Medicare Insurance Questions

DIBBS said:

For those who are old and partially deaf like me, any tips or thoughts on what to get, what to look out for/pitfalls when getting insurance with Medicare?

I have parts A&B, but am no longer covered on my wife's policy so need to pick something up.

I'll be meeting a representative later today to see what policies she has available. Senior Benefit Solutions, I guess I are one now.

Thanks!

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PM sent

I am interested in this question. Pretty much anyone with actual useful information should jump into the geezers and medicine thread.

I kept my insurance from my employer as part of my pension. I also have Tricare from the military and I am not 65 yet. My wife is 65 and since I have her on my insurance plan, she does not need to buy Medicare part B. We have that sorted out, it took a month of talking to retards in the medicare office and reading them their own information since almost none of them know what the hell they are doing. Tricare for Life does not cover her unless we buy Medicare part B, which we do not need to so we don't. So we are covered with my insurance and she also has Medicare part A.

Here is where it gets weirder. So if anyone has Tricare and wants to jump in, please feel free. I am under 65 so I pay for Tricare and in two years Tricare has paid for a portion of one doctors visit and did so because the VA billed them. They have never covered anything or partially covered anything or tried to cover anything. When I turn 65, I am eligible for, "Tricare for Life" for free apparently, but I have to buy Medicare part B. How much is Medicare part B? Does anyone have any idea what counts as income for these bastards?

Since Medicare part B is based on income annually, are you fucked if you take money out of a retirement, say a ROTH or 401K? Your normal pension and social security income could be $75K a year but cashing out some IRA money could add $75K to your income and then suddenly you are a rich whitey and they double the cost for each of you and medicare part B can be hundreds of dollars a month for each spouse, is that correct?

As far as I can tell, being old is damned near a fulltime job. Between keeping track of insurance with Medicare parts A, B, C, D and trying to keep the IRS from fucking you out of every dollar you make, docs appointments, creepy political campaigns begging for money, stuff with friends and relatives who think you have nothing to do but help and fucking scammers trying to get you to send money to Nigeria you can have some pretty full weeks.

Once you get done paying for all the different medical plans that cover one or two things, prescriptions, some parts of some doctor visits and not much of other visits, how much a month are you paying for all this crap?

Do you have to redo this shit every fall? We talked to a lady who sells this stuff and apparently three different part B plans have bailed on our state, fucking tens of thousands of retired people and now they all have to start the process over. Does this happen a lot?

So now we have three months of geezer insurance ads on TV, my emails filling up with geezer insurance ads and mailbox filling up with geezer insurance ads and endless ads with kids in wheelchairs asking for whatever money we have left to hire people to push them arounds the Shriners hospital. And it is election season, God I'd pay Trump a $100 bucks if he promised to stop fucking texting me but he won't. If you give a dollar to a political campaign, its like showing a Gypsie your fucking wallet. They'll never give you a moments peace after that. They are worse than strippers.

I never hear welfare dregs bitching about the costs of their medical. They just overdose, get shot or pump out a foodstamp baby, wreck a stolen car or get hit in an intersection by a moron spinning a stolen car in circles and go right back to the ghetto, no worse for wear. If they get cancer or whatever, it is all fucking free apparently. I have never seen a news story of a foreign invader bitching about their medical bills in America. WTF????

I own a medicare/health insurance agency.

The saying I use with everyone is ' YOUR situation is the boss", define what YOU need and WANT to have happen and that will give direction to which plan best fits your needs.

Both medicare supplements and advantage plans wok, they just bring different pros or cons. 98% of ads market advantage but do a deep dive into supps. Your medications will possibly be a factor.

Advantage pays the agent more so make sure they are not over selling them.

My girlfriend is a veteran and a licensed insurance agent in PA and Idaho, specializing in Medicare. If you're in either of those two states, she can help you out. Send me a pm if you're interested and I can get you her contact info.

Here is what I found out talking with an insurance agent that was not hawking the C advantage plans.

Medicare part A pays for hospital stays and doesn't cost anything yet. Can sign up for it when you turn 65 which I did even though I had my Company provided insurance until I retired at 66 & 4 months.

After I retired here is what I found out.

Part A will only pay out if your hospital stay is at 3 nights and greater. If it is less, say 2 nights then you pay, so when I retired I have a plan that takes care of this and also will help out if I need out patient in house therapy etc. A 2 nite stay can be a lot of money. My last heart attack, I was only in the hospital for 2 nites and the bill for that stay was ~ $60,000 before insurance got involved so that is why you need something.

Part B only covers 80% so have a different plan that takes care of the 20%. There is a deductible on part B that needs to be met, right now it is $250 for a single person, not sure what it is for married.

Part B costs at present $174 per month. This is if your income for a single is under $97,000 a year, ~ $160,000 for married I think but don't know for sure. It will double/triple depending on your income level. What counts as income is 85% social security, pension, 401K payments, interest on CD's etc., inheritance, and anything else you list on the Fed 1040.

So when I turn 72 I have to start drawing down on my 401K and that will at least double (perhaps triple it, unless economy tanks the 401K) the part B payment for me. Not sure how I am going to take care of this yet.

I have a separate insurance plan for part D (prescriptions). 1st year it was $6.00 per month and roughly $10 every 3 months for the drugs. Next year it will cost me nothing if no new drugs needed.

The part C advantage plans that are hawked on TV 24/7 all year can have issues as well. From my understanding a lot of them are like an HMO that will cap their payments on certain treatments and not cover others. The FEDS like these though since they are giving over your health care to private companies and they, Feds, are not involved in the decision making anymore.

This is what comes to mind at the moment.

Forgot that Dental and vision are on you now as well. Using my HSA to pay for these now. I haven;t looked into what insurance would be for these yet.

Another thing on the part B medicare payment, when you retire they will go back 2 years for your income. This will almost guarantee that your payment will be at least double from the $174 per month now. There is a form that you need to fill out to make sure this doesn't happen. Forget the number at the moment. You have to go down to the SSA office in person and turn it in. Cannot do this over the phone nor on line and you will have to do it twice, since they go back 2 years.

Not Medicare advice, but Roth money was mentioned. Roth money doesn't count as income, as it's been taxed already. Great deal, until they change their minds.

DO NOT GET MEDICARE ADVANTAGE. Stay with traditional Medicare A and B (hospital and doctor). Add a Supplemental Medicare plan (they'll have different letters based on how you became eligible) and a Part D plan (prescription coverage ).

mrdrar said:

DO NOT GET MEDICARE ADVANTAGE. Stay with traditional Medicare A and B (hospital and doctor). Add a Supplemental Medicare plan (they'll have different letters based on how you became eligible) and a Part D plan (prescription coverage ).

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The Supplemental Medicare plan is for the 20% copay.

DIBBS said:

For those who are old and partially deaf like me, any tips or thoughts on what to get, what to look out for/pitfalls when getting insurance with Medicare?

I have parts A&B, but am no longer covered on my wife's policy so need to pick something up.

I'll be meeting a representative later today to see what policies she has available. Senior Benefit Solutions, I guess I are one now.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

One insurance lady told me that Medicare Plan G was the one to get if I ever decided I would need it. I am a few years away from eligibility for Medicare A & B.

What I learned from an SSA person in Alabama is that in your 64th year, you should receive a letter from them for opting to get Medicare B going. Do that. Yes, it is a premium because it is insurance. But if you need hospital or long term care like my wife does, Medicare takes care of a lot of the meds and the therapy. She is also on Medicaid, which has to be recertified in Texas every year. And then her co-pay, as it were, to the facility is whatever her ACH deposit from SSA is minus 75 dollars. So, basically, all of her money is being used to care for her.

Trust me on this - GET PART G in addition to A & B!!

Don't mess around with the supplemental plans.

I should clarify about Medicare B. There is a window of time to enroll between January and March and it starts July 1st of that year. If you try to enroll after March, it will not start until July of the following year.

My research (I turn 65 in 2025) and talks with a person who deals with medicare, is that you should (read MUST) sign up for a Part D plan also when you first qualify for Medicare, along with your A&B and Medigap policy. Even if you do not take prescription drugs at the time of signing up, get the Part D now (a cheap plan) or you will start incurring a yearly penalty, such that if you sign up for a Part D plan in 5 years, you will have to pay the penalty price for those 5 years and that penalty increase will stay with you forever.

DIBBS said:

For those who are old and partially deaf like me, any tips or thoughts on what to get, what to look out for/pitfalls when getting insurance with Medicare?

I have parts A&B, but am no longer covered on my wife's policy so need to pick something up.

I'll be meeting a representative later today to see what policies she has available. Senior Benefit Solutions, I guess I are one now.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

You'll need a "Supplementa" policy. Medicare is a total Scam and pays for nothing.

^^^^^

Uh ok smartguy. I just had a heart attack in August. Spent three days in the hospital, got a stent. I was worried sick as to how much it was going to cost. Cost was $70,000. SEVENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS. I didn't pay a thing. Who did? Medicare. Don't tell me it isn't worth it. Parts A and B and G.

Quote from above: "Part A will only pay out if your hospital stay is at 3 nights and greater. If it is less, say 2 nights then you pay, so when I retired I have a plan that takes care of this and also will help out if I need out patient in house therapy etc."

Is this true? Info I've seen is that Part A covers stays from day 1-60 after the deductible is paid. I've yet to find where it sates from "day 3-60"

Stay away from Part C Advantage plans, they are HMO's and the insurance salesman make back selling Part C plans. It's an HMO!

Stay away. From HMO's if you can afford it, HMO means Healthy Members Only! If you need and rehab or long term care, you are screwed!

Part A&B with a good supplement plan

Medicare Advantage (I hate that they can call it Medicare Part C) has limited providers (hospitals and doctors--especially specialists) and limited covered medicines. All for free.