Medigap or Medicare advantage plan???

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 3:02 pm

Ed in Tampa wrote:Jpg
Why not a medicare advantage plan? Many have an out of pocket max that is below the Plan F supplement cost? In my case Blue Cross offers an HMO that has all my doctors and specialist included. It also includes minimal dental, eye and hearing along with a very strong drug plan.

I have yet to read a medicare 'advantage' plan description in which I liked the 'details'.

reible · Post by **reible** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 4:41 pm

One of my supposed retirement benifits was the company paying a portion of the health insurance....

However that was a fixed amount based on how much you made as an employee, I was just above the cutoff line for more assistance and as health care costs went up so did my portion of the expenses. Without getting in to all the details the path I had to go with was to go towards a plan F. and at this point no plan D as I'm not on any medications.

Where we live in the DuPage county Blue Cross offers a special plan where if you promise to go for electives at hospitals of their choice they have a special rate. The rate is $20/month less then if we went with the regular plan F. The list they provided showed the hospitals we would normally use so it seemed a simple choice.

Ed

robinson46176 · Post by **robinson46176** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 4:44 pm

2centsworth wrote:Ok for what it is worth I work in the medical industry with Home Oxygen and to a person the people with AARP are the happiest and have less headaches with their insurance for what it is worth.

I am very glad to hear that.

We use the AARP supplemental and RX thingy handled by United Health (along with Medicare) and so far (knock on plastic) we have been happy with it...

After this chopping a hole in my chest thing, almost here, settles out I should know a lot more.

.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 5:05 pm

JPG40504 wrote:I have yet to read a medicare 'advantage' plan description in which I liked the 'details'.

What details. I need help. What are you seeing that I might have missed?

Gene Howe · Post by **Gene Howe** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 5:37 pm

Our medicare advantage plans are with United HC also. Didn't have to join AARP to get it though. Wife had a knee replaced. We ended up paying less than $1200
for everything including physical therapy.
Ours is the plan that lets us choose our doctor and hospital.
The copay on drugs is nearly the same as when we had employer provided insurance. Chose not to include dental and vision. We've both had lenses replaced so vision's not likely to change. As far as dental is concerned, we do it the old fashioned way. We pay cash. Dentists like that.

db5 · Post by **db5** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 8:52 pm

Gene Howe wrote:Our medicare advantage plans are with United HC also. Didn't have to join AARP to get it though.

The only reason AARP is attached to the United Health Care plan is because they are paid BIG bucks to have AARP on the front-end. It's all about the money. We've used it for 9 years and it still is the best plan but almost 2x more here than in California (you can't buy a plan except at the pricing in your state.) What I don't like about AARP is that the organization is a BIG supporter of CACA (Congressional Affordable Care Act), passed by a democrat controlled House and Senate and known as ObamaCare. Every 3 year old knows what CACA is so don't call it ObamaCare, but CACA, which what it is.

I don't like AARP but the Medicare Complete seems to be the best plan in this state. Do a search and find the best plan for your state and your needs.

db5 · Post by **db5** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 8:59 pm

JPG40504 wrote:I have yet to read a medicare 'advantage' plan description in which I liked the 'details'.

It's named "advantage" just as some some bitchy women are named "precious" or "princess" and some SOBs are named "my hero", "genius" and some such misnomers. A name is only that and doesn't mean that there is any truth behind it; e.g., Affordable Care Act - Not affordable, no care at all and a very bad act; one out of three is acceptable, right?

Yes, the details. Read everything and especially the *. You do know about the * don't you? If you don't pay attention to the * then you have your *.

keakap · Post by **keakap** » Sat Nov 09, 2013 3:03 pm

reible wrote:...
Where we live in the DuPage county Blue Cross offers a special plan where if you pro...
Ed

Here's a good point. Not all carriers are available everywhere. For instance, the Kaiser Permanente Medicare Advantage Yada Yada (whatever it's called) is by far the best HMO type available here. But it has limited range in the country.
I tried to compare it to HMSA here which I think is a Blue Cross thing, and the Blue Cross is out of sight higher in most categories.

One thing about HMO- the White House can't touch it.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Nov 09, 2013 4:19 pm

Why are the prices for the various health plans offered by ObamaCare dependent upon where live within any particular State.

In fact, I even wonder why there is not one standard plan for the entire country.

Do insurance costs on the open market vary the same way; ie, is a specific insurance plan offered in CA priced different when offered in NY or MA?

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Sat Nov 09, 2013 5:32 pm

[quote="dusty"]Why are the prices for the various health plans offered by ObamaCare dependent upon where live within any particular State.

In fact, I even wonder why there is not one standard plan for the entire country.

Do insurance costs on the open market vary the same way]

Dusty as far as I know they are. Each is priced using the prevailing rates of the Doctors/hospitals of the area. Where I live it is few dollars cheaper if I lived 4 miles north which would put me in a different county. If I go still further north the rate drops dramatically.