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| Member |
It is pretty good and the rather thick book called Medicare and You with the year stamped on the cover is even better. I have to deal poorly written and designed websites on a daily basis and this site is rather well done. | |||
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Happily Retired |
As far as the Medicare Advantage plan goes, if you live in or near a big city, it just might be the way to go. Simply because of the increased number of doctors and hospitals. However, if you live in a rural area, like we do, it can be a real challenge finding specialized surgeons and clinics that accept that plan. The couple that own the farm next to ours has an Advantage plan and they have to drive all the way up to Columbia to a surgeon that agreed to repair a smashed up foot he damaged doing some logging work. One of my BIL's had open heart surgery years ago when they had regular Medicare B and a local heart surgeon did the surgery right here at the Lake. His wife decided that Part B and the Supplemental coverage was getting too expensive so she dropped that coverage and went with an Advantage plan that was much less expensive. He recently started having more issues with his heart and that original surgeon told him he does not accept Advantage plans. I guess they pay less that even Medicaid does. Long story short they ended up having to drive all the way up to Kansas University in the city. A six hour drive and back. He was having so many other problems they sold their home down here and now live up in the city. .....never marry a woman who is mean to your waitress. | |||
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| Member |
Part of the issue is low fees. The bigger problem is preauthorization by the plan and the delay involved until some pencil necked geek at the insurance company approves it. This is one way MA plans control costs. | |||
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| Member |
How do we know about the alternative until we get there?  (If we get there, if there is an alternative, if...) | |||
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Down the Rabbit Hole |
It sucks paying 209.00/mo. I have no heath issues to speak of and only go to the Doc. a couple of times a year. Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell | |||
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| Happily Retired |
Part B is completely voluntarily. No one is forcing you to take it. If you're feeling lucky, insurance wise, roll the dice and drop it. The wife and I have part B along with a supplemental plan for that remaining 20%. That comes to about $400 a month. We would have been bankrupt years ago without them both. I kid you not. .....never marry a woman who is mean to your waitress. | |||
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Member |
Turning 65 next month. Paid my three month bill. Basically it’s about $202 a month. Signed up to have it deducted monthly. Steve "The Marines I have seen around the world have, the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps." Eleanor Roosevelt, 1945 | |||
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His Royal Hiney |
Saying it’s completely voluntary and “we would have been bankrupt years ago without it” in the same post is contradictory. It’s almost on the same level as the local neighborhood goon saying, “you do have such a nice place; it’d be a shame if something happens to it.” If you roll the dice, just one hospital stay exposes you to the high invoice prices that no one actually pays except those without insurance coverage. "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946. | |||
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| Happily Retired |
Sorry man, Little of what you said is making any sense, at least to me. Your first paragraph claims my statement is contradictory. Not true at all. It's a statement of fact. Part B is voluntary, you can enroll or not. In the 15 years I have had Part B I have had well over 6 major surgeries, having to pay the Dr's, hospitals, and various clinic's fees we would have been wiped out without our Supplemental coverage. Your second paragraph makes no sense whatsoever. Damn, hope I'm not just another neighborhood goon. I'm not sure if you are actually disagreeing with me in your third paragraph. Of course there are lots of people who can get medical expenses paid for if they have no assets. If you own your own home, have steady income, and have other assets you don't qualify for Medicaid Anyone in the medical profession knows that if they accept Medicare Part B, they will receive a fraction of what they would like to have. If you have no medical coverage at all but you do have numerous assets, things could get ugly real fast. Maybe I'm just missing something. .....never marry a woman who is mean to your waitress. | |||
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| 7.62mm Crusader |
That was harsh but you are quite right. Even for my little noggin, it's just short of a bitch to have to learn of all this. Working on it a little at a time. Thanks for the encouragement. | |||
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| His Royal Hiney |
My second paragraph was a commentary on the medical insurance system. Both of what you say is true. Part B is voluntary but without it, people who undergo surgery can go bankrupt. I could have most likely said what I said better. The possibility of going bankrupt should you opt out of medical insurance, to me, negates the “voluntary” part. Sure, if you’re wealthy enough that you can pay the hospital invoices yourself, then it’s voluntary. But for the average person who don’t have the resources to self-insure for every medical eventuality, logic and simple math forces you to opt in into this “voluntary” system. "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946. | |||
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