Not eligible yet but starting the ball rolling next year.
I heard Clark and others say they don’t like Medicare Advantage plans.
Was looking at a Plan G supplemental w/high deductible, looks to be between 50-90 a month depending on where you live, is that any good ? I know there is a 185 deductible for Plan B.
Also a Plan D for about 60 a month, is that about right ?
I plan on staying working, can I still get Medicare if my employer offers health care ? (it does offer).
AND… don’t make the mistake of going on COBRA after leaving employment, then trying to get on Medicare. COBRA does not count as employer coverage. You will miss your enrollment window which is narrow after you leave employment, and you will get LIFETIME PENALTIES.
" To enroll in Medicare Part B after retirement, you’ll generally need to complete CMS-40B, Application for Enrollment in Medicare - Part B (Medical Insurance), and have your employer complete CMS-L564, Request for Employment Information, if you’re using a Special Enrollment Period due to continued employment. You may also need to submit documentation verifying your group health plan coverage."
The big problem with Medicare is it is a price-fixed system. Reimbursements to physicians are low, and more abysmal every year. I had to find a new GP when I went on Medicare- my former one would not mess with Medicare. To get an endocrinologist who spent any time with me, I had to opt out of Medicare and pay her completely from my pocket.
Reimbursements to docs with Medicare Advantage plans are even lower. Imagine how difficult it will be to find specialists who will treat you, and spend any time with you. Probably you will only see nurse practitioners, if that.
Remember if your health declines under Medicare Advantage, it will be very difficult to find a traditional Medicare Supplement plan
That’s kind of a good argument for socialized Medicine. A Supplement plan must pay if Medicare pays it. An advantage plan is the private sector…the “death panel” if you will, that can refuse. And THEN it becomes expensive to get a supplement plan
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Firstly, I would highly recommend going to a senior center or other non-profit place to help walk through the process and for independent advice. A savvy representative can make the process easier and save you money.
I go with the Supplement with high deductible ($2,750)/Med D route (and not Advantage). Annual premium for 2025 are about $600 and $150.
In Connecticut (maybe elsewhere too), there is a matrix of Supplement premiums with the plans listed across the top and the insurers on the left side.
In CT, the plans are all the same, so I always pick the lowest premium for the type of plan I pick (in my case, Globe Life for the last 5 years).
When picking a Medicare D (drugs), I go to a senior center and have help running my prescriptions through the formula (see exception below) which results in the cheapest overall costs (including premium, deductible and copay) and pick that one.
However with an exception: Once, when running the formula, the senior center advisor suggested leaving out an expensive eye drop and buying that outside Med D using Good RX. Thus the premium was much lower and actually, the eye drop was cheaper than it would have been under Med D. I now do that.
General comment: Medicare IS socialized medicine and weird at best. Now you want to convert the entire US healthcare system to “socialized” medicine. I guess if you have some fairy dust.
I went with plan N and stayed away from the supplement plans. I don’t have dental, but I’m doing some contract work and will handle it there.
Medicrap and Moochercaid IS socialized medicine for those populations. With predictable results of declining care due to low reimbursements.
Go back up and heed what the Doctor says in post #4. Reimbursements are even lower under “Advantage” plans. Those are neither medicare nor advantaged.
My view on it is that, to start with you have one gatekeeper with medicare itself. Subject yourself to a private “Advantage” and they too will gate keep, not only with pay but denial of services and constriction of who you can see. Using straight medicare with a supplement can cost you more but consider that supplement to be an insurance plan for when you really need it.
It is also probably a good idea to locate yourself where there are a lot of old goats and most doctors are accepting medicare because so much of the population is on it. Not a good idea to wind up in a sparsely populated place like Alaska…
FYI, I waited to go on part “B” coverage at 76. I needed to show continuous coverage from age 65 to not be penalized. It can be a real pain if you have multiple employers or your company goes out of business since the CMS-40B needs to be signed by an authorized representative. I almost had a 120% surcharge.
If you are of Medicare age, and covered under non-medicare health insurance, it would be wise to make sure that coverage is documented each year, regardless of whether you change employers or health plans.
A common problem with Medicare Advantage plans is seeing specialists. Often HMOs will exert a lot of effort keeping you from seeing specialists, who they must pay more. Kaiser it the worst about this- at one time they bonused generalists based on how FEW patients they referred to specialists.
With regular Medicare it is pretty easy to see a specialists, although the time they spend with you is shorter and shorter due to low reimbursements.
I heard they are making changes to the Hippocratic oath…“First do no harm, but geeze, we have our limits”
Has limits as does every crappy government health system. How long should physicians be required to lose money treating patients?
Price controls cause shortages or lowering quality standards, no matter what and where the economic endeavor is. Just ask Canadians.