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Depends on your definition of "cheaper." Certainly not any cheaper than Medicare is. Whether it is cheaper than the combination of regular Medicare + a drug plan + a Medigap (so that all bases are covered) is another question.
For example, looking at the ACA plans available in my state for the New Rochelle zipcode, the bronze plans are all between $420 and $464 per month. Silver plans are all between $590 and $655.
So let's say the average Silver plan in New Rochelle is $610 just for comparison's sake (with no subsidies.)
Someone on Medicare in New Rochelle would pay $135 for part B and then if they wanted full coverage via a Supplement plan, they could get one for $351 (assuming they don't go the AARP route). So that's $486 for the two. How much their Part D plan premium would be, would depend on their drug coverage needs. If they only want a bare-bones one like mine, figure another $20 per month for that. Round it up and say $500 per month for Medicare/Supplement/Drug coverage versus $600 for a Silver/No-subsidies ACA plan.
Granted that the ACA plan would doubtless cover some things that the Medicare combo would not (such as hearing aids and orthotics) but the deductibles and co-pays would also doubtless be larger. So the out of pocket costs each year would be heavily dependent on actual usage.
I’m not Medicare age yet. I have a Blue Cross Blue Shield policy that I pay $650 a month for with a $3000 deductible. It is the cheapest Blue Cross plan available. I kept moving down as the rates go up but now there’s nowhere lower to go. The only cheaper option was an Amera Health plan, but it wasn’t that much cheaper and their rating/reputation is terrible.
There is no "Part F" in Medicare. Actual traditional Medicare consists of only two "parts": Part A (hospitalization coverage)and Part B (what used to be called Major Medical coverage back in the day.)
The so-called Part D (prescription drug coverage) is mandatory but must be obtained from private insurers which are completely separate entities from Medicare itself. The government has nothing to do with Part D except for the fact that Medicare (CMS) mandates that everyone have some sort of drug coverage. How much is up to you. How much it costs is up to the private insurers who sell those policies.
You seem to be confusing the PLANS A through F that are offered by Medicare SUPPLEMENT carriers (so-called Medigap) with the PARTS of actual Medicare. Supplement plans are private insurance plans, totally optional and have nothing to do with Medicare premiums. Premiums for Medigap plans are set by the private insurers operating within the various rules of the states they sell in. They are not set or influenced by Medicare or CMS.
Medicare premiums have no effect on Medicare Supplement Plan (A-F) premiums, or vice versa. Apples vs oranges there. Supplement polices only interact with Medicare when claims are involved. NOT premiums.
Nobody is required to buy a Medicare Supplement plan. It is private insurance just like auto and home insurance is. It is a for-profit industry and always will be. Anyone who thinks that private insurance coverage premiums (of any type) will EVER come down in any meaningful way is just kidding themselves.
Drug coverage (Part D) is required but those premiums are not affected by Medicare premiums either. Blame the private insurers in both those cases but don't blame Medicare (unless you want to blame CMS for requiring Part D in the first place -- which I do, by the way, but that's another question entirely. I do not think drug coverage should be mandatory. It should be an optional additional coverage just like the Supplement plans are.)
Part D (the Rx drug plan) is not mandatory, it's optional. If you don't enroll in Part D, however, and want to enroll later, you will pay penalties forever on the premiums.
"You’re not required to enroll into a Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan. However, if you go without creditable prescription drug coverage for 63 or more days in a row after you’re first eligible, you may have to pay a late-enrollment penalty if you enroll into a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan or Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plan later."
Well that’s the key, when you are contractor, you get paid twice the normal wage, you can buy health insurance. I worked as contractor for years, when my husband was making $35 an hour with benefits and stock options, I was making near $100 an hour. This is back in the early 90s. I was able to buy health insurance through my contracting company if I was single. You can’t have your cake and eat it too scenario. Why would you stay working for a company that doesn’t offer health insurance. Even my daughters tiny company of about 3 persons offers health insurance.
Part D (the Rx drug plan) is not mandatory, it's optional. If you don't enroll in Part D, however, and want to enroll later, you will pay penalties forever on the premiums.
"You’re not required to enroll into a Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan. However, if you go without creditable prescription drug coverage for 63 or more days in a row after you’re first eligible, you may have to pay a late-enrollment penalty if you enroll into a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan or Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plan later."
Well that’s the key, when you are contractor, you get paid twice the normal wage, you can buy health insurance. I worked as contractor for years, when my husband was making $35 an hour with benefits and stock options, I was making near $100 an hour. This is back in the early 90s. I was able to buy health insurance through my contracting company if I was single. You can’t have your cake and eat it too scenario. Why would you stay working for a company that doesn’t offer health insurance. Even my daughters tiny company of about 3 persons offers health insurance.
He’s not that kind of contractor. I should have used the term subcontractor, it’s a blue collar skilled trade. He subcontracts with a large retail store for mostly commercial installations. He doesn’t make twice what others do. I work per diem and make about 25% more than permanent employees but with no guarantee of hours. I considered going full time when my premiums went up again, but when I talked to coworkers even the youngsters were paying $200 a paycheck as their share of the plan, and they said it’s not very good. So I was better off with the higher rate even during slow times.
Part D (the Rx drug plan) is not mandatory, it's optional. If you don't enroll in Part D, however, and want to enroll later, you will pay penalties forever on the premiums.
"You’re not required to enroll into a Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan. However, if you go without creditable prescription drug coverage for 63 or more days in a row after you’re first eligible, you may have to pay a late-enrollment penalty if you enroll into a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan or Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plan later."
Depends on your definition of "cheaper." Certainly not any cheaper than Medicare is. Whether it is cheaper than the combination of regular Medicare + a drug plan + a Medigap (so that all bases are covered) is another question.
For example, looking at the ACA plans available in my state for the New Rochelle zipcode, the bronze plans are all between $420 and $464 per month. Silver plans are all between $590 and $655.
So let's say the average Silver plan in New Rochelle is $610 just for comparison's sake (with no subsidies.)
Someone on Medicare in New Rochelle would pay $135 for part B and then if they wanted full coverage via a Supplement plan, they could get one for $351 (assuming they don't go the AARP route). So that's $486 for the two. How much their Part D plan premium would be, would depend on their drug coverage needs. If they only want a bare-bones one like mine, figure another $20 per month for that. Round it up and say $500 per month for Medicare/Supplement/Drug coverage versus $600 for a Silver/No-subsidies ACA plan.
Granted that the ACA plan would doubtless cover some things that the Medicare combo would not (such as hearing aids and orthotics) but the deductibles and co-pays would also doubtless be larger. So the out of pocket costs each year would be heavily dependent on actual usage.
Just a FYI....Medicare B premiums start at 135! Each year the IRS sends your AGI to Medicare, and your premiums can go up..
We are 75/79..hubby did well..I worked...now he is exercising his stock options...we are currently paying 430 a month each for Medicare! And together our supplemental is another 500 a month...all PPO....
That’s a lot in premiums per year...but well worth it...
We don’t know anyone our age or asset status that isn’t paying in the 300-400 plus a month for Medicare...
I think they won’t be reduced but Medicare Advantage is one way to reduce the load. But Medicare for all would definitely bankrupt the system, if Medicare for over 65 is already in trouble.
Bankrupting the system is not a foregone conclusion for Medicare for All, since all of the money people are currently paying in private premiums would transform into taxes to pay for Medicare expansion.
I imagine I am going to get boo'ed off the Retirement forum for saying this, but my feeling is Medicare part A should end at age 80. If you want coverage after 80 or so, buy private insurance but it seems crazy to have a system that gives unlimited, expensive care to a segment of the population that can soak up all that unlimited care. Take the money saved and use it push the age of eligibility down to 55.
I am 68 and I am on Medicare so I would be affected by this in short order, but I still think it makes more economic sense than what we're doing.
My mother lived a good life until the age of 93. You think she didn't deserve her final 13 years? She was a well person for most of her life, paying insurance premiums all of that time and getting little back, but she should have been shoved off the system when she finally needed some procedures later in life? Yes, I BOO you!
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