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.
Hmmm. Could that be a company retiree health plan? My cousin worked for a company for many years, enrolled in their heath plan when he retired. It was great until the company was merged with another a few years ago. The insurance premiums more than doubled. Plus they added $3000 in deducts/copays. He switched to an Advantage plan from Kaiser last year. A much better deal even if he and his wife both maxed out on the Advantage copays.
If you live in a larger metro area where the Advantage plans are popular you might check them out. The Kaiser plan has zero premiums and is good insurance from what I've heard.
NO, these are individual plans. I talked to BC and they said their "basic" plan is cheaper with the same coverage! Now how could that be! I'm going to have to talk with an agent.
Well as I said something is not right in what the OP is presenting. The HIGHEST BC/BS Florida supplement is $196.60 for the Plan F (look it up), about $9.00 a month more than mine in Alabama. When I turned 65 my premium was 168.00 so in 4 years my premium has increased about $16.00, I am guessing in Florida it's the same.
Considering the OP has not presented any facts, could be they are just a political hack.
No
No Heavens I'm not that! LOL. I am going to call BC and ask about the cost you mentioned.
NO, these are individual plans. I talked to BC and they said their "basic" plan is cheaper with the same coverage! Now how could that be! I'm going to have to talk with an agent.
That does go back to the type plan that you have. I'm not sure that you would be happy with what they call the "basic" plan.
You might ask them about the high deduct plan F. It is a lot cheaper than the regular plan F. That would be my plan of choice if I didn't have Tricare.
That does go back to the type plan that you have. I'm not sure that you would be happy with what they call the "basic" plan.
You might ask them about the high deduct plan F. It is a lot cheaper than the regular plan F. That would be my plan of choice if I didn't have Tricare.
Weichhert, You have Tricare? My husband is a vet. How is this insurance. We never knew after all these years he could have had this.
He was in the army for three years. So Tricare is for career military didn't know that. We don't have a lot of income so I guess he would qualify for VA but I don't know if it's good or not.
Seeing as how your mother is paying $400/mo. (way too high), can't figure out why Jan thinks $250 is so awful. Standard cost for supplements these days, w/o drug coverage, for people her/hubby's age is in the area of $200/mo.
I know premiums for insurance ( whether primary or secondary, or supplemental) vary according to the details of each plan ( co-pays, deductibles, medication coverage, etc) the state/urban vs rural location where the subscriber lives ( the cost of healthcare varies in these locations), the age and medical history of the subscriber. And available Medicare Advantage plans vary from county to county within any state, with more choices in densely populated areas than in rural sparsely populated areas.
I have several friends who are retired State of Florida employees and continued the Blue Cross/Blue PPO policies available to state employees as Medicare supplements when they retired. One of them told me her rates are now $300/month for a single policy. Another retired state employee told me that carrying her former BlueCross Blue Shield policy as a Medicare supplement would cost her $800/month for herself and her husband, so she opted for an Av-Med Medicare Advantage plan instead and is happy with that.
My husband and I have a federal employees Blue Cross/Blue Shield PPO policy that he was able to take with him when he retired, and this policy pays for everything that Medicare doesn't cover- so we have no out of pocket costs except for a prescription drug co-pay. Our policy is a continuation of the family policy he had carried when he was employed in the federal government. The premium is about $450 a month, and I realize that's not bad for Medicare supplements for two people.
I don't really know why my mother's supplement is so high- it's through Mutual of Omaha, I think, and it
covers anything Medicare doesn't, so she has no out of pocket expenses- except for prescription drugs which this policy doesn't cover. She's had this policy for maybe 15-16 yrs when she moved into areas in which Medicare Advantage plans were either scarce or non-existent. She loved the Medicare Advantage plans when she lived in Miami years ago, but now that she's back in Florida where there are a number of what look like decent plans, she's leery because none of them offer no out of pocket expenses anymore. That and she needs her hand held, walked through every single option she has several times, the last time by a Medicare Advantage guru who she's told her family (me) just couldn't explain anything to her.
I think her policy has raised its rates every year she's had the plan, and I think last year raised her policy by about $500. I'd wonder if that was because of 1) Mom's age- she's 86; 2) she lives in SW Florida, and 3) Obamacare? I told her I'd go over the other Medicare Advantage options available to her, but she kept putting me off and went ahead and paid the annual policy premium anyway. And yes, if you break the cost down to monthly it comes to approximately $425 a month.
I don't really know why my mother's supplement is so high- it's through Mutual of Omaha, I think, and it covers anything Medicare doesn't, so she has no out of pocket expenses- except for prescription drugs which this policy doesn't cover. She's had this policy for maybe 15-16 yrs when she moved into areas in which Medicare Advantage plans were either scarce or non-existent. She loved the Medicare Advantage plans when she lived in Miami years ago, but now that she's back in Florida where there are a number of what look like decent plans, she's leery because none of them offer no out of pocket expenses anymore. That and she needs her hand held, walked through every single option she has several times, the last time by a Medicare Advantage guru who she's told her family (me) just couldn't explain anything to her.
I think her policy has raised its rates every year she's had the plan, and I think last year raised her policy by about $500. I'd wonder if that was because of 1) Mom's age- she's 86; 2) she lives in SW Florida, and 3) Obamacare? I told her I'd go over the other Medicare Advantage options available to her, but she kept putting me off and went ahead and paid the annual policy premium anyway. And yes, if you break the cost down to monthly it comes to approximately $425 a month.
Your mother's problem is age first, and Florida residency second - not Obamacare. Fwiw, however, any plan Mutual of Omaha offers here in WI has a substantially higher premium for any age category than UHC or Wisconsin Physician Services (WPS).
When I signed up for Advantage three years ago, couple in their 80's was at the meeting. Their supplement then had gone up to $300/ea which they could no longer afford. She'd had every ailment you could think of (cancer, heart) and planned to keep coverage. Hubby who was much healthier planned to go on Advantage.
These medical insurance coverage costs for the elderly, growing poorer with age, are very onerous. ACA does nothing to protect these people from preexisting condition and premium issues. That said, I'm very much in favor of Obamacare, seeing as how my son/dil will have no health coverage beginning 9/1, and he was just discharged after a ten-day hospital stay w/congestive heart failure. For all practical purposes, he is now uninsurable. Obamacare can't come soon enough - even with the high out-of-pockets.
I'm on a UHC Advantage here, with zero premium, no costs for certain services, $15PCP/$40Spec/$65ER copays, max out-of-pocket $4,250k, and I don't understand it completely, either. So Mom shouldn't feel bad. One time I did use this plan at an in-network clinic, no problem; next time I used it at an in-network derm, it took practically an act of God to either (1) get the derm to bill properly or (2) UHC to pay - not sure if the problem was one or both - so I am very leery about using it, frankly. I had to raise h*ll w/BBB, doctor's office and UHC to get this NONISSUE resolved - which occurred immediately when I filed a complaint w/BBB. I think the problem lay with the doctor - trying to wring money out of me I wasn't required to pay. Plus, the Catch22 on Advantage is you can still encounter an out-of-network provider at an in-network facility.
I also do NOT like the max out-of-pocket exposure of my Advantage plan, so every October I consider going to a hd-F plan through BCBS, about $55/mo, with $2,060 deductible. Thereafter, plan pays the 20% of all medicare approved charges Medicare doesn't pay, and operates just like any other supplement plan. I believe there is only one carrier in FL that offers the hd-F. However, I keep delaying the enrollment because I use very little in the way of medical services, so it would be $700/yr spent for catastrophic coverage essentially. My only reason for going to hd-F would be I'd have more confidence my bills would be paid without the hassle I encountered at that derm. I didn't like that one bit.
If your mother is in FL, she could look at UHC supplement plans for her age group. Because of your mother's age, cost will probably still be fairly high, I would think. Robyn on CD is very happy with her/hubby's supplemental coverage through UHC. They are in their 60's and paying $175/mo. I think. They've also purchased separate drug coverage through UHC. Plus, they are part of the Mayo concierge practice in Jacksonville - but they are well able to afford all of this.
Now that I'm reading all of this, our plan does not sound so high, maybe a little excessive but not as bad as I thought. I'm still going to check out UHC, even though I don't like AARP so it'll have to be good or I won't change. We got shafted, when we retired, with AARP's auto insurance. It was three times what it should have been! This happened to a lot of people and they had a class-action suit against them, but we never got anything. Probably went to the attorneys!. AARP sounds like it's for the seniors but it's not, it's just a moneymaking greedy business.
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.
