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my wife is two years older than me so she is on it . i am not old enough for medicare and have to fend for my self for now . but even medicare is not cheap if you want a comprehensive supplement . ny is very high because we have special terms and privileges few other states have when it comes to supplements . i was going to take ss early but we just did a very complex work up over at fidelity on monday and i may go back to planning on delaying until 70 or as long as i stay healthy . our ss strategy is quite complex now .
i don't want to get in to the big disadvantage of advantage plans here in this topic but there is a huge difference in exposure and treatments allowed between an advantage plan and medicare and a supplement . an f-pLan IN NY IS 3200.00 BUCKS .
my co-worker used to brag about how little his advantage plan cost . well that was until it wasn't . his wife got breast cancer and the out of pockets on chemo was 4200.00 .
you think it is capped at the out of pocket right ? wrong .
the out of pockets are based on what the plan would allow , meaning if they consider 2000 the covered price , only 2000 goes towards the out of pocket even though you pay 4500 per treatment ..
unlike a supplement they can subject every thing to a review and pay what they like or disallow what they like .
they stink when traveling and it can be a real hassle just being out of your area .
they are cheap for a reason , but until you hit the reasons they look like good deals .
nothing is subject to review with medicare and a supplement . the supplement must cover what medicare does not , it is non negotiable .
so 3200 for an f-plan , 1250.00 for medicare and 300-400 for a drug plan .
if you want comprehensive coverage not subject to the whims of the insurer it will cost you .
like everything in life , nothing is a problem , until it's a problem .
the biggest problems are "
Most Medicare Advantage plans are similar to HMOs or PPOs because they limit seniors in their choice of doctors, hospitals and nursing facilities.
If a doctor leaves the plan or is dropped from the plan, the continuity of patient care is broken.
Private insurance is less stable than government benefits and seniors may suddenly find themselves temporarily without medical insurance. i just had my insurer health republic of ny go belly up in november . what a hassle that was .
It is more difficult to receive emergency or urgent care under many Medicare Advantage plans.
Finding covered medical care while traveling may be difficult.
The patient costs of Medicare Advantage plans may be higher than those of combined Medicare and Medigap coverage.
Indigent seniors may have higher costs under Medicare Advantage plans than they would under combined Medicare and Medicaid coverage.
the out of pockets are based on only what they cover not what you are charged . .
Last edited by mathjak107; 12-20-2015 at 11:48 AM..
There is a lot of truth to what you said although it is not universal.
There are degrees that will get you a 100k job after graduation at the Bachelor of Science level and Nursing is one of them.
Not everything is made overseas and some of us still covet Made in USA... even if it comes second hand...
My first car is 100% made in USA and I still have it... it was built in 1930 and except for a few raw materials like gum rubber for tires... it's American made.
Also... some of us don't have cable boxes, cell phones and still watch TV on made in America television and wash/dry our clothes in Made in USA appliances and own Made in USA refrigerators... albeit most is ancient by today's standards... they do the job today as well as the day they were made.
I manage residential housing and Christmas always requires extra trash pickup... and most of what fill the dumpsters has been sourced from overseas....
About 6 weeks later we still need extra trash as half that stuff has broken and/or no longer wanted.
One of my pet peeves is bicycles... there was a time when a bike was a kids most valuable possession... now they are disposable... mostly broken and sometimes just neglected.
When minimum wage was a $1.65 here a top of the line kids Schwinn was $100...
Now minimum wage in my city is $12.25 and kids bikes are $60 or less at Toys R Us.
Last year there was a boy of 7 that I watched put his bike in the trash... looked OK to me except both tires were flat... turned out this is why he was getting rid of it... his Mom was going to buy him a better one without flat tires..
Honest to gosh... all the tires needed was air... the family was clueless.
It's things like this that I find scary when thinking of the future.
In this area there is still people making somewhere around $8 an hr, some may make less. the City is proposing to bring its lowest pay up to the $10.16 mark. But it has not happen yet.
Yes, the factors you point out exist, although not many people can't afford 'Antique Cars", which is cars that are older than 25 yrs. I don't know many people who today would have a washer with the old wringer attached with the two galvanized metal tubs for rinsing, they probably only have those in storage some place to be used as "movie props" for period era filming.
I do know people who still have the old TV's which are not flat panel. (sadly, the old Tv Repair shops don't seem to exist or if they do, I don't know where one would find it).
I do see some older people with the flip phones, but most young people have a smart phone, and some upgrade so frequently that its mind-boggling.
We see people this time of year buying the bright colored giant sized plastic toys, only to find the kid has no interest in it after 3 months. Even the Quick stop stores sell a mass of 'quickly disposable non durable toys" and people buy it up, only to find it filling trash bins within 2-3 weeks.
It is sad, that people are groomed now to have so many disposable items.
I look at vehicles as something that is and should be made to be durable, if only for the sake of safety. So FOR Me, (not anyone else), I don't see a need to change cars every 3 yrs. I have a 1999 Benz, have had it since 2006, bought it as a pre-owner. I had Porsche's, BMW's, Lincoln, and various other cars over the years. I actually like my car, and plan to have some work done to put it back in top condition. I went and looked at newer models, but -decided not to go for it. The (funny things) the dealer kept trying to steer me to look at a 250C, I told him, that was not something that interest me, I did not want a 4 cylinder benz, the engine shakes, and its dumped in a body that should accommodate nothing smaller than a 350 engine. so the 250 to me implied everything else was scaled down, but the price of it was still near the mid 20's to 30k range, when what's the point, an E Class Pre-owned- Pre-certified would be a reasonable purchase and the drain off money of a new car would have already been wiped out of the equation. For Me, a Pre-Owned -Pre-Certified "Quality Built Car" is far better than some new models which loose value as if the price has suddenly fallen off a cliff, and within 4 yrs its value has gone so low, one might result to become upside down as to loan to value ratio.
I won't buy a top brand top priced TV, because now days no one repairs them, and I don't care to pay for an extended warranty, which some only offer a pro-rated discount toward a replacement, which leaves me paying more than is necessary.
I wish they'd still make computers where you can change out the various boards, but now with the integrated board, it almost forces one to buy a new computer or a whole board if the sound function for some reason went out. I keep on unit with XP, because it has all the programs I use, without having to buy new programs to be compatibly with Windows 8 and above. with XP I simply need to maintain and up to date quality virus program and spyware protections. Even if I disconnect it from the web, all of its programs still works fine.
on thing that has remained under $20 is basic "men's haircut", but I have seen places in other states where the cost starts above $40 ( when I saw the sign, I could not believe it !!!! shocked !!!). The good thing about "Hair Cuts", it CAN'T be Outsourced.
For young people who are compassionate and caring type individuals, the best way to be a good contributor and earn a good living, may well be to go into "health care", there has to be more people in the senior care, and there has to be more and more 'Senior Assisted Living" built, to force the cost down. currently some facilities cost around 2K a month, which is far more than the Social Security income of senior citizens. Even the nursing homes take all their money except maybe $30 for them to stay there. We have the technology and the land to build many many many "Senior Care Assisted Living Facilities', and in the next decade a high volume of these facilities will be needed.
Last edited by Chance and Change; 12-20-2015 at 11:55 AM..
i don't want to get in to the big disadvantage of advantage plans here in this topic but there is a huge difference in exposure and treatments allowed between an advantage plan and medicare and a supplement . an f-pLan IN NY IS 3200.00 BUCKS .
my co-worker used to brag about how little his advantage plan cost . well that was until it wasn't . his wife got breast cancer and the out of pockets on chemo was 4200.00 .
you think it is capped at the out of pocket right ? wrong .
the out of pockets are based on what the plan would allow , meaning if they consider 2000 the covered price , only 2000 goes towards the out of pocket even though you pay 4500 per treatment ..
unlike a supplement they can subject every thing to a review and pay what they like or disallow what they like .
they stink when traveling and it can be a real hassle just being out of your area .
they are cheap for a reason , but until you hit the reasons they look like good deals .
nothing is subject to review with medicare and a supplement . the supplement must cover what medicare does not , it is non negotiable .
so 3200 for an f-plan , 1250.00 for medicare and 300-400 for a drug plan .
if you want comprehensive coverage not subject to the whims of the insurer it will cost you .
Ok- a few facts for you:
A medicare advantage maximum out of pocket means exactly what it says:
Of course if you decide you want to use out of network providers, you will pay more- that is NOT unique to medicare.
They do not 'stink' while traveling, if you need urgent care you obtain the care and are reimbursed if you have to pay out of pocket for it, it's happened to my husband twice. Also, if there is no in network provider they will and have authorize out of network specialists.
I have a medicare supplement, my husband has a medicare advantage plan, we have not had any problems with either one. Mine is probably better for catastrophic illness or accidents that require long hospitalizations, but my husband's out of pocket max. is $3400 so it's probably a wash. I keep the supplement because my ex-employer pays the $300 a month premium. I have zero co-pays except for two things; $75 ambulance co-pay and $10 co-pay for a 90 day prescription.
I'm not sure what a 'good medicare' system looks like to you? Geezus, you keep telling us how successful you are and you are complaining about the costs of medicare?
nope , read it again . "Medicare Advantage Plans have a yearly limit on your out-of-pocket costs for medical services. Once you reach this limit, you’ll pay nothing for covered services. This limit may be different between Medicare Advantage Plans and can change each year. You should consider this when choosing a plan."
it isn't just medical expenses , it is covered medical expenses .do you know what covered expenses mean ? you will hopefully not find out .
"Out-of-pocket maximums only apply to COVERED essential benefits. So if your plan doesn’t cover a service, or the service isn’t an essential benefit it may not count toward your maximum."
in this case the chemo was not a totally covered service . they allowed 2k out of 4500 a treatment . so only 2k counted each time towards the out of pocket .
Medicare Advantage are private health insurance plans that put a limit on how much you’ll need to pay each calendar year out of your own pocket for covered medical services. This is also known as a maximum out-of-pocket limit.
Like Original Medicare (Parts A&B that you get from the government), Medicare Advantage plans make you pay part of the cost for covered medical services. Your share of the bill typically ranges from 20% to 40% or more, depending on the care you receive.
But, unlike Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans are required to place a limit on the amount of money you have to pay for covered medical services. The average out-of-pocket limit typically ranges from $3,000 to $4,000. The maximum out-of-pocket limit is $6,700 in 2015, as set by the government.
KEY WORD IS "COVERED " what is covered is up to the insurer and the review board .
this is something folks learn after the fact when they find out their out of pockets are not capped at what they thought .
my advice is if you can afford it just get medicare and a supplement . it may be the cheapest in the end with the least amount of headaches .
the gao looked in to some of the issues .
The disparity was greatest for some of the sickest seniors, those who return to the hospital within 60 days of discharge, the GAO found. Under traditional Medicare, those patients would not pay any deductible. Under many Advantage plans, the deductibles can be steep.
Urquhart, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, is a reasonably healthy retiree living in Wheatley Heights, N.Y. After treatment for a stomach virus and deep vein thrombosis in January, he was so weak from time in a hospital bed that doctors agreed he needed rehabilitation and physical and occupational therapy.
His Advantage plan turned him down, even though Medicare covers such treatment. His wife Arline and other relatives footed the roughly $12,000 bill for rehab. With it, Urquhart is now able to walk, to feed himself and to live a fairly normal life.
these are all very common story's , to common that happen every day with these advantage plans .
so as i say they are only cheaper until they are not . the devil is in the details .
Last edited by mathjak107; 12-20-2015 at 12:33 PM..
Of course if you decide you want to use out of network providers, you will pay more- that is NOT unique to medicare.
They do not 'stink' while traveling, if you need urgent care you obtain the care and are reimbursed if you have to pay out of pocket for it, it's happened to my husband twice. Also, if there is no in network provider they will and have authorize out of network specialists.
I have a medicare supplement, my husband has a medicare advantage plan, we have not had any problems with either one. Mine is probably better for catastrophic illness or accidents that require long hospitalizations, but my husband's out of pocket max. is $3400 so it's probably a wash. I keep the supplement because my ex-employer pays the $300 a month premium. I have zero co-pays except for two things; $75 ambulance co-pay and $10 co-pay for a 90 day prescription.
I'm not sure what a 'good medicare' system looks like to you? Geezus, you keep telling us how successful you are and you are complaining about the costs of medicare?
for a couple -2 f-plan supplements and medicare can cost 10k -12k depending on income , in after tax dollars . that is far from a negligible expense .
for a couple -2 f-plan supplements and medicare can cost 10k -12k depending on income , in after tax dollars . that is far from a negligible expense .
That is IF you picked the most expensive medi-gap plan which would be foolish unless you have very expensive to treat medical conditions, but even at that, you claimed a 7 figure retirement, that means you receive over 1 million ($1,000,000) and you worry about the cost of medicare?
Quote:
Originally Posted by mathjak107
we live in queens in nyc and even though we have a 7 figure retirement income we still have to watch what we spend .
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