Navigating Medicare Supplemental plans - which plan do you have?

[wizard-xyzzy]

I agree that there isn't much difference between one G plan and another -- Medicare decides what a G plan covers, after all -- but there can be a lot of difference between one D and another.

The price for F will keep going up faster than the price for G.

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by ERH

This is a great post! I handle this for my dad, and last year I didn't have a lot of time to fool with it, so he stayed with SilverScript. Open enrollment begins Nov 1, yes? I will put a note on my calendar to check this tool out. Thanks, Jkgourmet.

October 15th, actually. But you can review all the choices now. https://www.medicare.gov/plan-compare/#/?lang=en

Get the list of your dad's prescriptions and dosages. When you input it into the site, it will keep the information until next year (passwords will be issued by the system - remember to keep them.) So you only have to enter the drug info once. In future years you'll just have to make changes.

[lovebrentwood]

It's very easy for anyone to get overloaded with Medicare info. I spent my entire career dealing with technical info that I needed to understand so I could turn it into training materials that others could understand. That was easy for me. Medicare, in comparison, was insane.

This year we signed up for Plan G (the one with the extra $185 payment) and Plan D. They are through AARP/United Healthcare.

We came to that decision after two meetings with volunteers, one meeting with a good local insurance agent, and lots of reading. I also spoke with someone at Medicare, and that was NOT useful at all.

It shouldn't be that complicated -- but it is. I also heard trying to talk to anyone during the annual open enrollment period is very difficult; they are overwhelmed.

Good luck!

[rabbitsong]

My head is spinning reading all this! Mr. RabbitSong was hired by the company he'd been a contractor for, and we now have benefits! (Yay! If you know our story, you know this is HUGE!) I was approved for SSDI and will be eligible for Medicare beginning in March. We're trying to make sense of the Employee Benefits. Health insurance is through United Healthcare.


Here's what we want to know. Enrollment comes up next month. Do we still register me, even though Medicare starts in March? And are we responsible for finding our own Part (ABC, etc)? We're USAA members already, so thanks for that info! I had no idea that was an option!

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by rabbitsong

My head is spinning reading all this! Mr. RabbitSong was hired by the company he'd been a contractor for, and we now have benefits! (Yay! If you know our story, you know this is HUGE!) I was approved for SSDI and will be eligible for Medicare beginning in March. We're trying to make sense of the Employee Benefits. Health insurance is through United Healthcare.


Here's what we want to know. Enrollment comes up next month. Do we still register me, even though Medicare starts in March? And are we responsible for finding our own Part (ABC, etc)? We're USAA members already, so thanks for that info! I had no idea that was an option!

to clarify, you do not need to be a member of USAA to get their Medicare policies. That said, I'd suggest calling THEM to ask your registration and enrollment questions. Easier to get a human on the phone than calling Medicare and, in my experience, way more knowledgeable agents than the other companies that I spoke with.

[lifetraveler]

Hmmm... In Florida I have Simply Healthcare and the covered everything to emergency room and ambulance minus $100. I have the Diabetic plan which covers all dr visits, $5 specialist, $400 annually for glasses, $60/ month for OTC pharmacy supplies, all meds covered I pay $0 at pharmacy or mail-in to include 90 day supply. It is HMO so referrals are required. Best thing about it is I pay $0 premium because what I pay for Medicare is transferred to this plan. Prior to Simply I had CarePlus with very similar coverage. I’m hoping when I move back to NC that I can find a very comparable plan as such. What I don’t like about Florida is there aren’t as many good doctors and dentist who care like we had in NC.