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Medicare Advantage plans are where its at these days. In enrollment numbers they are beating Medigap hands down, not even a contest. The reason is that many retired couples simply can not afford the fixed Medigap premiums but in many areas the Advantage plans have a zero monthly premium. And most people 65+ are in relatively good health and like the pay as you go aspect of Advantage plans. Worst case you hit the cap for the year.
There are some lemons in the Advantage plan world (United Healthcare sometimes) but there are also very good ones around as well. I think the Advantage plans are going to become even more popular and that Medigap will evolve more toward it (high deduct plan F is a start in that direction IMO).
Medicare Advantage plans are where its at these days. In enrollment numbers they are beating Medigap hands down, not even a contest. The reason is that many retired couples simply can not afford the fixed Medigap premiums but in many areas the Advantage plans have a zero monthly premium. And most people 65+ are in relatively good health and like the pay as you go aspect of Advantage plans. Worst case you hit the cap for the year.
There are some lemons in the Advantage plan world (United Healthcare sometimes) but there are also very good ones around as well. I think the Advantage plans are going to become even more popular and that Medigap will evolve more toward it (high deduct plan F is a start in that direction IMO).
ADVANTAG PLANS can work fine if everything is in your network and covered. but if you travel and have issues they can be a problem.
with all the great doctors we have in nyc I don't want to be limited to just the ones in network . after my experiences with hmo's I would rather have no part of them anymore.
at least with medigap they have to pay 20% of what medigap allows , they have no say. with advantage plans they can have lots of say as to what they will or won't pay just like a regular hmo.
Last edited by mathjak107; 04-27-2015 at 02:08 PM..
ADVANTAG PLANS can work fine if everything in your network and covered. but if you travel and have issues they can be a problem.
with all the great doctors we have in nyc I don't want to be limited to just the ones in network . after my experiences with hmo's I would rather have no part of them anymore.
To be sure there are disadvantages in the Advantage plans.
If they aren't popular (widely accepted) in your area or if you travel a lot (with extended stays elsewhere) or you live in a rural area forget them. They also might not be for you if you have on-going health problems.
But in larger metro areas many of the Advantage HMOs are huge with hundreds of doctors (in many specialties) as well as including major hospitals in their networks. And it is especially true if you sign up for a PPO. If these plans are popular where you live they can be a good deal.
The bottom line is cost. If you fit in the above criteria and are in relatively good health (and most in Medicare are) they are hard to beat (excluding the scams like UHC). Especially since most of these plans include a drug plan. Thats why they are essentially taking over their market. Even local gov'ts are beginning to drop retiree health insurance for their retirees 65+ and switching to them.
I totally agree with the posts here criticizing the article. Again another alarmist article. Whenever I see figures like $7 million it just screams of writers trying to get attention and clicks. When I saw the figures the first thing I wondered was the age of the respondents.
No doubt Americans are not saving enough, and I have no doubt there is some validity to the $7 million figure. But it's not the entire story.
Marotta's $7 million figure is after adjusting for 50 (yes, 50) years of future inflation, and in that sense it seems about right. It's for a 20 year old who is going to retire at 70. But it's completely irrelevant for someone preparing to retire today, where $1 million (low cost area) to $2 million (high cost area), plus Social Security, should be plenty.
I am referring to the comment about using Medicaid as health insurance .
My reference to Medicaid is as it pertains to nursing homes. I agree that using Medicaid as health insurance for routine medical care, does generally indicate that someone is poor.
Never mind definitions, just do as Mathjak suggests and price it out yourself.
I can't believe you are seriously suggesting that you aren't aware that seniors can have overall medical costs of at least $6,000/pp when you include Medicare premiums, co-pays and/or supplemental insurance, dental costs, drug costs, and other medical necessities that Medicare doesn't even cover.
You can believe what you want. I don't need to price it out. I know what it cost, for myself, as well as having been an executor of the estates of several deceased relatives in recent years. All of them had extensive hospital stays leading up to their deaths, and the estate owed nothing.
The problem is people like you and Mathjak live in that upper middle class east coast bubble, I spoke of very early in this thread. I have no doubt you are being truthful about your healthcare expenses. The issue is that you make dramatic, authoritarian, one size fits all statements. These statements are condescending, elitist, and stir up unneeded fear mongering. Leading uninformed lurkers to believe if they don't have a mid-7 figure net worth, they're doomed to the poor house.
Agreed many of us roll differently and have for a long time. Some would say your retirement years are a result of how you rolled in along the way! Not that I agree but just saying.
I'm solidly middle class, in middle America. I'm also a retired military officer.
Want to throw some more condescending elitist BS my way?
I am not sure what or why you are reacting. Is there something wrong with people wanting to pay their own way and not be dependent on taxpayers paying for them? Also the more you can contribute and delay going on Medicaid for nursing care in many areas increases your ability to get into top tier nursing homes with all the benefits you might want out of.
I have no problem with people making money, and living as they desire. But as I told the Bethesda guy, you come on a forum that contains a wide swath of disparate personal financial situations. Then you make authoritative statements that allude to people heading to the poor house, if they don't have your level of assets. I think it's elitism and fear mongering.
I've read this repetitive drivel from you handful of poster for years. The same subject matter is posted under different topic titles several times a year. And I can predict like clockwork what members are going to post, and what they're going to say. I usually stay out of these threads, because there's nothing to be gained. On a lark, I posted in this thread, and sure enough the usual suspects jumped in to tell me how poor I am.
There is another choice re the possibility of a very expensive health issue that Medicare doesn't cover sufficiently or even not at all.
And that is just don't pay the bill. At all.
What can happen to you if you choose that option? They can not take your house or your retirement investments or your retirement income from IRAs, pension, social security or 401k. If I had a Porsche they might take it, but my little 2 year old Ford Fiesta? Not likely.
Anyway, call me what you will, bad comes to worse thats my option.
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