Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I would rather have root canal than be forced to sign up for a Medicare Health Plan, but age has caught up to me and within the next 3 months will have to sign up for something. I have a friend who signed up for the Medicare Advantage Plan, but truthfully she is healthy and has not had occasion to use this plan (good for her!). If anyone has any experience with these plans, I would appreciate hearing it. Confused I am!. Thank you.
There are good ones and bad ones. If you've got a regular doctor, talk to him or her about what they accept and ask the person who handles insurance in the office which are the easiest ones to deal with.
It is very confusing but you'll have to do it every November when plans change so get used to it.
If you're taking prescriptions, go to the Medicare website and check the Formularies for plans in your area to see which ones cover the drugs. That narrows it down a lot.
You can also see ratings for the various plans from users.
I've been very happy using small, regional Advantage programs. I'm in one now that is $30 a month less than the big, AARP program I was on (Secure Horizons) but covers more drugs, has no co-pay, provides a $15-a-month debit card to buy over-the-counter drugs and things like toothpaste, has a $350 a year dental benefit and a $650 hearing aid coverage. Dental and hearing aid coverage are very unusual.
I've had a lot of doctor visits and tests this year and have had to pay nothing out of pocket. However, orthopedic doctors and chiropractors are very limited and if I have to be admitted to a hospital, the costs would be higher than Secure Horizons.
You have to think about what might come up in the next year healthcare-wise and see what it would cost you on the various plans.
Plans I avoid are the ones only pay a percentage of the service. I prefer fixed costs. I also check to see what doctors are covered. I prefer being able to see a specialist without having a referral from my primary care doctor, but I don't really mind that. He's usually the one sending me off to see someone anyway. The plan I'm on now lets me see any doctor on the plan without a referral.
Look for information on whether the doctor can charge you more than the plan pays. I don't like those. My income is limited, my medical costs need to be, too.
Serious research will pay off. There's excellent info on the Medicare site. Then go to the sites of the three or four plans you're considering, check the doctors and details.
It's possible to find one you'll be very happy with, but you've got to do the homework.
The problem I have seen is they limit choice. Then they assign a doctor that works for the company who really decides waht treatmant you get and when you leave the hospiutal. Your doctor loses control of the case in many instances.
The government is trying to coax people onto these "Medicare Advantage Plans" Sooner or later they are trying to phase out the actual Medicare. In reality, the government subsidizes these private plans with far more than they do Medicare. When Medicare is no more and it's up to private insurance, the private insurance is going to get tough and there may be places that won't accept people. Also they can get very dictaorial about what you can and cannot do. I am serously ill and after discussing it with our doctor, we are just sticking with straight medicare.
The problem I have seen is they limit choice. Then they assign a doctor that works for the company who really decides waht treatmant you get and when you leave the hospiutal. Your doctor loses control of the case in many instances.
I'm an insurance agent who has specialized in health insurance for almost 20 years and I can tell you that the Medicare Advantage plan may NOT be the plan you'll be happy you signed up for if you ever get really sick and have to go OUTSIDE THE NETWORK to see the doctor you want to see. With a Medicare Advantage, lack of choice and lack of control of your care goes with the territory.
If you want control of your care and access to the doctors you want to see WITHOUT having to get permission from a primary care doctor first, sign up for traditional Medicare Supplement (Plans A through J). You can choose plans that will pay for the part B deductible but paying that deductible is FAR PREFERABLE from a financial standpoint, then paying a much higher premium month in and month out for a plan that pays that deductible for you.
People wrongly think these plans with co-pays instead are so wonderful. Yet if they sat down and actually figured out what they paid out of pocket in co-pays added to what they pay in insurance premiums, added to what they pay for things that aren't covered, their total bottom line cost is far greater than a better plan that has better access to doctors that has a deductible.
For example many companies I used to deal with would charge three times as much in extra premiums for the Plan C Medicare supplement which covered the Part B deductible, than the deductible actually cost. You could get a Plan D Medicare Supplement that was identical to Plan C except it didn't cover the Part B deductible AND you got an extra Home Care benefit that Plan C did not have and you were MUCH better off. You got more benefits for your money.
Little do they realize, American's aversion to paying deductibles usually ends up costing them MUCH more money than if they just chose the plan with the deductible in the first place.
Also do take advantage of Medicare.gov's website that helps you choose the best Rx plan for you. It will ask you what prescriptions you take and the amounts and then find the companies that provide the best discounts or prices for the drugs you take so that your bottom line cost will be as low as possible.
If you are anti-Rx like I am and don't take any Rx (and use natural medicine instead), don't make the mistake of NOT signing up for an Rx plan because if you ever do decide you want it, it will cost you much much more later on. Just sign up for the least expensive plan there is.
There are good ones and bad ones. If you've got a regular doctor, talk to him or her about what they accept and ask the person who handles insurance in the office which are the easiest ones to deal with.
It is very confusing but you'll have to do it every November when plans change so get used to it.
If you're taking prescriptions, go to the Medicare website and check the Formularies for plans in your area to see which ones cover the drugs. That narrows it down a lot.
You can also see ratings for the various plans from users.
I've been very happy using small, regional Advantage programs. I'm in one now that is $30 a month less than the big, AARP program I was on (Secure Horizons) but covers more drugs, has no co-pay, provides a $15-a-month debit card to buy over-the-counter drugs and things like toothpaste, has a $350 a year dental benefit and a $650 hearing aid coverage. Dental and hearing aid coverage are very unusual.
I've had a lot of doctor visits and tests this year and have had to pay nothing out of pocket. However, orthopedic doctors and chiropractors are very limited and if I have to be admitted to a hospital, the costs would be higher than Secure Horizons.
You have to think about what might come up in the next year healthcare-wise and see what it would cost you on the various plans.
Plans I avoid are the ones only pay a percentage of the service. I prefer fixed costs. I also check to see what doctors are covered. I prefer being able to see a specialist without having a referral from my primary care doctor, but I don't really mind that. He's usually the one sending me off to see someone anyway. The plan I'm on now lets me see any doctor on the plan without a referral.
Look for information on whether the doctor can charge you more than the plan pays. I don't like those. My income is limited, my medical costs need to be, too.
Serious research will pay off. There's excellent info on the Medicare site. Then go to the sites of the three or four plans you're considering, check the doctors and details.
It's possible to find one you'll be very happy with, but you've got to do the homework.
the best thing that you could have done for yourself is to get out of AARP/Secure Horizons. ever since united healthcare bought out former owner Pacificare, the co has gotten much more tight-fisted with their healthcare dollars, refusing to pay certain patient claims, reducing patient benefits and increasing profit margin for co. I lost ALL respect for AARP after they endorsed $ecure Horizons.
The government is trying to coax people onto these "Medicare Advantage Plans" Sooner or later they are trying to phase out the actual Medicare. In reality, the government subsidizes these private plans with far more than they do Medicare. When Medicare is no more and it's up to private insurance, the private insurance is going to get tough and there may be places that won't accept people. Also they can get very dictaorial about what you can and cannot do. I am serously ill and after discussing it with our doctor, we are just sticking with straight medicare.
you are absolutely correct in saying that the gov't favors medicare advantage plans over traditional medicare. just look at what happened 2 months ago when the senate tried to reduce "traditional medicare" payments by 10%. due to the significant outcry from constituents and AMA, it did not pass. starting in 2010, the annual percentage increases that the greedy medicare advantage plans will be reduced to give up more to traditional medicare payments. medicare advantage plans have too much overhead. they have worthless sales managers and genrally deadwood executives and lobbyists that are paid too much.
It's all about CONTROL everyone. That is what the New World Order is all about. Keep in mind, with the upcoming election, if you vote for either McCain or Obama, you'll have to STAY ON YOUR TOES regarding, health care benefits; costs; privacy and access to care. Both are in the back pockets of BIG MEDICA; BIG PHARMA . Neither of them will REALLY stick up for us and be fiscally responsible or work to restore our rights and privacy. Both of them are clueless when it comes to dealing with the economic problems at hand. Obama has come right out and said he wants to be a leader in the Global Economy. He lives in a fantasy world. He has no experience.
Both of them think it would be fine and dandy for Uncle Sam to have a copy of your medical records for all future insurers and probably employers to have access to which would just give them quick and easy access to justification for DENYING YOU COVERAGE OR A JOB due to your less than stellar medical history. MARK MY WORDS!
In fact most of us are voting for one or the other because we think we need to vote for the lesser of two evils--which is still voting for evil! Instead make your vote count. If you think you must vote for McCain because he is the lesser of two evils, find someone who feels the same about Obama and both of you vote for your choice of third party candidates such as Ralph Nader; Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party which Congressman Ron Paul has endorsed) or Cynthia McKinney, the Green party candidate. You'll cancel each other's vote out and instead both of you can vote for someone you believe in. Just about any third party candidate would be an improvement over McCain or Obama as far as health care and entitlement programs because they are all in favor of cutting spending abroad; bringing troops home from the most of the 130 countries where they are now. This would mean more money would be freed up to spend here in this country.
Last edited by emilybh; 10-11-2008 at 07:18 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
