Need Medicare advice

[LBrown59]

1*Medicare is an entitlement--

1*Medicare is not an entitlement because you pay for it.

The government does not mandate that anyone has to sign up for Medicare. However, the Megacorp that I retired from said that as far as it was concerned, everyone who is retired from Megacorp must apply for Medicare and the Megacorp retiree insurance would be supplemental and pay only the part that Medicare would not pay. Whether or not you actually signed up for Medicare was irrelevant.
2*The supplemental insurance through
Megacorp is much cheaper than when it was primary.

2* Not so in my wife and I's case.

I believe you are correct. I was forced into early retirement before I was 65 but had enough years with my former company to qualify for their group retiree insurance thru BCBS.
3*But when I turned 65 it changed to a Medicare-supplement only plan.

In my case BCBS changed to a Medicare-supplement only plan but the premium increased.

 

[LBrown59]

1*Medicare is an entitlement--

1*Medicare is not an entitlement because you pay for it.

The government does not mandate that anyone has to sign up for Medicare. However, the Megacorp that I retired from said that as far as it was concerned, everyone who is retired from Megacorp must apply for Medicare and the Megacorp retiree insurance would be supplemental and pay only the part that Medicare would not pay. Whether or not you actually signed up for Medicare was irrelevant.
2*The supplemental insurance through
Megacorp is much cheaper than when it was primary.

2* Not so in my wife and I's case.

I believe you are correct. I was forced into early retirement before I was 65 but had enough years with my former company to qualify for their group retiree insurance thru BCBS.
3*But when I turned 65 it changed to a Medicare-supplement only plan.

3*In my case BCBS changed to a Medicare-supplement only plan but the premium increased.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

You will be notified by SS about 4 months before you reach 65. This whole subject is fraught with mis-information. I am retired military so have TCFL which is great as I pay nothing on mnmedical bills. The last two years I have had spinal surgery to the tune of $70K+ twice, nothing out of my pocket, and the pharmacutical program is almost free. When my wife turned 65 we were deluged with advertising, they all get the mailing list from SS somehow. A lot of it was misleading, borderline illegal, and had one purpose; get you signed up for their expensive MEDIGAP policy. We compared pricing and coverage, went with United Health sponsered by AARP. They were honest, upright, and had the best pricing/benefit package including Part D. Sure glad we did; it is almost as good as my TCFL program.

As long as you qualify for SS you are qualified for MEDICARE. Beware if you are in a high income bracket as medicare is means tested and the more you make the more you pay; includes unearned income in the equation. When I was still working after 65 I was paying almost $400/mo for Medicare Part B.

On SS many folks do not realize they can work and make all you want if you wait till now 66/67 to draw. Also if your annuity is not at the max already, work at a job that pays your SS, as every year you work the annuity goes up until you reach the max. High earnings now replace those low earning years in your youth in the 35 year averaging in the equation. How all that works is also the best kept secret until you dig it out. Subject for a new thread.

Ron

 

[ccride]

Well, one thing is certain from all this, and as many of us have learned, there are no simple answers. Another confusion factor that a friend of mine ran into is the Advantage plans are not the same everywhere. He would find one advertised that he liked but when he wanted to sign up for it would find it was not available in his area.

My BCBS retiree supplement thru former employer is anything but straight-forward. It uses different allowables than Medicare, on some things they allow more than Medicare and on others they allow less. In cases where they allow less, if the 80% that Medicare pays is a larger dollar amount than BCBS allows for the total, BCBS won't pay anything. However, they do pay 65% on prescription drugs so they also qualify as Part D.

Getting old isn't for sissies.

 

[turnkey4099]

Sorry to heat abour your wife, but the fact is Medicare (or supplemental) has nothing to do with Long Term Care Expenses (LTC). If she is qualified, Medicaid MAY pick up the tab.

Medicare MAY pay for about 30 days in a nursing home after she is released from a hospital.

My military (Tricare) pays for 90 days in a full care facility after a hospital stay. My understanding of the 'full-care' suppliments is that they are very expensive and getting even more so. Of course it is way too late for me to get the coverage.

It is something for all you out there to think about.

Harry K

 

[Ron JD670]

Medicare
I was certified for medicare sales but elected not to renew a couple years ago. Generally Medicare covers treatment to prevent ailments from progressing or to facilitate recovery. It does not cover long term care which is chronic and for the most part can not be recovered from. Unfortunately medical conditions are not black and white.
My regrets to Harry K but Unfortunately I've heard similar experiences from my younger clients trying to help their parents. As our society has gotten better food and medical care we are living longer but in exchange we have higher morbidity issues leading to higher medical cost especially later in our longer lives.

Insurance is the transfer of risk for money. Part B, part D and med gap policies fill in the gaps in part A. I would tell my clients to tell me their future medical problems and I would tell them what insurance not to buy.

While I did not do Medicare seminars they can be informative, but as noted earlier they ultimately want to sell something (you might need). Unfortunately every companies prices will change as they absorb better or worse risk experience. You can't tell in advance when this will happen. It all comes down to how much risk they take on and experience One other note on the seminars or follow up meeting they often also will want to discuss annuities which may or many not be a good thing depending on your situation. I suggest speaking with someone that specializes in Medicare. year to year they stay on top of the changes. The same applies to long term care. Just dealing with part D every year can be an occupation (look out political comment coming " because our stupid congress lets the drug insurance company change your plan every year") . The better investment advisors, Chartered Financial Advisors ChFC or CFP (these should be advisors not just stock brokers) should be able to refer you to someone that specializes in these areas or may have someone in their office. I now refer out rather than try to be a jack of all trades.

Note if you choose not to enroll in Medicare and supplemental coverage you pay a penalty for late enrollment and or must medically qualify (underwriting) and if you don't qualify you may not get supplemental coverage. I am paraphrasing so see an expert. There are exceptions if you delay with other qualified coverage Medicare has a pretty good guide they issue each year it is probably on line and it could be good to review before meeting with an advisor.

Generally individual and group insurance coverage is regulated at the state level. Some or a lot of this will change when/if the new health care laws go into effect. Here in OR for small businesses Medicare will be primary and the business coverage secondary. For large (>50 employees) it is the opposite. If you offer insurance as an employer you can not exclude people based on age, but if they have other coverage -such as tricare or Medicare the employee can wave the employer plan. And the employer can bonus employees as a incentive if they elect to choose medicare or qualifying/group coverage rather than the employer plan. Check with your company and a competent agent in your state that knows the laws.

Hope this is of some use.