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I pay $104.90 for Medicare Part B like most, not all but most, people 65 and older.
I pay $135.48 for Plan G supplement.
I pay $28.00 for Plan D Pharmacy
I pay $30.00 for my dental insurance.
Total: $298.38 for $3,580.56 in one year.
The Plan G pays for EVERYTHING except for the $147.00 Medicare deductable. In fact that is the only difference between the Plan F and Plan G is the Plan F covers the $147 deductable where with a Plan G the $147 comes out of your pocket.
For my first year on Medicare I had a Plan F and loved it. Regardless of what happened, what doctor I saw or procedure done my wallet never left my pocket... never spent a dime and in the first year I had some issues. One was with my back which needed an MRI and three epidurals in a hospital setting to get rid of the pain. On top of this there were the office visits etc and my wallet never once left my pocket for paying anything.
All I did was pay my monthly premium.
Last year reviewed plans and the cost for the Plan F was going to be $158 compared to the plan G's $135.48. $22.52/month more for $270.24 more in annual premium costs and the ONLY difference was the Plan F would pick up the $147 deductible. Well, duh?
What I do get stuck with is pharmacy. With the Plan D many drugs are extremely cheap or, in some cases, even free but some can get a little pricey. I am on a pricey drug myself and the most out of pocket I have for the year is somewhere around $800 and half of that hits me in January.
Dental is dental. Free cleaning and twice a year check ups and about half of everything else. Most years I don't pay much for dental.
Nicet4, do Plan F and Plan G both provide nationwide coverage when I leave my desk job to go on the Grand National Parks RV Tour? It's years in the future, but it gives me a kick to plan it out in advance, lol! So, if I break a leg (so to speak) in Glacier National Park (in Montana) even though my domicile is in Virginia. which would be the plan to choose? Thanks much! Best, Jane
It's not just the pure medical costs. I'm at least 40 years from retirement age, but I also lost everything due to a cancer diagnosis even though I had excellent insurance and was forced to work through the whole thing. Sure, copays for appointments and medications were hefty on my small budget but it's also transportation costs, maybe a hotel room, supplements and over the counter drugs that aren't covered by insurance, change in diet, and needing additional help ranging from assisted living or home nurse care to hiring someone to clean, cook, and/or do laundry.
Some costs I never could have imagined: like the increased fuel cost in the winter here in the Boston area to keep the air warm enough that I could breathe (high 60s versus my old 62 which is nowhere near the 80 degrees my grandparents keep their house year round!) and parking to the tune of $10 - $25 (reduced cost!) per appointment. My parents had to have someone build ramps to get into their house because my dad developed serious neuropathy issues in his 50s that made it impossible to climb short sets of stairs - how could my parents have predicted they needed a 1 story house so young? Even into early retirement, that's not something many people expect to happen!
The more help you need, the quicker money evaporates. I generally find when people say they're struggling due to "medical bills," it's just as much all the externalities.
^^^^^ This. And thanks for elucidating this issue. I knew about it, but not well enough to describe it.
One of my sisters recently died. She had been on full disability for many years when she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Managed to get past that with chemo/radiation. Then she developed one of the adult-onset leukemias (not unusual after chemo/radiation). Had a bone-marrow transplant and got past that.
She died of a heart attack. After her death, I learned that she'd had to declare bankruptcy after her second illness. Fortunately she was living with a daughter and together they managed to survive financially.
She was on full disability, FFS!!!!! What weren't they covering for her?!?!? My guess is, the disability "support" is only enough for someone in full health who needs nothing extra.
We have the aarp united F plan supplement that is good anywhere in the country and the medicare and the cheapest drug program out there. All together, per person it is $3,642 / yr. So far we have not had any out of pocket expenses, drs. office co-pay, lab charges, none of that. DH had a big operation, it was all paid and 2 weeks in rehab. Only thing is if one of us is on a high-tier drug. I take one that is a tier 3 and I must pay $320.00 before insurance kicks in and pays 80%. Another medicine I'm on costs me just a couple dollars because it is tier 1. There is a point when we could spend way too much and drugs would not be covered at all till we reached the next level.
To my way of thinking, a little over $300 a month per person is the best use of our money. Previous to becoming medicare age, we had our own private insurance. It was way more than that and only covered 80% of approved amounts after we paid $6,000 deductible each per year.
Out of pocket charges were awful, we had ongoing medical payments each month paying off a couple operations. I advise anyone thinking about all this to find some way to do it. If you wait, medicare becomes more expensive and drug programs become more expensive, never to go back to the basic costs. And the supplements only cover all things, pre-existing included, if one takes it at the very beginning. Later they may not accept you and might ot cover any pre-existing conditions if they do accept you.
What has me a bit worried is long term care, should we ever need that. We have no plans for that.
do Plan F and Plan G both provide nationwide coverage when I leave my desk job to go on the Grand National Parks RV Tour?
Jane, I answered you a few months back on Health Insurance forum, but here it is, again:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ariadne22
Quote:
Originally Posted by jane_sm1th73
Errr...not to hijack, but what kind of plan should I get (when it's time) if I want to eliminate geographic constraints?
I have this fond fantasy of doing the Grand RV Tour of National Parks.
You get a Medigap - either a full Medigap G/F or high-deductible Medigap F as discussed above. Megaps do provide complete doctor/provider flexibility. Various options, listed here.
Nicet4, do Plan F and Plan G both provide nationwide coverage when I leave my desk job to go on the Grand National Parks RV Tour? It's years in the future, but it gives me a kick to plan it out in advance, lol! So, if I break a leg (so to speak) in Glacier National Park (in Montana) even though my domicile is in Virginia. which would be the plan to choose? Thanks much! Best, Jane
Yes, both Plan F and G provide nationwide coverage and there are no groups. Any doctor, anytime, in any location in the US and they will accept the F and G without question.
Doctors really like it because Plan F and G pay "excess" which means your doctor can bill and receive even more than Medicare allows and your plan pays for it.
I once had a billing clerk at the hospital refer to my Plan F and "Plan Fabulous".
Many seniors and/or consumers ask us about the difference between Medicare Supplement Plans F vs Medicare Supplement Plan G. They are without a doubt the two most popular Supplement plans available, namely because one plan (Plan F) offers nearly 100 percent coverage and is nick-named the “Medicare excess charge†plan because it covers costs that are in excess of the Medicare-approved amounts. This plan will provide you with as close to zero out-of-pocket costs as possible for hospital and doctor’s office care, thus, the plan pays 100% of any excess charges Medicare does not cover. It’s important to note that this plan allows providers to charge only 15% over Medicare limits. There are low premium/high deductible plans available with Plan F with the average deductible being around $2,500.
Medicare Plan G offers a very affordable option. It covers everything a Plan F covers but at a lower premium. The only difference is there is a small deductible in a Plan G which is actually your Medicare Part B deductible. You Medicare Part B deductible in 2013 is $147.00. Once you meet this annual deductible your Plan G acts like a Plan F. Since this is the Medicare Part B deductible you only have to meet it once a years so if you move to a Plan G with another company and you have already met your deductible for the current year you do not have to meet it again. It’s a great option if you want a lower monthly premium.
Medigap Plans C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, M, and N pay 80% of the billed charges for certain medically necessary emergency care outside the U.S. after you meet a $250 deductible for the year. These Medigap policies cover foreign travel emergency care if it begins during the first 60 days of your trip, and if Medicare doesn't otherwise cover the care.
Foreign travel emergency coverage with Medigap policies has a lifetime limit of $50,000.
$50,000 lifetime limit doesn't sound great but if you're on a cruise only to suffer a heart attack in the Bahamas it will at least get you home.
I've had my plan G for a year now and it is acting exactly like my Plan F except I paid the $147 and my premiums are more than $20/month cheaper. In 7 months I save enough to pay for the deductible which sounds like someone putting these plans through didn't think of everything.
Back to my earlier question if you have no savings or pension and rely only on SS I get how you would be tapped out. But given the info proivided in this thread it seems as if Medicare has enough options where even the worst diagnosis will be covered with limited out of pocket. So I still do not understand how so many people go belly up unless of course they didn't chose these options or only rely on SS. But that does not appear to be the case with the stories told here.
My red flag was the number of days in a hospital limit of Medicare. That seems to me to be the only concern, if I am not mistaken it looks like Plan F or maybe G offers what private supplemental insurance offers. But with the average deductable of $2,500 it sounds like my original budget of $5,000 out of pocket for a couple was close no? What are the costs for a plan F or G?
Back to my earlier question if you have no savings or pension and rely only on SS I get how you would be tapped out. But given the info proivided in this thread it seems as if Medicare has enough options where even the worst diagnosis will be covered with limited out of pocket. So I still do not understand how so many people go belly up unless of course they didn't chose these options or only rely on SS. But that does not appear to be the case with the stories told here.
My red flag was the number of days in a hospital limit of Medicare. That seems to me to be the only concern, if I am not mistaken it looks like Plan F or maybe G offers what private supplemental insurance offers. But with the average deductable of $2,500 it sounds like my original budget of $5,000 out of pocket for a couple was close no? What are the costs for a plan F or G?
It varies widely depending on location but I pay $135.48 for Plan G supplement. I am also in one of the lowest cost areas and you could easily pay double if in New York City.
Additional Part A Hospital Benefits -An extra 365 days of inpatient hospital care after you use your Original Medicare hospital benefits.
Hopefully nobody ever has to spend 8 months in a hospital but if you do it would bust you.
Part B Excess Charges - If you go to a provider that does not accept Medicare assignment, that provider is allowed to charge an additional 15%. Plan F will cover that additional 15% charge at 100%.
Back to my earlier question if you have no savings or pension and rely only on SS I get how you would be tapped out. But given the info proivided in this thread it seems as if Medicare has enough options where even the worst diagnosis will be covered with limited out of pocket. So I still do not understand how so many people go belly up unless of course they didn't chose these options or only rely on SS. But that does not appear to be the case with the stories told here.
My red flag was the number of days in a hospital limit of Medicare. That seems to me to be the only concern, if I am not mistaken it looks like Plan F or maybe G offers what private supplemental insurance offers. But with the average deductible of $2,500 it sounds like my original budget of $5,000 out of pocket for a couple was close no? What are the costs for a plan F or G?
except for vision and dental with an f-plan you really would have no other expenses normally .
we spend so little in medical we opted for a high deductible f-plan .
Of course retied people can easily go bankrupt due to medical expenses. "Retired" means not working and many are not working by circumstances, not choice. Maybe too sick to work or got fired because they took too many days off or someone will do their job cheaper or their job was sent to India or China. Or they had to quit to take care of a relative or spouse. Most poor retired people are women not men.
The statistics are:
"A new GAO analysis finds that among households with members aged 55 or older, nearly 29 percent have neither retirement savings nor a traditional pension plan."
41% do not own a home.
"Social Security remains a fundamental part of most Americans' retirement plans, with benefits providing most of the income for about half of households age 65 and older, according to the GAO."
Sounds like the OP is humble-bragging by not being able to understand why others are not as hard-working and plan-ahead as he did. Life throws curveballs.
Agree. I think the average SS check is around $1250 monthly, and if SS is all you have, then you aren't likely to have a Medicare f-plan or even any Medicare supplemental plan at all. Medicare Part B only covers 80% of your medical bills, which might total $100k for a serious medical issue, leaving the senior $20k in debt if he/she doesn't have supplemental insurance.
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