GUYS - Thanks to everyone who has continued to provide experiences, comments, reading and website links and recommendations.

We (wife and I) are going to look at and read everything that has been suggested.

Wife has a Kindle and Kindle Book account so that was a great suggestion JOEL9507.

OKC - You are always close to help me and I always appreciate your kindness and friendship.

Amish and Jeff - Thanks for your feedback and examples. True eye opener.

6guns and 229DAK - I follow your posts closely and appreciate both of your multiple feedback points in this thread also. Thanks again.

You could also download Medicare's "Medicare & You 2025" handbook from their website.

https://www.medicare.gov/publications

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns: My D plan is Wellcare.

I switched my mom over to Wellcare last year and it has been a blessing. Humana was charging her $45/month. Wellcare is $0.50/month. That's right, 50 cents a month. All the drugs are the same price as Humana so no difference, except without the policy gouging. Wellcare's Formulation List is extensive and covers every drug an 88 year old lady will ever need.

quote:

Originally posted by sigarmsp226:
One final question please - Let’s say I decide to go with A,B, and G (just using this as an example because we do travel inside the US and also to Germany to visit our son and his family because he is stationed there - Air Force). Should I also look at picking up Medicare’s plan “D” which is Medicare’s prescription drug plan or is this something I should source outside of Medicare?

You will need to also pick a Medicare Plan D as that is the prescription plan. if you pick the "wrong" plan D, it is easy to correct as you can always change plans every year. It is even more complex to understand than part B especially if you have an expensive prescription medicine.

But if you go to Medicare.gov, open an account, you should open an account so you can look at your claims, then you can search for plans available to you in your zip code. You enter your zip code and the prescription drugs you take and the system will search for the lowest total cost to you (Premiums plus co-pay).

You can also read and understand all you need about Medicare from Medicare.gov. You can also go search for the G plans from the different companies that are available to you. Each company's G plan is the same as any other company's G plan. The difference is how much you pay. Another consideration is how financially solvent is the company but, truly, any company making money off a government program such as Medicare has very little probability of going tits up anytime soon.

quote:

Originally posted by Tailhook 84:

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns: My D plan is Wellcare.

I switched my mom over to Wellcare last year and it has been a blessing. Humana was charging her $45/month. Wellcare is $0.50/month. That's right, 50 cents a month. All the drugs are the same price as Humana so no difference, except without the policy gouging. Wellcare's Formulation List is extensive and covers every drug an 88 year old lady will ever need.

Something is weird about Wellcare. That's also what I have because for the last two years, their premium for me is zero. I heard it's because they use their sign up lists to try to get you to sign up for their Medicare Advantage plan.

quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:

quote:

Originally posted by Vette02:
"[QUOTE]Originally posted by Georgeair:
The Advantage plan is best suited to someone who is reasonably healthy.

Well said, and only the OP knows his health status

There are other considerations that enter into the traditional Medicare versus Medicare Advantage decision.

But first, I have to say if you're basing the decision if you're reasonable healthy for the kind of insurance to get, what are the chances of your health deteriorating as you grow older?

The other considerations are:

1) If you are going to move to a different zip code. Medicare Advantage plans are similar to HMOs in that you have to go to an in-network provider. Going to a different zip code may put you far away from any in-network provider.

2) how comfortable are you allowing the insurance company to have a say over the medical treatments that you get? With regular medicare, the decision is between you and your doctor. With Advantage plans, the insurance company has to approve what happens to you. That's how they keep their costs down in order to provide the ancillary benefits like eyeglasses or dental care.

3) in-network providers and advantage plans enter into contracts for a certain period of time and then they have to renew. In my area, there has been a lot of issues when the local hospital or medical group say they're no longer accepting a company's medicare advantage plan. It's literally the opposite of "if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." You may not be able to. With regular medicare, you can go to any doctor in the country who has signed up for Medicare.

Cost is a main benefit of an Advantage plan and if that's the primary consideration, then there's no fault in going that way. I know there's the other ancillary benefits I previously mentioned but in Congressional hearings, it's been established that Medicare Advantage plans have the highest profit per enrollee than the other plans. The question has to be asked how can they provide the main benefit - healthcare - while providing additional non-Medicare benefits and have the highest profit per enrollee. The math says the money for the additional benefits and the extra profit have to come out of the funding from the main healthcare benefit.