“over 65 Medicare Survivor”
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
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- 7 years ago
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How much do Medicare supplements cost?
Comments (31)DH and I have both had Advantage plans since we were eligible for Medicare. Here's how it works in our state: We still pay the Part B Medicare premium (about $100 per month) which is deducted from our SS checks. Then we each pay another $59 for Advantage, which is also deducted (we had a choice to pay it separately or have it deducted). We have co-pays for almost everything (except certain preventive procedures and a physical each year), with a cap of $3,400 each year. Some Advantage plans have dental and vision included. The benefits are often more than what is offered by Medicare Part B. A couple of years ago, we were thinking of moving 65 miles away and the very same Advantage plan would have cost us another $70 per month, each, just living in another county. Some years we have had a $0 co-pays. Then that company stopped offering Advantage plans. Our first year, we were in a plan with no cap and DH had unexpected surgeries, MRSA, and we had co-pays of well over $4,000. So, I learned to check out whether there was a cap and how high it was. We have always subscribed to plans where we could go to whatever doctor we chose (a very few refuse Medicare patients and one year, doctors refused the plan - that had $0 monthly premium and $0 co-pays - so I ended up enrolling, within 90 days of when the plan started, in a different plan that doctors would accept). It's very complicated as it takes several hours each year, online, of comparing plans for what we think will work best for us. Part D is even worse as DH takes over 10 meds. But, overall, it's much, much better than any health insurance we had before reaching age 65 (we had to enroll in private plans for about 6 years before being eligible for Medicare)....See More"Medicare Demystified"
Comments (4)All states have a State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). The book is written in such a way that it answers questions you didn't know you had. It gives information you didn't know you needed. And, you can read it at your own pace. You don't need to make repeated calls to your state's SHIP....See MoreLooking ahead to Medicare
Comments (105)"I am prohibited from using Medicare" Maybe it's not what you have, salti, but many subsidized or provided retiree medical plans are Medicare Advantage plans and indeed have an unseen substantial Medicare paid-for component to cover provider charges. A Medicare Advantage plan is one where the private medical insurance administers Medicare benefits on behalf of Medicare itself and sends them the bill for payments to doctors, hospitals, and other providers. Medicare Advantage plans can be far more generous than straight Medicare or Medicare plus one of the standard supplements and other than which system pays what portion of a charge (Medicare or the private insurance) invisibly in the background, the covered individual would never know they have anything other than coverage from the insurance company they deal with. I have an employer provided Medicare Advantage plan and I too am "prohibited" from using Medicare directly. But it's there all the same and invisible to me but for one provision - I am required to go to providers that accept Medicare. But there's no in-network/out of network benefit difference for any health related service or goods. Not actually prohibited but I can be on the hook for some charges. For some non-Medicare accepting providers, I pay a deductible/co-pay and the provider gets what would have been the Medicare reimbursement if they accepted that in full...See MoreDo you have Medicare Advantage?
Comments (70)"When you turn 65 and are employed, the usual route to health care is that you go on Medicare as yournprimary coverage with the company paying your premium, and the company’s insirance becomes tour secondary coverage for the twenty percent Medicare does not cover." I retired in my mid-50s and my coverage has been continuous through my former firm as a retirement benefit. Some aspects of it changed when I turned 65 and the coverage was integrated with Medicare but the only perceivable differences for me was the instruction to see providers that accept Medicare and to get health insurance when travelling outside the US. I pay the Medicare premium, as a deduction from my Social Security payments. I don't need to reiterate what I was told by my insurance company and by Stanford. If you have a disagreement with them, give them a call. You can repeat your thoughts over and over but it changes nothing - what you're describing may be common for some, and may be accurate as to what you have, but it's not what I have or have experienced....See More- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
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