Whether Medicare Advantage participants would end up with better coverage if their current plans were no longer allowed as an option, as Qiu suggests, is debatable. They may well find that their access to specialists has been reduced.

New computer so 2 posts. Very important here for healthcare.

AS a retiree of Kaiser Permanente, I have the choice of regular Medicare or Medicare Advantage. I choose the Advantage program because I feel comfortable that the physicians in the system provide quality as good as I could find outside the system, and the cost is substantially lower, with no copays or deductibles.
Trump is right, and I’m very glad he recognizes that.

My first year on Medicare was with a United Healthcare supplement and a prescription program. United's plan would go up a few dollars about half way through the policy year. United "had" a gym membership, well sort of, they were tied in with YMCA's, closest one about a sixty two mile round trip. Prescriptions had a co-pay of about 60-70 dollars per quarter.

Aetna started offering Advantage Plans in my county. No additional monies out of pocket for premiums and this includes my presciptions. No co-pay for my maintenance drugs. Tests, well my yearly stress test under United I had to pay about $850 out of pocket, with Aetna $75.00. Co-pay to my Cardiologist went up from $30 to $40, still not a dealbreaker. And Aetna pays for my gym membership, there are two participating facilities in my town, both about two and a half miles away.

We have a appointment to look at a Blue Cross plan tomorrow. Also I just received more mail from United Healthcare, while the next county over (Oakland) has an Advantage plan available to them it's a no bueno for Livingston. And we aren't moving.

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:
Ignorance is a powerful tool if applied at the right time, even, usually, surpassing knowledge(E.J.Potter, A.K.A. The Michigan Madman)

I have the same decision to make in the next couple months.

Slight thread drift.
Shovelhead I just saw your signature line.I live close to the MI IN OH line.Back in the 70s we (the JCs) used to sponsor tractor pulls in the fall.One of the highlights was E.J.Potter and his Allison powered Ugly then Double Ugly tractors.A show in itself. PS yes they were ugly.

Too much time to determine the "in plan" providers. Having been bitten by PPO's, HMO's, CPO's, HSA's, HCA's, CMA's and all that crap, I opted for a standard medicare supplement plan for my wife. She has the USAA Life Medicare Supplement Plan N which is $120 additional to the monthly medicare fee. More expensive, yes, but my wife can go to any doctor she chooses that accepts Medicare. The plan can be changed at any time during the year. If we are traveling, no problem, all is covered. She has a Part D plan from Humana with Walmart for $12/mo. My mother had a Humana plan & in the 6 months before she died racked up over $12000 in uncovered hospital, doctor & emergency transportation bills. You pay for what you do not get!

We've been with United Health Care Advantage since I went on Medicare in 2008. Last year we upgraded to Plan 2 which includes dental, reduced specialist copay and several other reduced out of pocket items. Costs a little extra over their base plan 1, but the dental alone just about offsets that since we both get two cleanings per year plus those damn xrays the dentists seem to enjoy. Gym membership is very comprehensive offering eligibility in most of the major gyms. (24 Hour Fitness, Anytime Fitness, Curves, Gold’s Gym, LA Fitness and others), We go to 24 Hour Fitness and if I had to pay for that out of pocket it would be $65~ month for a family plan. Nearly every doctor, hospital and specialist accepts the plan (haven't run into any that don't) The only downside is limited travel coverage. Well there's coverage but it's considered out of system so cost are considerably higher. There is also a $3900 max out of pocket limit per year so there's no surprises if you rack up big hospital bills.

I realize these things vary from state to state and even county to county, but where we are, I'm completely satisfied with this arrangement. I hope the wizards in DC to F it up.

We are both on the Aetna Coventry Gold Advantage Plan. $0 monthly premium. $0 copay for our prescriptions. We did not have to change doctors or specialists when we went with this plan. They have an extensive list of providers that seems to cover the majority of healthcare facilities, doctors, and pharmacies in our area.

Wife and I both turn 65 in the spring so we have to look at this. My brother is a Doctor (Internal medicine) on staff at Saint Thomas in Nashville TN. He, as well as another brother already on Medicare had given me lengthy explanations of the options.

I simply asked the DR. Brother if he had any specific recommendations on what to go with, or avoid, as far as plans and companies go and got this one line response.

"I’d go with an Advantage Plan, preferably Cigna/HealthSpring or Blue Cross, whichever your current doctors participate in."

I struggled with this last year.
I watched a multitude of YouTube videos to try and get a grasp on what it all ment.
I finally liked the supplement plans and went with a G plan from Mutual of Omaha.
Low yearly deductible and good anywhere in the USA.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
AS a retiree of Kaiser Permanente, I have the choice of regular Medicare or Medicare Advantage. I choose the Advantage program because I feel comfortable that the physicians in the system provide quality as good as I could find outside the system, and the cost is substantially lower, with no copays or deductibles.
Trump is right, and I’m very glad he recognizes that.

Would agree with the Doc. My PCP is actually a friend of the family so he's in my network and he refers me to specialists that are within that network that he personally knows and trusts. I'm very comfortable with this plan. Having had some heart work done (stent work, and valve job) in-patient and couple days stay late Sept 18'. So far my only out of pocket expense was $112 for emergency transport. And with the exceptions of $1.25 for lo-dose aspirin all my meds have -0- co-pay. They are a little picky about medications. Certain ones I may have to pay a higher deductible but only a few dollars. Over all I'm ok so far with my Medicare Advantage plan, mainly I lucked out that my PCP is within that network because he's a great Doc and avid firearms enthusiast.

Btw Doc, my PCP did an EKG today and adjusted the Metoprolol dose up a little but everything is ticking like a clock.