Auggh! Medicare decisions

[Kragax]

I am now faced with the daunting task of trying to figure out what to do with this Medicare enrollment process. Part A is a given the rest is going to drive me insane. I guess Ill go make some pens. Good therapy.

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

Graig, when we both became eligible for Medicare we looked and looked at all the possibilities and decided it was prudent to have the best coverage we could afford. We bought plan "F" supplemental which covered 100% of the difference on anything that Medicare covered which also included Dr.'s visits. Gave you your choice of Dr.'s and hospitals and total piece of mind. Dee's two hip replacements, her double Mastectomy, her heart problems and now her reverse total shoulder replacement has not cost us a cent except for the premiums. With out that I would have gone bankrupt. I will eat beans and bread before I give up my Medicare and supplement insurance. My supplement is through AARP United Health Care we also have a drug plan through them. Graig, at our ages id when medical expenses will be at the highest so plan accordingly, we have had over $550,000.00 in hospital bills that were 100% covered.

 

[Smitty37]

Graig, when we both became eligible for Medicare we looked and looked at all the possibilities and decided it was prudent to have the best coverage we could afford. We bought plan "F" supplemental which covered 100% of the difference on anything that Medicare covered which also included Dr.'s visits. Gave you your choice of Dr.'s and hospitals and total piece of mind. Dee's two hip replacements, her double Mastectomy, her heart problems and now her reverse total shoulder replacement has not cost us a cent except for the premiums. With out that I would have gone bankrupt. I will eat beans and bread before I give up my Medicare and supplement insurance. My supplement is through AARP United Health Care we also have a drug plan through them. Graig, at our ages id when medical expenses will be at the highest so plan accordingly, we have had over $550,000.00 in hospital bills that were 100% covered.

I don't really have the same options because my supplemental is paid for by my company retirement and I have to take what they cover. They use a private exchange and there was just one plan available for Delaware....It isn't great but the premiums are paid and are only $2000 a year for both of us. They changed from offering different plans themselves to the private exchange two years ago, prior to that I had better coverage free.

 

[Kragax]

WOW! That's good advise. I'm going to be having a double hip replacement in the spring. Thanks.

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

Graig, when we both became eligible for Medicare we looked and looked at all the possibilities and decided it was prudent to have the best coverage we could afford. We bought plan "F" supplemental which covered 100% of the difference on anything that Medicare covered which also included Dr.'s visits. Gave you your choice of Dr.'s and hospitals and total piece of mind. Dee's two hip replacements, her double Mastectomy, her heart problems and now her reverse total shoulder replacement has not cost us a cent except for the premiums. With out that I would have gone bankrupt. I will eat beans and bread before I give up my Medicare and supplement insurance. My supplement is through AARP United Health Care we also have a drug plan through them. Graig, at our ages it is when medical expenses will be at the highest so plan accordingly, we have had over $550,000.00 in hospital bills that were 100% covered.

I don't really have the same options because my supplemental is paid for by my company retirement and I have to take what they cover. They use a private exchange and there was just one plan available for Delaware....It isn't great but the premiums are paid and are only $2000 a year for both of us. They changed from offering different plans themselves to the private exchange two years ago, prior to that I had better coverage free.

LeRoy are you locked in and have no choice but to take the supplemental plan paid for by your company retirement? If not you might want to call United Health to find out if you can buy through them the plan "F". My premiums here on Oklahoma are a little over $3,000 a year for total (100%) hospital and Doctor's visits coverage. We have not paid a cent for medical since we both turned 65 other than the premiums.

 

[Smitty37]

Graig, when we both became eligible for Medicare we looked and looked at all the possibilities and decided it was prudent to have the best coverage we could afford. We bought plan "F" supplemental which covered 100% of the difference on anything that Medicare covered which also included Dr.'s visits. Gave you your choice of Dr.'s and hospitals and total piece of mind. Dee's two hip replacements, her double Mastectomy, her heart problems and now her reverse total shoulder replacement has not cost us a cent except for the premiums. With out that I would have gone bankrupt. I will eat beans and bread before I give up my Medicare and supplement insurance. My supplement is through AARP United Health Care we also have a drug plan through them. Graig, at our ages it is when medical expenses will be at the highest so plan accordingly, we have had over $550,000.00 in hospital bills that were 100% covered.

I don't really have the same options because my supplemental is paid for by my company retirement and I have to take what they cover. They use a private exchange and there was just one plan available for Delaware....It isn't great but the premiums are paid and are only $2000 a year for both of us. They changed from offering different plans themselves to the private exchange two years ago, prior to that I had better coverage free.

LeRoy are you locked in and have no choice but to take the supplemental plan paid for by your company retirement? If not you might want to call United Health to find out if you can buy through them the plan "F". My premiums here on Oklahoma are a little over $3,000 a year for total (100%) hospital and Doctor's visits coverage. We have not paid a cent for medical since we both turned 65 other than the premiums.

Unfortunately I am locked in - I must use the exchange my company has selected. Hence we can only use what the exchange offers.

 

[TellicoTurning]

We went with Blue Cross here in Tennessee... I had coverage through the AARP United Health care, but last year they dropped our doctor, supposedly "clearing up their board", along with several other doctors in the area... then re-assigned us to another doctor we didn't know and when I looked him up, he was nearly as old as I am, and had a bad customer rating for being crabby and less than positive bedside manner, plus he was 30 miles away and one of the reasons United Health gave for re-assigning was that we needed to be closer to our medical services... the doctor we had chosen and loved is 28 miles away. Dianne also qualified for TENNCARE under her policy and that covers all her costs... I still have some small co-pay's under my policy, but very small... $5 and $10 with a $40 ER co-pay. With all of Dianne's medical problems the past two years, she's also run up about $500,000 +/- in total bills, so far has cost us little... a couple of the costs were ambulance services we incurred before the switch.
Both of our policies are no premium policies.

 

[Jim15]

I agree with Oklahoman. If you can afford it the F plan it is the way to go. My wife was in the hospital or rehab for 8 months and had two major operations for her cancer and we did not receive one medical bill to pay for anything. that also included many months of Chemo before her time in the hospital.

 

[tbroye]

I remember 8 years ago when I had to join. The scarey the **** out of you with their letter and what could happen if you don't do this or that by a certain date and all the other crapola. But a phone call to my Retirement system and they explained what I had to do. I was able to keep my Provider (Kaiser Permanente) so in the end nothing really changed except to Pay the Medicare Premium every month and the copay for office visits $10 and CoPay for Medicine as my drug plan is covered also through Kaiser. I am going to have Cataract Surgery the first of the year or sooner and my cost $10 as that is considered Elective Surgery. Have had Hernia and Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Surgery at no cost. My biggest fear is with the changes the current administration/congress want to make Medicare and bringing Oboma Care into it the cost and benefits will change as we age and require more care. What bug me is what Medicare covers and doesn't. It doesn't cover hearing aids but does cover a host of other stuff that I question. Do your due diligence and get the best you can. I feel very fortunate that my wife and I have the plan we have no hassall's have great care and don't have to worry for now.