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We has signed up for Medicare part A when we turned 65. I thought part B would be the same, signing up online. Nope, a form needs to be faxed or mailed in and of course SS offices aren’t open to the public with Covid-19. I spoke with a man at SS, who gave me the local office’s fax number and told me to call too, letting them know a fax is being sent, so it’s not sitting on the fax machine and gets processed.
We are trying to choose a MediGap plan and can’t until we are enrolled in Medicare Part B. I have been doing a mixture of research and avoidance. I intensely dislike choosing health insurance plans, even DH’s annual company provided insurance enrollment every November felt like a roll of the dice. We would look at each other and ask “how healthy and lucky do you feel and how much do you want to spend”? Same with the Medicare supplement plan’s alphabet soup.
Ugh, I remember going through that with my late DH. Unbelievably complicated. I plan to sign up for one as soon as I get on Medicare. From reading these forums, I know to avoid Advantage plans.
I had a hard enough time picking a plan for myself through my state health care agency/ACA. Bronze, silver, whatever. Called the insurance company, they said call the state. Called the state, they said talk to the insurance company. In the end I just picked one that looked OK and had no idea what my copays/deductibles would be. Turned out OK.
Braved the crowds and did some grocery shopping yesterday. Not too bad. Wore 2 masks.
I used instacart for the first time this morning. It was nice having someone else do my shopping while I was at home in my PJs. I almost felt like one of the rich and famous, LOL.
Ugh, I remember going through that with my late DH. Unbelievably complicated. I plan to sign up for one as soon as I get on Medicare. From reading these forums, I know to avoid Advantage plans.
I had a hard enough time picking a plan for myself through my state health care agency/ACA. Bronze, silver, whatever. Called the insurance company, they said call the state. Called the state, they said talk to the insurance company. In the end I just picked one that looked OK and had no idea what my copays/deductibles would be. Turned out OK.
Braved the crowds and did some grocery shopping yesterday. Not too bad. Wore 2 masks.
I called our local office before faxing the papers this morning and the woman there gave me another number to fax and to put to her attention on the cover letter. She’d verified what forms I was sending and to put in the notes when wanted coverage is to start.
The only hiccup was having to go to FedX to fax it. We don’t have a landline and faxing software hasn’t worked for us. It seems archaic this can’t be done online with uploading any files needed, but perhaps the SS servers aren’t secure enough for that.
Whatever, it’s done, we have a record of a successful transmission. Now I can check My Social Security Account to see when it’s been processed and then I can continue on to choosing a Medigap plan. I fear it will be like at the restaurant, when I have too much time I change my mind several times and then usually wish I went with my first choice. I’ll need to keep that in mind.
We went with USAA plan F for both of us. So glad we did. Virtually every medical event has been fully covered in our now over six years of retirement. My husbands 22 screws in his back plus three other operations. No copays. Also covers deductible.
Interestingly my younger brother’s, same policy, same company costs almost twice as much - he lives in Florida.
We went with USAA plan F for both of us. So glad we did. Virtually every medical event has been fully covered in our now over six years of retirement. My husbands 22 screws in his back plus three other operations. No copays. Also covers deductible.
Interestingly my younger brother’s, same policy, same company costs almost twice as much - he lives in Florida.
Yes, zip code matters, even within the same state. F plan looks the best, but I’m concerned about rate increases with it now that they’ve closed enrollment and are limiting it to a pool of increasingly older and sicker members.
Yes, zip code matters, even within the same state. F plan looks the best, but I’m concerned about rate increases with it now that they’ve closed enrollment and are limiting it to a pool of increasingly older and sicker members.
We got a schedule of increases - already increased for us last year. They aren’t too bad at least for us now. - especially since we won’t have any unexpected medical expenses. When we were choosing we were advised that you can always go down one plan- but you can’t necessarily go up to the next level of coverage without a health checkup. And you may not pass. We are glad that we did what we did.
We got a schedule of increases - already increased for us last year. They aren’t too bad at least for us now. - especially since we won’t have any unexpected medical expenses. When we were choosing we were advised that you can always go down one plan- but you can’t necessarily go up to the next level of coverage without a health checkup. And you may not pass. We are glad that we did what we did.
When we moved from Florida to Tennessee, my monthly premium for high deductible F stayed the same at $69. But other companies here had lower premiums so I decided to see if I could go through underwriting and change to a different company. My problem was that I have an aortic aneurysm which was a no go with many writers. I found a good insurance broker who did all the legwork and found me one who did not consider it a problem. So underwriting is not exactly black and white every time. Monthly premium went down to $40 and has gone up $1 each year since then.
The interesting thing is that the company that my wife has her plan N with immediately lowered her premium to reflect the lower prices here in Tennessee.
Sometimes medicare can be real interesting. That being said, I sure am glad that we have it!
I got an email today from my VINE Faith in Action. It's where I exercise. But not now.
They said to come pick up a woven basket in their doorway and take it home to fill with odds and ends a shut-in oldster might enjoy. Bring it back and they will deliver them on May Day. That sounds like fun. I have all kinds of shampoo and hand cream samples, magazines, snacks, a few leftover find-a-word books from MIL's house. Think I'll do that.
That tradition seems to have disappeared. When I was a kid it was a day of great excitement as you sneaked and delivered your baskets and then tried to catch others delivering to you.
When we moved to this larger area my son was only four and I told him about it and with some excitement we loaded up the baskets and delivered them around the neighborhood.
Poor little kid didn't get a single one back. Turns out nobody here knew anything about the tradition. I felt so sorry for him. Funny how that stays with me after all these years. Ouch.
Lodestar,
I'd never heard of that May Day tradition. This is a great time to start it up again!
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