Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
medicare is 134 a month , about 39 for drugs and 93 bucks a month for a high deductible f-plan . we have a 2k deductible on the supplement but save more than 2k a year in premium since we don't come close to what we pay in copays .
out of the 93 we pay for the supplement , it pays for my gym through silver sneakers which is 40 a month so it is a great deal for me .
Good thing you did = there is a penalty if you don't go on it by 65.
At least that is what happened to my roommate.
There is not only a penalty, but you may not have Medicare coverage later or have delays in coverage if you make the mistake of not signing up for it at 65.
I understated the current costs a bit, just looked them up. I'm 71 and my wife is 68. The approx. $2K per year is for co-pays on all the policies. My Cigna policy for secondary medical and vision, CVS Caremark Policy for drugs, and Metroplitan for dental, are all through my retirement plan and cost $4200 per year for retirees on Medicare. (Prior to going on Medicare it was about $1500/yr more per person as it was the sole coverage, so going on Medicare was a wash.)
Medicare is $3200 for the two of us, totalling $7400 per year. I don't believe it is age related, all the retirees get the same rate. It may go up slightly over time due to cost of living. So with the approx. $2k /yr for co-pays, the total health costs for the two of us are about $9400 per year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Penny4YourThoughts
thank you. If it's ok, can I ask your age and whether your 2k per yr w/cigna will increase as you age?
Medicare is $3200 for the two of us, totalling $7400 per year. I don't believe it is age related, all the retirees get the same rate. It may go up slightly over time due to cost of living. So with the approx. $2k /yr for co-pays, the total health costs for the two of us are about $9400 per year.
not correct . medicare premiums are based on magi income levels .you can pay more than 300 a month more than the lowest rate .
There is not only a penalty, but you may not have Medicare coverage later or have delays in coverage if you make the mistake of not signing up for it at 65.
True - cuz he did say that it hadn't kicked in yet and he applied months ago. And they are already taking the penalty money. He just received his card last week.
i wasn't correcting what you may pay , i was correcting the fact not all retirees pay the same rate for medicare .
all you have to do do is sell an appreciated asset and they nab you . it does not mean that is your income all the time . but sell anything with a fair amount of gain and they can get you for an extra 6k as a couple on top of a boat load of taxes and regular medicare costs . that is on top of a load of income taxes and surcharges on the gains if they are high enough . .
Would have to be careful with all that if I had any taxable appreciable assets. All my investments are inside my IRA, so there's no noticeable tax consequences on profit or loss. If I wanted to liquidate my whole IRA I'd get banged for an additional $5K for Medicare that year only. But the income tax consequences would be much worse, so it's hard to imagine doing that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mathjak107
i wasn't correcting what you may pay , i was correcting the fact not all retirees pay the same rate for medicare .
all you have to do do is sell an appreciated asset and they nab you . it does not mean that is your income all the time . but sell anything with a fair amount of gain and they can get you for an extra 6k as a couple on top of a boat load of taxes and regular medicare costs . that is on top of a load of income taxes and surcharges on the gains if they are high enough . .
we got hit when our partner sold some lease rights we owned in 2014 . neither of us were retired nor on medicare yet . our 1 year income went so high we got penalized for it .
medicare went back two years to set my wife's premium in 2016 and wanted 300 more just for her . i was not on medicare yet ..
we appealed it and won so they rolled it back but had it been sold 1 year later they would not have accepted the appeal .
I'm 65 and live in North Carolina. I'm a retired Fed and have Federal BCBS Basic which costs me $157 a month! I didn't sign up for Medicare Part B, because I only go to the Doctor for a yearly physical and prescription refill. It's not worth it for me to pay for Medicare Part B to save $30 a year for the co-pay! YMMV!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
