Medical assistance in maryland (health insurance, how much, purchase)

[debold4215]

Did you know that about 50 % of the population of the US is on medical assistance. Why not ma for all. Why am i paying $1100 a month for insurance while so many people are getting insurance for next to nothing. I am retired and i am not eligible for any assistance. Some states have up to 60% of their population on ma while one has only 35 %. Maryland is in the middle. Can someone explain ?

[james777]

If you are retired, aren't you eligible for Medicare? Wouldn't Medicare cover your medical costs?

[debold4215]

Originally Posted by james777

If you are retired, aren't you eligible for Medicare? Wouldn't Medicare cover your medical costs?

No it does not. It essentially pays for in hospital costs. The copay for medications is much higher when you have Medicare than with Medicaid. Dr. appoints still require a fairly copay. I am not against people who have MA .I was just surprised how many people are on MA and I don't know why they just don't give to everyone.
I am for MA for all but I think the insurance companies are against that. especially the CEOs.

[lenora]

I have no idea why OP is paying $1100/month for "insurance". Even for a married couple, this is not the norm. The below is boring so most readers may want to skip over it.
__________________________________________________ ______________________________________

Medicare Part A covers most of hospital costs and for most retirees costs nothing. (If you pay FICA taxes for ten years you've earned Part A coverage for both you and your spouse.)

Part B is not paid for through FICA taxes. Approximately 75% of the cost comes from general revenue and the remaining 25% is paid for by the beneficiaries. Part B covers 80% of non-hospital medical costs. In general, the average retiree pays about $134/month for Part B coverage. Poorer people with insignificant assets can have their B premiums and some may also receive help with prescription costs under several Federal programs.

Many retirees also purchase a Medicare supplement plan that covers some or all of the remaining 20% costs. A Medicare Plan F Supplement costs about $150/month but covers the entire remaining 20% including all deductibles and copays. There are other Supplement plans that cost significantly less.

Medicare Part D is the prescription plan. Maryland retirees with an income less than $36,100/year ($48,720/year a for couple) can have the State pay $40/month towards the Part D premium and may qualify for some assistance with prescription costs. http://marylandspdap.com/

And of course, there are Medicare Advantage plans that cover all of the above. Some are HMO's, at least one is a PPO (Johns Hopkins). Medicare Advantage plans have a smaller premium but the out-of-pocket costs can be significant.
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

I'm in favor of Medicare for All but that's not going to happen in my lifetime. Be thankful you have Medicare. The most recent Trustee's Report predicted insolvency in eight short years. (Fewer than eight years if one reads the Chief Actuary's alternative scenario hidden in the report's appendix.)

[Digger 68]

^
He may need some unusual medication that is not covered. I know of people who although are not seniors, are paying a lot for certain kinds of prescription drugs because for some reason the insurance company does not cover it.
The OP certainly left something out. $13,200 annually for health insurance sounds awfully high especially for on person.

[elizabeth224]

It must have something to do with medications. Medicare and a decent supplemental shouldn't cost more than 500.00 to 600.00 a month(and I agree this is too much).


As far as different states it's probably similar to IRA withdrawals in retirement. Each state offers different exemptions and Maryland really offers nothing to residents who worked in the private sector and now have an IRA. Our financial advisor told us MD is a good state to earn a living but a bad choice for retirement. We have had many friends move and we are looking as well.

[steppinthrax]

I don't know the percentages of people w/o insurance, but I can tell you that since Obamacare my employer based premiums have skyrocketed. I'm getting much less coverage (post obamacare) and in reality my increases in cost is to pay those w/o insurance. So while some fat, lazy poor **** who eats 20 bags of doritos, drinks 80 cokes and barely lifts a leg gets free Rx, free med, free this, free that. While I work my ass off paying for him.

[Digger 68]

Premiums were going up way before the ACA. It surprises me that people never mention how much their insurance was going up in the early 00's before Obama was even a Senator. And they were. If you were single it probably wasn't as noticeable, but if you have a family it was.

(Man, a lot of strange people posting on this site, not making much sense, and they have some high reputation count.)

[LesLucid]

Originally Posted by debold4215

No it does not. It essentially pays for in hospital costs. The copay for medications is much higher when you have Medicare than with Medicaid. Dr. appoints still require a fairly copay. I am not against people who have MA .I was just surprised how many people are on MA and I don't know why they just don't give to everyone.
I am for MA for all but I think the insurance companies are against that. especially the CEOs.

I’m not sure what your situation is but my wife and I are both retired and on Medicare. We have the best supplemental we could get. Since we retired, she has had 2 surgeries for metastatic breast cancer, one rotator cuff surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. We also had bat exposure and went through the complete rabies injection series at $13,000 for each of us. Two months ago, I just had spinal surgery, two level microlaminectomy and partial discectomies. The ONLY thing we have paid for so far was a weird sling for my wife after her rotator cuff surgery, not one single other thing. I paid nothing for the cardiology work up at a private cardiologist’s office prior to my surgery, since I have high risk due to family history and blood chemistry. I also pay nothing for my routine GP visits.

My prescription medication is metformin, atavorostatin, lysinopril and monolukast. I have 90 day prescriptions with OptumRX and I pay $0 [sic].

[Nattaty25]

Well people wouldn't have to get gov assist medical insurance if the prices of regular insurance weren't so darn expensive. You realize those people had jobs too right? They weren't just freeloader...
I think you're just mad because you're paying too much for your insurance.