I suggest any should go to
www.medicare.gov for real info and comparisons.
Insurance for me is to protect against catastrophic loss and potential insolvency.
If you are extremely ill (cancer or similar) across your reset, your medical bills could decimate your savings
I chose traditional Medicare with a supplement (plan N) My plan Nancy is just over 100 dollars a month.
No procedure pre-authorizations and a long hospital stays will be fully covered 100%
My brother just moved from Cali to AZ and had to setup all new insurance as their Advantage plan wasn't portable.
Traditional medicare is portable and accepted at any facility that accepts medicare in any state - which are most.
Advantage plans can appear enticing from a up front cost perspective, but know all the pitfalls and costs before making a decision. Most have a Max out-of-pocket (moop) and the less costly the plan, the more it can be - close to $9000 - annually for 2024.
It can be a one way door and if your health situation gets dire - or even tragic and costly - you may not be able to return to Traditional Medicare with a Supplement due to the now required medical
underwriting - you can be denied insurance with a pre-existing condition.
It may take a couple months of study to get a good handle on this subject so - read up!
https://www.medicare.gov/
Well said but one should stick to just your first sentence for real info. you pay $100+ $175.
Everything else is you opinion. You outline the disadvantages of the plans you didnt chose and mis represent the cost of your plan.You leave out plan D lack of dental, vision and hearing coverage.
Your $9000 can scare people but you leave out your medical bills would have to be in the hundreds of thousands to get there.
Also, my out of pocket is less than $5000. It is true medicare raises out of pocket allowances based on inflation with Advantage plans.
My family member got out of Plan G and Plan D because every five years he was getting big increases. Now in an Advantage Plan, less than two years ago the retail price (billable amount, not actual amount paid) on his heart procedures was just over $500,000 and he paid $2,900 with his advantage plan.
I, myself in 2022 had $130,000 in procedures Cardiac Ablation, Angiogram etc my cost was less than $1,000.
You are correct though, Advantage plans do take understanding as to what you are getting into but it's not always dire as posted.
For me I pay nothing, my net cost is zero, even the $175 a month government payment is made up for in my benefits.
I do get it though, I have family members with both but some converted once they saw what I had.
It is true in most states, BUT not all, once in Advantage plans it can be hard to get back into Private G and N plans plus D coverage.
Some states have banned the under writing requirement. But agree, know what you are getting into.
LETS not forget in ALL states you can try an Advantage plan for your first year of coverage and if you dont like it you can switch to traditional plans. Again, important that people read up.
Aa far as your brother, any insurance is personal choice lets make sure people know, there is nothing to "set up" when moving to another state in Advantage C plans other than go online and choose a plan in that state. With a couple clicks of a mouse, Medicare sets everything up. Example, I just moved to a new state last year. I could have kept my UHC advantage plan with slightly different terms but I found a new one available to me with even better benefits at Aetna. So with a click of the mouse "Sign up for this plan" last Dec 1st during the change over time. Instantly on medicare.gov I was be covered starting Jan 1 2024. That simple. Not kidding, ONE CLICK.
If I wanted to go back to traditional medicare it would not be simple at all.
Everyone has their thing with insurance and AGAIN I could not be more supportive of your statement. READ UP.
http://medicare.gov you can spend a month on educating yourself. I look at it this way. You can pay now plan N or G plus Plan D and all your own dental, vision and hearing or take your chances with Advantage as long as you can afford the max out of pocket each year.
Like any state, insurance prices are all over the place for ALL the Medicare plans.
BTW- another scare tactic is pre approvals,
government requires Advantage plans to cover EVERY single thing covered by traditional medicare except experimental treatments. That doesnt mean they will be denied but can. Any of these heart procedures not once did I run into any concerns by specialists. Yet, when I had an employer my company health insurance threw up more hurdles.
PS I am NOT in anyway promoting one program over another and why I agree, others to do their own research. Nice thing about having free choices. Choose what you want to spend your money on. You can self insure and opt out of everything too. Hospital will still be covered.
OR you can just keep plan A and B and pay 20% of all your doctor bills and bills outside a hospital stay.
OR then you get into optional Plan G or N and Plan D for drugs which are administered by the same private insurance companies that handle Advantage C plans.
Or skip all the above and choose an Advantage C plan. I will say, it bothers me a little bit the out of pocket cost can be in the future that is an unknown but at the same time the same unknown is the premium of G,N, and D. Either way, the government has to approve all Advantage C plans.
There is no right or wrong with anything, like anything in life, know what you are purchasing. Its the mis-information that people rely on that drives me crazy *LOL*
