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Every state has a Senior Health Insurance Program that is partially federally funded. Each plan has volunteer counselors throughout the staqtes that provide information and assistance on Medicare, Supplements, Advantage plans, Part D, etc. free of charge. They are well trained and wholly independent of any organization. They will recommend no specific coverages but will help you compare benefits and explain them to you fully.
For South Carolina the contacts can be found here;
I was worked for many years at the state level in California's program. All the states do great work.
Thank you very much for this link! Turns out the coordinator for our region is an acquaintance. I had no clue she was involved in this program. Small world - LOL! Thanks again.
Keeper did you return to Regular Medicare & purchase a United Health Care Medigap Plan? If so, what Plan Letter do you have for $125?
Good luck with your future surgery.
I did return to Medicare and have plan F.. They did not offer an advantage plan in my area.
Thanks... I am hoping I can put it off but you know how that goes.
I'm dealing with this nightmare myself right now. Given the fact the insurance industry (Special Interest) buys there agenda from our elected officals, we the consumer will be getting the short end of the stick.................this is all about profits and not your pain and suffering!
From what I have read, all plans are created equal under the Medicare Advantage however, upon comparing policies on the Medicare.gov website, it doesn't appear to be the case! There are generally NO ADDITIONAL PREMIUM outside Part B HOWEVER, the fine print is more than abundant! Under a Medicare Advantage Plan you are going to pay 20% on just about everything but your PC's office visit! Then there's the "HOSPITAL" clause that you will pay profusely for! I wouldn't even want to geuss the co-pay for open heart but I have had three stents and get raped for at least $2000 plus everytime! You do get prescription coverage but again, not all are created equal. Some have significant co-pays for non-generic drugs and then there's caps on the coverage with a corrupt sliding scale which again, isn't in your favor!
I've talked to quite a few people who seem more content with the "old" Medicare adding a Medigap supplemental package and drug plan. Of course, this was the more expensive plan reserved for the ultra rich! I think I'm going to go with one of these when November comes around even though I don't fall in that Ultra Rich category. The thing with this route is your out of pocket is pocket change compared to Medicare Advantage! A stent proceedure with Medigap would have more than likely cost me less than $100 instead of the Medicare Advantage fleecing of $2000 plus!
I'm not an expert on the subject and believe me, Social Security won't VOLUNTEER information to you! They are looking to drop as much business in the laps of these private carriers as KICKBACKS will permit!!! As the old Washington saying goes, "YOU HAVE TO PAY TO PLAY" and the amount you kickback determines how much you play!!!! Hopefully, when elections 2012 come around, the people will have enough common sense to send all 535 congressional parasites packing to the unemployment lines!!! These self serving neandrathals are living like kings and queens while we struggle to survive!!!
Shuckapeafarms:
I think you may need to read the plans details. I have a neighbor on Humana HMO that had symptoms of heart attack, he took an ambulance to the hospital ER. He had 2 stents put in. The only thing he paid for was the one day in the hospital, everything else was included in that.
Shuckapeafarms:
I think you may need to read the plans details. I have a neighbor on Humana HMO that had symptoms of heart attack, he took an ambulance to the hospital ER. He had 2 stents put in. The only thing he paid for was the one day in the hospital, everything else was included in that.
Good news for your neighbor but unfortunately the costs of both advantage plans and medicare gap policies tend to vary considerably from state to state, and even within states.
I'm dealing with this nightmare myself right now. Given the fact the insurance industry (Special Interest) buys there agenda from our elected officals, we the consumer will be getting the short end of the stick.................this is all about profits and not your pain and suffering!
From what I have read, all plans are created equal under the Medicare Advantage however, upon comparing policies on the Medicare.gov website, it doesn't appear to be the case! There are generally NO ADDITIONAL PREMIUM outside Part B HOWEVER, the fine print is more than abundant! Under a Medicare Advantage Plan you are going to pay 20% onjust about everything but your PC's office visit! Then there's the "HOSPITAL" clause that you will pay profusely for! I wouldn't even want to geuss the co-pay for open heart but I have had three stents and get raped for at least $2000 plus everytime! You do get prescription coverage but again, not all are created equal. Some have significant co-pays for non-generic drugs and then there's caps on the coverage with a corrupt sliding scale which again, isn't in your favor!
I've talked to quite a few people who seem more content with the "old" Medicare adding a Medigap supplemental package and drug plan. Of course, this was the more expensive plan reserved for the ultra rich! I think I'm going to go with one of these when November comes around even though I don't fall in that Ultra Rich category. The thing with this route is your out of pocket is pocket change compared to Medicare Advantage! A stent proceedure with Medigap would have more than likely cost me less than $100 instead of the Medicare Advantage fleecing of $2000 plus!
I'm not an expert on the subject and believe me, Social Security won't VOLUNTEER information to you! They are looking to drop as much business in the laps of these private carriers as KICKBACKS will permit!!! As the old Washington saying goes, "YOU HAVE TO PAY TO PLAY" and the amount you kickback determines how much you play!!!! Hopefully, when elections 2012 come around, the people will have enough common sense to send all 535 congressional parasites packing to the unemployment lines!!! These self serving neandrathals are living like kings and queens while we struggle to survive!!!
As far as the sentence, I bolded above, that is simply not true as a general statement. It might be true for a particular Medicare Advantage Plan which you investigated, and that's how you should have phrased it if you are at all interested in truth and accuracy. With my Medicare Advantage Plan, I don't pay a percentage of anything. I only have co-pays, and very reasonable ones.
You accuse Social Security of receiving kickbacks from private carriers. What evidence can you cite for that? Are you even aware that Medicare is an agency which is separate from the Social Security Administration? What an understatement you made when you said you were not an expert on the subject! In fact, your emotions have completely run away with you during your irrational rant, whose ignorance shines through as the main factor.
I live in the Los Angeles, CA area and am just now applying for medicare for the first time. I want to have a choice of the very best doctors because I had cancer a year ago. I've had PPOs in the past. However, I am aware that PPOs are far more expensive than medicare medigap. I can afford medigap - and perhaps I can afford PPOs. . . if they cost the same as private PPOs. I am also interested in integrated oncologists and MDs that rarely take HMOs. I don't know if those same doctors would take PPO advantage insurance.
Most important consideration: I want the very best doctors I can get. I am concerned that many doctors who accept PPOs won't accept medicare - that due to insurance law changes that many doctors will no longer accept medicare. Is that true? I am also concerned about pre existing condition exclusions when I join one plan vs another. But if I have to have cancer treatment again, I want to pick and choose who I go to.
I have to agree each area is different as to what you have access to for medigap or advantage plans. I chose the medigap plan over advantage this year as the co-pays were very high for hospital stays. It was $300 a day for the first 5 days (IIRC) and $300 for each day surgery, plus you paid for office visits.
There is an advantage plan that does not pay the 20% that medicare does not pay but the monthly payments are very low
I chose a medigap plan that is slightly more per month but there are no co-pays for anything. They pay the 20% that medicare does not pay. It does cost me more per month but all it takes is one day surgery and it pays for itself. I know I am going to have to have eye surgery this year so that is why I chose it
I am a financial planner in the St. Louis area. I also run a Medicare consulting company assisting people in navigating Medicare’s website in order to select the most appropriate part D plan in their area for their situation.
I understand this post started back in '09 and there obviously have been a few changes since then, and more to come here in 2012. In my opinion there are advantages to the Medigap program over the advantage plans. Choice of Dr. is really only a small piece of it. The biggest to me would seem to be stability. Every year the MA plans "update" or change. They change their dr's, they change their co-pay's, they change their deductible’s, they change their out of pocket maximums, they change their premiums, and worst of all….they can just say, “well, we decided not to offer that plan anymore. Here’s your new one.” I saw that happen in 2007!
Granted the MA plans CAN offer some ancillary benefits of vision, dental, and hearing. I feel it’s extremely unfortunate that Medicare supplement plans haven’t caught on to do that yet. I also want to touch on the “Medicare & You” book. You’re right, it is slanted towards MA plans. Do you know why? IT GETS YOU OFF OF THE MEDICARE SYSTEM. They are more than happy to cut the MA plans a PORTION of the check that they would otherwise be paying to the hospital or dr.
I just feel that consistency, choice, and reliability of the plans are worth the extra money if you have it.
As far as pre existing conditions are concerned, well that is a whole different animal. The one post was correct about that. You can leave a supplement and come back within 12 months (and most carriers took it upon themselves to extend that to 24mo.), or elect into an MA at 65 (or your open enrollment age if under 65 for disability) and still change to a supplement in the 12 months (or 24 usually, like I said).
You legally can drop an MA plan and come back to Medicare and a supplement ANYTIME of year however if you can medically qualify to do so….what complicates the issue is the part D plan. Whereas most MA plans aren’t MA plans…they’re MAPDP (yup, Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug Plans) Therefore you’re stuck by the Medicare part D laws. Now don’t get me wrong…you CAN do it, but you would be forced to go without drug coverage for the remainder of that year. Not something I recommend.
So basically anytime OTHER than inside the first 12 months (or 24 depending on the carrier, such as Mutual of Omaha I know is one) you MUST qualify medically for coverage. Some companies are stricter than others.
Now certain states, Missouri for example, has state legislation in place that allows some relief for folks. Every year on their anniversary month, they are entitled to a guaranteed issue period of 30 days. Meaning that they can go into a plan with no evidence of insurability. Check with your state insurance department for something called “The anniversary rule for Medicare supplements”.
I hope some of this was helpful.
Jason
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Quality of PPO doctors vs medicare doctors?
