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We have Medicare and AARP United Healthcare supplemental, Plan F. Plan F is fairly comprehensive and we pay little or no extra for hospitalization or providers. There are limits on drug coverage and also exclusions.
For us Medicare part b is over the monthly minimum of $134x2=$268. My wife has a prescription drug plan and pays roughly $100/month. She has numerous prescriptions and in addition to coverage she pays an average of about $400 per month for the "donut" hole and tries to avoid getting prescriptions for non-covered drugs. That has not always worked. Currently, I do not have a prescription plan and only pay about $75/year for my statins. The Plan F costs us a total of $500/month. That will vary by plan and by the State. Our costs are on the high end. We do not have coverage for eyeglasses or dental. Long Term Care Insurance is additional. You can pay as little as a $100/month/person for minimal coverage or increase you coverage to astronomical costs.
Eliminating my wife's uncovered drug costs, we are at a base cost of about $850/month. I would guess $1000/month is closer to an average for most couples with Medicare and paying out of pocket for supplemental coverage.
Their figure in the article is $7000/couple/year. But I could not figure out what it included. Dental?
Our total medical costs per year, for my wife and myself is close to $13,000. That includes Medicare, Secondary insurance (which is like supplemental but is private and more extensive in coverage), co-pays, prescription drug costs, deductible, and dental.
Secondary insurance is the biggest cost at $6000/year. But it covers prescription drugs, hearing, vision, and covers all medical and hospitalization that Medicare does not get. It is pretty generous on paying for drugs that Medicare part D won't pay for (my wife is going through a treatment that would cost us $60,000 but Secondary is paying for all of it).
It sounds like you won't need Secondary since you are pretty healthy but you probably will want to get part G and maybe part D. In that case I would think between $7-8k per couple per year would be about right. It will depend on your income level for 2 years before you sign up for Medicare.
I would assume that all of our medical costs will go up faster than inflation. That has been the trend.
Ariandne...can you tell us what states do offer this Medicare Medical Savings Plan? I'm hoping you've got the information, or know how to find it, for us.
I don't know which states and/or zipcodes have insurers offering MSA plans other than WI.
I stumbled on the MSA plans three years ago during annual open enrollment. I avoid Advantage plans, but did a search on medicare.gov for a Medicare health plan in my zipcode just to see what was offered.
Then opened the selections without drug benefits. Two plans appeared - Security Health Plan (MSA) and Network Prime (MSA). Medicare.gov doesn't provide the deposit details, but the plan websites do.
Couldn't believe my eyes when I visited these websites. These plans were exactly what I was looking for.
First year I had NetworkPrime - which is offered by NetworkHealth, partly owned by Froedtert Hospital System, here. MSA deposit was $2,000, w/$5k deductible. I did use the NetworkPrime plan for laser eye surgery in 2016 - absolutely no trouble with provider of my choice processing this as a Medicare claim. I, of course, had to pay the provider directly. Total cost for both eyes $1,600 - more than covered by the $2k deposit.
For 2017, I switched to Security, a subsidiary of the Marshfield Clinic in WI, with a higher deposit of $2,520, and a lower deductible of $4,500.
Based on the WI offerings, I'm assuming these plans are more likely to be offered by locally-owned medical systems - not the big national insurers.
MSA is what you should be looking for. If MSA doesn't come up in your area, then it's probably not available - although medicare.gov site isn't always 100% up-to-date.
sometimes I just have to shake my head at the passive bragging on this forum about who has what.
The poster asked a sensible question. They did not want (because I do not believe it is helpful anyway) to recount your situation against theirs.
If and I mean IF you have a sensible answer that is applicable to the stated question then go for it. Otherwise be quiet. Your pension is not going to help this person.
So stop bragging.
Or, what I am beginning to see is that this is a forum of those that hooked a pension (love love) and love to just talk about it with others that hooked a pension.
Gotta love it for its amazing entitlement mentality.
Me...grew up with lots of union guys. As my mother said, god rest her soul...you could always tell who got laid off from the union plants since there was a fire sale on the lawn for the Harley, the Boat, the house, the kids LOL.
They just thought it would continue ad nauseum.
But it didn't
One person reps me. Then you-don't judge. No bragging despite what you read into my post. Just stating how it works for a pensioner, me. The OP asked what I paid I said so. Sorry if it offends you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by crusinsusan
Actually, no. Comparing your figures above to the article cited:
(You: $120 + $366 + $30 = $516) Thus:
You: ....(at age ??).............$516 a month (couple? single?)
Article: (at age 65) ............$583 a month (couple)
A $67 a month difference...which can mean a lot to some, and little to others.
Whether you see it come out of your income or not, it's still there; mindfully or not. Thus, your last line about the article making medical costs seem more scary perplexes me. Most of us will see that bill; and have to pay it.
True, but when expenses are paid up front and you budget for one's net income after the bill the dynamic of paying for health care is way less painful. Like buying a house for cash or financeing it.
I pay monthly:
$104.90 for Medicare Part B
$206.07 for Medicare Supplement (AARP/United Health Care Plan F)
$22.40 for Medicare Part D (AARP Walgreens)
I know the UHC Plan F sounds expensive but I had no choice. I was previously on a retiree plan that covered both Medigap Plan G and Medicare Plan D, but the company switched to an Advantage plan this year and I did not want an Advantage plan. I tried to buy a Plan G elsewhere but I apparently take enough prescriptions that a couple of companies turned me down, even though I've been healthy for many years. (Yes, they can refuse to accept your application if you take a certain number of medications.) Then my agent told me that, because of my losing Medigap coverage, I could not be refused if I wanted to buy a Plan F. (I could also have bought a Plan N but decided not to go that route.)
The AARP/Walgreens plan is awesome. I used to pay $90/month for my scripts at Walgreens. Now I pay -0- for the same scripts at Walgreens.
Since Medicare doesn't cover dental care, most people have to either just pay their dental out of pocket or purchase some sort of dental insurance on their own which is likely to have yearly limits which will be exceeded considerably by one single implant. Plus the amount of dental work a person is going to need in a year is wildly variable. We can go several years with only the two cleanings per year and then WHAM, we need a root canal and a crown the next year, if not an implant to boot.
Of course the idea is to average the cost over time. But that is terribly difficult because how do we even know what the cost will be for say, ten years so we can divide by ten?
I am 73 and have had two implants so far. I have no idea whether that is excessive for my age, about normal, or whether a lot of people have had more than that. Perhaps that information is available somewhere, but I certainly don't have it. But even if we had that information, how does it help us if we depart considerably from the norm?
I am thinking that $1,000 a month should be about right, with a bit of a cushion, at least until about age 75. (Please let me know if this is off-base.)
The average lifetime retirement health-care premium costs for the hypothetical couple is $266,589, which included Medicare parts B and D coverage as well as supplemental insurance, according to HealthView's latest report. (The estimate assumes a life expectancy of 87 years for men, and 89 for women.)
I am 68, my wife is 66 and right now our medical expenses as a couple total:
Medicare & Insurance
Husband's Part B $134.00
Husband's Plan G $133.28
Husband's Plan D $44.70
Wife's Part B $101.33
Wife's Plan G $123.02 Wife's Plan D $19.08 Total Medical Insurance $555.41
Annual Cost of Insurance $6,664.92.
Add to this the $166 Medicare Plan G deductible for each and we end up with an annual cost of $6,996.92.
If we figure on living to 88 we'll spend $160,292.2 but of course that doesn't include co-pay for Part D which can get hefty. Right now I am at $1,200 Part D co-pay (I take one expensive drug but it works) and the wife is around $500 so there's an extra $1,700 per year. Over 23 years we will be at $39,100.00 for a total cost of $199,302.20 or we might as well call it $200,000.00.
And it is safe to say there will be premium increases so $266,589 for a couple doesn't seem all that out of line.
And here I always thought Medicare was free!
We also have dental insurance that we pay $60/month for so it all adds up.
we clocked in at around 30k last year for our insurance ,dental expenses , and long term care policy . dental was 12k and this year so far for my wife another 10k.
she had all her teeth capped 15 years ago . now over time bacteria got in to the root canals and it is a never ending mess .
2 years ago it was me who needed 4 new implants for 20k .
In Indiana I go to a dentist that charges $1500 for an implant and $700 for a crown. I just had a tooth that had split extracted (it was the top molar all the way in the back so I wasn't going to put an implant there) and a crown redone since it was about seven years old and had split. I also purchased a plan for $200 that gives me a complete full mouth x ray, two cleanings and thirty % off any work done.
I was in the chair for 5 (count em) 5 hours. JEEZ. But it cost me $1495 for all that work plus the plan. I thought it was a BARGAIN!
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I checked into what is would cost me to insure on Medicare here in Indy and I found this
Medicare Advantage Plan with Indiana University Health: $59 for a plan that covers the supplements, scripts, vision, basic dental, longer stay in nursing home, out of pocket max $5900 yearly.
So:
Part B: $104
Advantage Supp: $59
Dental Max $1000: $10
Script out of pocket is $5500 with a deal for the donut hole of $1200 after which coverage begins again.
I realize I am on the hook for the additional co pays and such but I have a bucket just for catastrophic care. No long term care though. Just don't have the money so if I end up so chronically sick that all the money is taken for medical care I'll likely end up in a Medicaid funded nursing home.
The thing that is most important to me is that since I get my insurance through a huge medical facility they have to treat me.
My father always complained that he couldn't find docs that would take him because he was on Medicare. In some places I am sure that is the case.
Right now I have an all inclusive medical plan for $59 a month. Thank you Obamacare. Out of pocket is $900.
I am healthy though so I don't use it except for annuals and scripts due to my tremor.
I suppose it has a lot to do with your income which mine is low comparatively, however, I live in a low COLA state and I do my homework when it comes to cost. I also don't go to the doc unless I feel like I am dying. Family tradition.
I hope I am like my parents....a lot of acute illnesses except for their last two years and then BOOM! Gone.
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