I'm officially old - Medicare sign up

[rfuerst911sc]

So yesterday I had an appointment with our health insurance agent to go over Medicare options as I turn 65 in January . I have been reviewing many of the pamphlets I have received in the mail over the past few months .

Also talked with my older brother about what he is using and how happy he was . After reviewing several options I ended up signing up with Cigna PPO plan . I feel this is a good option for me . Also I get to use it for a year and if I am not happy with it I can change to " conventional Medicare " next year during sign up period with no qualifying hoops to jump through .

Another milestone checked off 😁

[GH85Carrera]

Just keep breathing, and you will keep getting older.

Be sure to get or have a heavy duty shredder. Medicare will send a "information" letter about a visit to the doctor's office or pharmacy. It will be six to 7 pages, of useless information, and in the end say you own nothing. Than a full page of several languages, Chinese, and and other languages you don't speak or read telling you about the appeal process if don't agree with the bill. Only the US Government could wast so much postage and paper with such wasteful printing.

[Bob Kontak]

Everybody needs to talk to an insurance person. This stuff is confusing. The mail flyers don't stop.

Im pretty sure you will have conventional Medicare January 1. The Cigna is a supplemental policy. I don't think I would want just conventional Medicare.

[Sooner or later]

I have A, B, D, F

[Sooner or later]

I don't get any flyers. Just the annual "Medicare and You booklet".

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Sooner or later

I have A, B, D, F

My insurance guy did not mention Medicare F which appears to be Medicare's supplement to A&B (because he wanted to sell a policy, probably?)

I have a comprehensive supplement. $130 per month but I believe a Summa PPO would do it cheaper given I stay at home near the network.

[Paul_Heery]

I also turn 65 in January. So, Medicare comes into play on January 1. I have already received my Medicare card that shows me enrolled in Parts A & B.

This week, I signed up for Plans D & G.

You are right that you will get bombarded with mailings.

I stayed away from the Medicare Advantage plans that most of the insurance companies are pushing for a couple of reasons.

First, is HHS Report: Medicare Advantage Plans Deny Some Needed Care.

Second is that I wanted some coverage for when I would be out of the country. Plan G was the only real option for this for me. Plan F was not available to me since you needed to be enrolled in Medicare prior to 2020.

[fintstone]

The bad part is that what you pay for Medicare is based on how much money you make (and the cost changes every year based on that). If you are doing well...it is really expensive.

Seems like another disincentive (and there are many) to plan/provide for yourself and your future.

[rfuerst911sc]

Some very good responses . I had some concerns about using a PPO but with the ability to switch to traditional Medicare with no penalty next year closed the deal for me . Cigna is big around here and I confirmed our hospital and my doctor accepted Cigna . Our insurance rep compared Cigna with three others so we could see the pro's and con's of each plan . My wife who is one year older is on traditional Medicare with a supplemental plan to cover what Medicare doesn't .

So I am familiar with what she pays on that plan . I am due for a colonoscopy and meeting with my doctor next month for yearly physical/blood work . Will setup the colonoscopy procedure for early next year so it will be the first test of the Cigna plan . When my wife and I first retired we were paying about $1600 per month for health insurance . When she was eligible for Medicare that monthly payment went down to $820.00 . I have one more payment due for December and I am done with that nonsense .

[fintstone]

My wife has been on Medicare for a while and we kept our other Federally subsidized insurance coverage (from Fed employment/retirement) which requires that we also have Medicare once eligible. The cost for both comes out to around $1000 a month for each of us...so about $24K per year.

Now, all the decent medical providers in my area have decided that Medicare does not pay enough...so to get around that, they have gone to "concierge practices." Under this, they take Medicare, but you have to be signed up for their concierge services (same as normal services before except, they say they can talk to you longer than the few seconds they once allotted) and that costs an additional $100+ a month...which pushes it up another $2400 a year to about $26,400 total for two very heathy folks...just in case we get sick. I go to the doctor about once every 10 years (except for colonoscopy which is every 5).

My wife and I also have Tricare (retired military) which was promised to provide lifetime free care...but it also requires that we each have the expensive Medicare at $560.50 a month each...so not much relief there.

[Cajundaddy]

I signed up for A and B. B was pretty expensive last year because I sold off the rest of my business and had a sizable taxable income. This year it is less heartburn paying for B and we have supplemental through my wife's hospital policy. Essentially nothing out of pocket at this point and reasonably affordable premiums around $200pp.

[Evans, Marv]

Congratulations. I signed up for Medicare through Kaiser over 15 years ago. It's a distant memory.

[rfuerst911sc]

My understanding is I will be out of pocket $145.00 a month ( roughly ) taken out of my SS . My current prescription drugs will be no cost out of pocket. I just looked in my Cigna book the agent gave us and my colonoscopy will be zero cost/no copay . If that is accurate I am a happy camper .

I go to the primary care doctor twice a year . That is to have PSA blood work done as I had prostate cancer in 2015 . Other than that just normal physical . So this plan for my current health should work fine . What the future holds who knows .

[Sooner or later]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

My insurance guy did not mention Medicare F which appears to be Medicare's supplement to A&B (because he wanted to sell a policy, probably?)

I have a comprehensive supplement. $130 per month but I believe a Summa PPO would do it cheaper given I stay at home near the network.

F is no longer offered. I am grandfathered in.

[serene911]

Just remember Medicare Advantage is not real Medicare it is private insurance thru different
carriers. There is a bill in Congress right now to stop them from using the word Medicare
in their advertising. Hopefully it passes. Agree it is a confusing mess to sort out.

[RM512]

Confusing as hell. I signed up in June. For part A only, as I'm still working. Of course, when then card arrived, THEY signed me up for part A & B. Next thing, they send me a bill for a $1,200 premium!!! Luckily after several phone calls, got the mess sorted out. I hope I die before having to actually need to go through this insurance. Ugh

[stevej37]

I've been on it for four years now....still don't feel old.

[wdfifteen]

They go out of their way to make it confusing.
There is MediCARE Part A, B, C, then there is MediGAP Part A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H etc.
MediGAP is a subset of MediCARE part B.
To make it even more fun, they also call MediGAP "Medicare supplemental insurance."

So you can have Medicare part A, Medicare Part B, and Medicare Part B Plan B.
Who's on first??

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by serene911

Just remember Medicare Advantage is not real Medicare it is private insurance thru different
carriers.out.

Kind of. To the user it looks just like an out of pocket health insurance plan, but the medicare program pays the premium for you. The last report I saw showed the premiums in a range from $1000/month to over $1600/month.
Medicare sets the parameters of what each Advantage policy must include, but the insurance companies have a lot of freedom.
My insurance agent steered me away from Advantage because most of them are Preferred Provider plans. You can get really screwed if anyone on the team during a procedure is not a Preferred Provider on your insurance policy.
The hospital can be on the plan, your surgeon can be on the plan, but if anyone on the team isn't - you have to pay. I've read horror stories about people getting charged thousands of dollars for an anesthesiologist or nurse assistant or some such because they weren't a Preferred Provider. Even the ambulance service has to be on your plan or you pay. You can also be in an accident and not be able to choose the hospital/ambulance/ER doc that cares for you to be sure they are on your plan.
Kaiser has a weekly report about people getting screwed by the health care system. On a recent one a couple was in a car wreck and both of them had to be Care Flighted to hospitals. One of the air ambulance companies was on the program and it cost them a few hundred dollars. The other one was taken by an air ambulance that wasn't on the plan and they got billed over $16,000 for it.

[Synchro Joe]

If you are receiving social securty benefits, the SSA automatically signs you up at age 65 for parts A and B of Medicare. (Medicare is operated by federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, but Social Security handles enrollment.) Social Security should send you sign-up instructions at the beginning of your initial enrollment period, three months before the month of your 65th birthday.

Medicare Part A covers basic hospital visits and services and some home health care, hospice and skilled-nursing services. If you are receiving or are eligible to receive Social Security retirement benefits, you do not pay premiums for Part A.

Medicare Part B is akin to standard health insurance and carries a premium. The base rate in 2022 is $170.10 a month (dropping to $164.90 a month in 2023). Higher-income individuals pay more depending on the amount of income.

You can opt out of Part B — if you already have what Medicare calls “primary coverage” through an employer, spouse or veterans’ benefits and you want to keep it. (Check with your current insurance provider to make sure your coverage meets the standard.) Opting out will not affect your Social Security status, but you might pay a penalty in the form of permanently higher premiums if you decide to enroll in Part B later.

If you want to enroll in Medicare Part C (also known as Medicare Advantage), an alternative to Part B that is provided by private insurers, you must sign up on your own. The same goes for Medicare Part D, prescription drug coverage.

Confusing isn't it ?