Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Retirement
 [Register]
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.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-06-2018, 05:56 PM
 
Location: Massachusetts
9,513 posts, read 16,451,162 times
Reputation: 14528

Advertisements

I believe where one lives, can greatly impact the dentist/insurance experience. I've had terrible experiences here in Lakeland, Fl. It was difficult to pinpoint at first where the problem originates. I started to blame the ins, but found it was the dentist.

I have had both Geha and then United Concordia. The dentist 2 different ones collect payment from the patient,and then file the claim. It took me over a year of arguing with the Dentist to be reimbursed for cleaning exam. I had found the dentist had been paid by the insurance. My reimbursement was $145 which I never received. Finally a year later, and countless calls I received, what never should have been collected in the first place. It seems most dentist here operate this way. When it was all said and done. I ended up paying half of the cleaning, because of problems with their coding of the claim.

I'm dropping United Concordia, and don't know if I should take another plan here. Many of these dentist locally that participate as PPO, won't abide by the plan rules. None of us should be forced to pay iup front, before the ins pays. That is why we go to plan dentist. So this might be a local problem. I never experienced this type of dental culture before moving here
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-08-2018, 07:14 AM
 
Location: Central Maine
4,697 posts, read 6,435,386 times
Reputation: 5046
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimrob1 View Post
I believe where one lives, can greatly impact the dentist/insurance experience.
Absolutely. And not only dental, but medical as well.

We live in rural Maine, and after living in Northern Virginia for decades, I have to say that access to quality dental care, or quality and timely medical care, kinda sucks here.

Dental: I've had MetLife dental for many years. I got it primarily because I was going to need a dental implant, and those suckers are expensive. I still have the policy, but I'm cancelling it. It was fine for helping pay for regular visits, x-rays, cleanings, etc. But there are very few dentists in Maine that accept it. Guess it's time for me to check out what other options are available to me, and see if there are any dentists in Maine who participate.

Medical: I need a referral for everything beyond my primary care doctor, and that means waiting. Even though Medicare and BC/BS say that for most/all specialists you can self-refer, that just ain't so in Maine. I'm in the middle of an 11-day wait to see a neurologist.

We love living in Maine. But medical care delayed sometimes seems like medical care denied, and as we age, that's just not going to cut it. If anything gets us to move away from Maine, it will be health care.

<end whine>
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-18-2018, 06:36 AM
 
Location: Massachusetts
9,513 posts, read 16,451,162 times
Reputation: 14528
Very True.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-18-2018, 06:43 AM
 
Location: Massachusetts
9,513 posts, read 16,451,162 times
Reputation: 14528
I received a check for $600 yesterday, for the Medicare Rembursement. I'm not sure if we file for this every year or what. The employees handling this program, seem very vague with info when I call them. I guess that's why this program isn't really advertised. Which really isn't very kind. Since I'm positive many know nothing about it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-18-2018, 07:07 AM
 
Location: Central Maine
4,697 posts, read 6,435,386 times
Reputation: 5046
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimrob1 View Post
I received a check for $600 yesterday, for the Medicare Rembursement. I'm not sure if we file for this every year or what. The employees handling this program, seem very vague with info when I call them. I guess that's why this program isn't really advertised. Which really isn't very kind. Since I'm positive many know nothing about it.
I signed up early this year, and spread over a number of payments, I received $600. My wife, also a retired fed, did the same. And we'll be doing it again next year.

Since it's possible that I could change my health insurance (I'm not), and since other items will change (like the amount of my annuity), when I get a copy of my "Notice of Annuity Adjustment" from OPM in January, I will upload a copy of that to the good people handing out the money ... WageWorks.

See: https://www.fepblue.org/medicare-reimbursement-account

"As a Basic Option member enrolled in Medicare Part A and B, you are eligible to be reimbursed up to $600 per calendar year for your Medicare Part B premium payments. You must submit proof of premium payments via fax, mail or upload. Upon approval, you will receive reimbursement via direct deposit to your bank account, tax free."

IF you have the Basic option for BC/BS, and IF you are enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B, it's a very good deal.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-18-2018, 09:27 AM
 
Location: SoCal
20,160 posts, read 12,715,855 times
Reputation: 16993
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimrob1 View Post
I received a check for $600 yesterday, for the Medicare Rembursement. I'm not sure if we file for this every year or what. The employees handling this program, seem very vague with info when I call them. I guess that's why this program isn't really advertised. Which really isn't very kind. Since I'm positive many know nothing about it.
I’ve talked to the people from BlueCross Blue Shield, it seems like you have to sign up every year. The kicker is when you are no longer capable then you don’t get the benefit. I wish we don’t have to do that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
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.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Retirement

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:20 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top