Medicare supplement

Any experts on Medicare supplement Insurance?
We keep getting flyers for supplemental insurance with $0 payment, 0$ co pay etc. How can that be? I am currently paying about $200/Month through my wife's insurance with the local school system. I'm happy with the coverage, but some of the companies show similar coverage for $0. I know insurance companies are not in business to loose money
 
You might try to find a local insurance guy who specializes in Medicare Advantage plans. They usually consult for free, and get a commission from the insurance company when they sign you up. And zero dollar premiums are pretty common, and are fine for many. We have had one for 2 years, and it pays for most of the stuff that the others do. The insurance companies get some money from the guvment, hence they can offer the free plans.
 
Be very careful in your selection. When you go on an advantage plan, the insurance company becomes your primary coverage and not Medicare. Many doctors and hospitals do not take certain advantage plans. You may not pay a monthly fee but most have high co-pays at the doctor's office or hospital. If you do go on an advantage plan, make sure your doctor and local hospitals accept that plan.
 
I have Aetna which is offered by Genworth Ins for 6yrs now. I pay 246.00 month with no Co-pays. It has worked well for me. I subscribe to the saying 'You get what you pay for'.
 
I have a Medicare Supplement through Blue Cross. Costs me $169 per month. My wife has her own plan for about the same.

I'm eligible for our county's insurance, but we compared notes and it was a tossup so we didn't rock the boat.
 
Insurance companies make a lot of money off of Medicare Advantage plans. The Medicare system pays the advantage plan for each beneficiary that the advantage plan signs up. Medicare pays the Advantage plan based on Medicare's anticipated cost of a beneficiary of that age. The Advantage plan makes their money by drastically reducing payments to health care providers. They typically pay around 60% of what Medicare would. That is a 40% profit margin. It is also why, every health care provider accepts Medicare, and some do not accept Advantage plans.
 
Find an agent, or agents, that know about supplemental plans and advantage plans, get a good understanding of both before you decide. As I remember it the supplemental plans are more flexible than the Advantage plans if you need to change something. That is part of the reason we choose the supplemental plans. As with Medicare, each person has to have their own plan.
 
I am with Blue Cross Blue shield for about seven years and pay $229.00 a month for F plan and no deductible or copay. In the seven years i have had medical bills that totaled over $100,000.00 and never payed a cent out of my pocket. I have an agent that I go through.
 

I have Humana at $800.00 a year down from $885.00 last year. My wife has separate Blue Cross Blue Shield. Sure is a lot better than $20,000 a year for a family health plan.
 
Humana is go in some area of the country but in our area there are hospitals and doctors that won't take it.
 

Good point, you need to find out what the coverage is if you travel. There was a local carrier we looked at with that appeared to have good coverage, benefits, and price. Catch is if you travel out of their system "coverage area" you are pretty much on your own. So an injury in a car accident or illness out of system it could be all out of pocket.
 
I'm in Tennessee. I have Part B plan "F" through Farm Bureau and it is not only the best cost wise, it covers just about everything. I would recommend it. Good luck!
 
"The Advantage plan makes their money by drastically reducing payments to health care providers."

That's true, but it's not necessarily bad. When Medicare was set up back in the 60's it was intended to be the first step toward socializing healthcare in the US. In order to get it into law, Congress had to get it past the AMA and hospital systems - which meant the providers needed to make more after it went into effect than they did before. It ended up as free money for them; pay per service with no real limit on how many services were provided.

Medicare Advantage plans don't have to work very hard to reign in costs, but as you say, they still get paid full Medicare rates. The feeding frenzy has gotten out of control and now the only way to make it viable is to complete the transition to socialized medicine. Not external_linkcare, not even Hillarycare, more like the Canadian or British systems. Like it or not.
 
Ours is also Humana. We are satisfied, $200. Ea thru school system..Really just curious how they offer for zero cost
 
I know your dilemma. My wife and I turned 65 in the last year. We went with American Republic for our Medicare Part B. For Medicare Part D we used Medicare.gov to help us sort out a drug plan. It is very dependent on what prescriptions you have.

You know, everyone sends you glossy brochures but they don't tell you much. I always felt United Health Care had the most helpful brochures. They seemed much better written for older people.

I went to a number of people, health care providers I know, and asked them who was the best to work with and who played games. I got an interesting list. You might try this if you know some of those people.

Paul
 
We just pay blue gross blue shield monthly and we pay nothing for service unless Medicare does not pay. I have to pay the full amount for some tests the Doctor needs to keep track of my problems.
 
No expert, but I think the advantage plan is a HMO only good thru local Drs. and hospitals, after the first year you are locked in and can't get out. Let me now if I am wrong about this.
 
I have Medicare/Blue Cross and haven't paid anything
since I turned 65(75 now). I have seen notices in several
of my doctor's offices that they do not accept Humana.
 
My Blue Cross picks up every thing on test if medicare pays on it. They have paid for every test in the seven years I have been on it.
 
Hi Mike,

I believe you hit the nail on the head with your answer to Tom's timely question. I think the insurance business is one big racket, too. I'll be 70 in April, but I just satisfied the number of quarters to qualify for Social Security this year. My wife was a classroom teacher for twenty-plus years, so she didn't qualify either. We've had to take whatever her retirement offered for Plan B qualifiers-only since we retired. Until last year, that was not a bad deal, because they offered Aetna as a secondary provider to Medicare. They changed us to Humana in January 2018, and our experience, so far, has been five- to ten-dollar copays, and then we get billed for whatever Humana doesn't want to pay for. Medicare doesn't seem to be considered in this system. We're told that if we drop her retirement system's insurance, we can't come back to it, so we have to be careful before we decide where to go next.
Butch
 
I find it hard to find Dr's that want medicare patients and even harder to find a different Dr if you want to switch. All the Dr in my area are connected with the hospital or a medical group. Hard to switch Dr's.

However you need a family Dr. So my new Dr works for the hospital most of the time, part time see patients in an office connected to hospital. The only good part for me is their is a walk in clinic connected to the hospital open 7 days. So you may have to wait for a few hours but you can see a Dr when you need it.

I just have B and D. My D plan has vision, dental, small co pays, Rx and it only costs $50/ mo for part D. Had a trip to emergency room and it paid for everything.

If I weren't somewhat healthy, no Rx, I would be looking at something more. I rarely see Dr but you can't be without some part D or better.

My part D is thought IU health.
 
Thanks, Paul. That explains why there is such a fuss among older people around here about doctors who won't accept a certain plan. I've never gone to a doctor who refused to accept Medicare. I can see why some of the health plans might be refused, especially Humana.
Butch
 
Same in my case. I have had some big medical bills and Medicare paid it all. I have gone to at least 7 or 8 specialist doctors and testing services and have never been refused. I don't understand the concern some people express about not being able to keep their doctor or that Dr's won't accept Medicare. Except, I have heard that advantage plans use only certain doctors, but people should understand that before enrolling in that type plan.
 
(quoted from post at 22:21:43 11/09/18) Just be careful. 0$ copay, 0$ deductible, etc. They tell you about all the zeros but not the monthly premium. I consider the insurance business a racket.

OK, so don't buy any insurance. Pay all your losses out of pocket, your choice. Unless you have some extensive experience in the insurance industry you have no standing to call it a racket.
 

Advantage plans are NOT supplemental plans, they are Medicare replacement plans and not always accepted in places that accept Medicare. Be careful.
 
Your advantage plans have a system of doctors that you have to use and if you go outside of system you may have to pay doctor out of your pocket.
 

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