That isn’t quite accurate. Part C is an alternative to original medicare, and includes parts A & B. Copays may be different than in original medicare, and it is fairly common for part C to pay some or all of the costs of part B. Part D (pharmacy coverage) is often included.
All I can say is there must be quite a tidy profit in selling Medicare Advantage plans, given the number of free dinners offered to listen to their sales pitches.
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You likely meant to say that a bit differently. There is the cost of Part B ($170) and then there are Part B services with deductibles and co-insurance. Unless you have a give back advantage plan, Part C does not pay any costs of Part B,but it does turn part B services into co-pays…
Semantics.
Not as much profit as the Annuity steak dinner presentations!!!
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It’s profitable that’s why you see so many TV ads
In my state it is illegal to provide meals at the sales pitch for medicare insurance.
Interesting to see the sales pitches for Advantage plans versus practically none for traditional supplement plans. Have to ask someone like yankee466 to even find out which ones exist.
Advantage plans are in essence HMOs funded by Medicare. HMO’s business model is to screw patients out of as much health care as they can get away with. I could write a book on trying to get Kaiser patients medical care. What a bunch of Tom-foolery!
Last week we signed up for a group medicare advantage plan. The plan does have a premium. The benefits are better than the individual advantage plan we have been using. We can use any doctor or facility that accepts medicare.
that applies to ALL states…the rule says light snacks only.
Never heard of an Advantage plan or HMO like that. Good luck!
You can check what is available in your state on medicare.gov. All supplemental plans (also called Medigap) identified with the same letter (such as Plan A) offer the same benefits. Pricing is different.
Check this out:
Medicare Confusion?
My friend and client steve19 alerted me to the fact that an exchange led to some confusion and misinformation about how to decide the best course of action with respect to Medicare.
I specialize in simplifying Medicare (my book: Medicare for the Lazy Man 2022, Simplest & Easiest Guide Ever) for the vast majority of people and will be happy to share my opinions based on 40+ years of insurance industry experience.
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I read the book, it’s a fast read and very good. It’s on my Kindle and cost very little money. It will save any reader from some serious, possibly lifelong, mistakes. Normally I’d report vendors lurking in the community but I make my one exception for Douglas.
Thanks for your exception Ochotona.
My book is at best a break-even endeavor; what I enjoy most is helping readers avoid the Medicare Dis-Advantage pitfalls.
I gather from the reviews that you do not like Advantage plans.
Are there any you like?
Yes, there is one plan I don’t dislike.
It is legally a MA but it is called “Medicare Medical Savings Account” and has most of the freedom of choice that comes along with Medicare supplement plans with an interesting twist.
I would be happy to send you a brochure describing the Medicare MSA plan but I don’t want to violate the rules of this forum. Is there a legitimate way to do that?
I think what I have learned is that so-called medicare advantage plans are neither medicare nor advantageous. In spite of the little perks like allowance for off-the-shelf things. They are simply private plans paid for by the government using your medicare payments plus probably a bunch more incentive$ per customer.
As a private plan, the ones that say “any doctor who accepts medicare” are false advertising because any provider not in the company network gets short pay. Then you have this insurance company deciding what services you may or may not get. I’m kicking mine to the curb.
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Clark says: " My objections are simple. Once you are in an Advantage plan, it’s difficult to switch to regular Medicare. After your first 11 months, in most states, you can’t easily buy a supplement without passing a medical evaluation. And you likely will have trouble switching to a competitor’s Advantage plan if yours turns out to be a bad choice."
I disagree: I’ve used Advantage plans for several years in two different states and have switched from several different providers. I’ve never been “stuck” with a single provider or plan.
I use Supplemental and Med D. I’ve just signed up for 2023.
Something to consider and that will work well for me to reduce my Med D premium is to not include a certain eye drop in the Med D plan but rather purchase that outside of Med D using Good RX.
Additionally, for whatever reason that eye drop is cheaper paying out of pocket with GoodRX than it would have been within the Med D plan.
Last hint that has worked for me was to ask my eye doc regarding a second eye drop, to consider a similar eye drop to the one he originally prescribed. Result was rather than costing $400, it is a no co-pay eye drop.