B, and it pays the 20% of the allowed fees that Medicare doesn't pay. We do not pay a copay for office visits. Since I have been on Medicare, the ONLY thing medically related for which I have had to pay anything at all has been prescription medicine - and that's a minimal amount because of our Supplement plan. (One generic med that I used to pay $5 for now costs me $0.58.) ANYWAY, folks need to know the truth about how Medicare works and what doctors can and can't charge you (over and above what Medicare pays), so they can make an intelligent, informed choice about (1) whether or not to get a Supplement plan and (2), if so, which plan to choose. Dr. Kahan's book has a great full-page chart showing the various supplemental plans and what they do and don't cover. By the way, Medicare Supplement plans (which are also called Medigap plans) all have to meet specific criteria and they are standardized, Different insurance companies may charge different premiums, but all "Plan A" plans have to cover the same stuff at the same rate, all "Plan K" plans have to cover the same stuff at the same rate, etc. "Plan F" plans are considered to be the "Cadillac" (or in my case, the "Lexus") plans because they cover virtually everything. That's what our PERSCare plan is. Oh, that limiting fee that I mentioned in an earlier post -- the fee over and above what Medicare pays to a nonparticipating provider -- is covered by our Supplement policy.

Well, just did a four hour shift this evening and then submitted my packet. I picked January 13th, which happens to be a Friday. lol. What could go wrong? I was going to pick the end of the month but there are two traning sessions that week and after and I don't want to have to do them and then retire. I'm not sure my file will get processed by the time I stop working but am prepared for that. So relieved.