Community Chat

[kittymomNC]

On 10/22/2014 MaggieToo said:

On 10/22/2014 kittymomNC said:

On 10/22/2014 MaggieToo said:

That means my check will be less than it is this year. I will have to start paying $39.00 a month more for my insurance coverage, minus the $22.00. My check will be $17.00 lower next year.

Just wondering if you would be willing to share whether you have Medicare Advantage or regular Medicare and a Medicare supplement?

AARP Medicare Complete Plus (HMO/POS)

That sounds like a Medicare Advantage Plan that covers everything. I have regular Medicare, United Health Care Medicare Supplement, and Humana Part D (prescription) plan. Since Medicare itself is not going up, and my supplement is not going up, the only thing in 2015 that I will pay more for is Humana Part D, which is going up about $5.50 a month.

I looked at the Advantage plans when I went on Medicare and made the decision that I would prefer to have the regular Medicare. I thought it might be advantageous to you to compare your overall Advantage plan costs to the regular Medicare with a supplement and a Part D plan. The only thing I pay is my premiums - I haven't had to pay anything at all out-of-pocket for anything else except one prescription that I don't get free under Humana (although if I decided to take the generic, that would also be free).

It might turn out not to be any better for you, but it could be worth making the comparisons.

[151949]

On 10/22/2014 tansy said:

On 10/22/2014 scotttie said:

On 10/22/2014 happy housewife said:

On 10/22/2014 MaggieToo said:

That means my check will be less than it is this year. I will have to start paying $39.00 a month more for my insurance coverage, minus the $22.00. My check will be $17.00 lower next year.

So chose a different insurance.

To get equal coverage the cost wouldn't be that different.

My husband doesn't pay anything extra for his plan other than the standard deduction.

I am betting this was intended as a political statement. However - the costs of medicare advantage plans and supplements have absolutely NOTHING to do with the ACA.

[MaggieToo]

kittymomNC:

I've been comparing them and might just go to the same plan only just HMO. The POS was advantageous for a while, but the coverages seem pretty much the same. I would just have to get referrals from my primary care doctor.

[151949]

On 10/22/2014 kittymomNC said:

I still don't understand what they include in their definition of "inflation". All my insurance coverages go up (not much this year, but some), my homeowners insurance goes up, my car insurance goes up, groceries go up, it seems the only thing that's down is gas prices.

Regarding the comment that those who get less should get more COLA, Social Security benefits are calculated based on what you earned over your lifetime if you worked. Why would the increase not be calculated as a percentage of your benefit? It's part of what you earned. When you get a raise on your job, it's a percentage of your current income -- or should the people who have lower salaries get a higher raise? Who ever heard of an "across the board" amount for raises? None of that makes any sense IMO.

Since Medicare and insurance have been mentioned here and since many posters over many months have denigrated AARP and talked about how bad they are, I also want to say that their United Health Care Medicare Supplement (NOT Medicare Advantage) premium went up very little the beginning of 2014, and it is apparently not going up at all the beginning of 2015. I've had it for a few years now, and have had no double digit increases at all. I think the most my premium has gone up is about $7.00 - $9.00 a month for any given year.

I have had the AARP medicare advantage plan from UHC for 4 years - it was $0 then and is still $0. My benefits have dropped very little - they did drop my silver sneakers though so that will cost me $30/month for my YMCA membership. Otherwise - no deductibles and my PCP copay is $10 and a specialist is $30. My doctor is very conscientiousness about ordering tier 1 drugs and my co pay for those is only $6.My $0 premium advantage plan is far superior insurance than what we had from DH's company when he was working.We are very happy with it.

[scotttie]

HH is your AARP a medicare advantage plan or a supplement? You do realize that all plans are not available in all locations, btw.

[scotttie]

On 10/22/2014 happy housewife said:

On 10/22/2014 tansy said:

On 10/22/2014 scotttie said:

On 10/22/2014 happy housewife said:

On 10/22/2014 MaggieToo said:

That means my check will be less than it is this year. I will have to start paying $39.00 a month more for my insurance coverage, minus the $22.00. My check will be $17.00 lower next year.

So chose a different insurance.

To get equal coverage the cost wouldn't be that different.

My husband doesn't pay anything extra for his plan other than the standard deduction.

I am betting this was intended as a political statement. However - the costs of medicare advantage plans and supplements have absolutely NOTHING to do with the ACA.

Who do you say was making a political statement? I said nothing about the ACA.

[151949]

As stated in my post it is an advantage plan. Of course I know they are not all available every where. Buy when someone whines about the cost of their plan going up I want to scream at them because there are comparable plans everywhere and they are just apparently too lazy to see what they can find for the amount they have budgetted. And the government has NOTHING to do with the amount you pay for your supplement or advantage plan.

[tansy]

Lazy is a strong word. The choices can be confusing or intimidating to sort through but it's worth doing.

[scotttie]

On 10/22/2014 happy housewife said:

As stated in my post it is an advantage plan. Of course I know they are not all available every where. Buy when someone whines about the cost of their plan going up I want to scream at them because there are comparable plans everywhere and they are just apparently too lazy to see what they can find for the amount they have budgetted. And the government has NOTHING to do with the amount you pay for your supplement or advantage plan.

Unfortunately you just don't know what you are talking about. It takes a tremendous amount of research to compare supplement plans and the costs are very similar according to the amount of coverage. DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU LIVE.

Also, the coverage varies a lot on Advantage plans and the costs are similar according to coverage.

I know what I'm talking about. I just finished this nightmare myself.

ETA: And then once you have decided on a supplement if you go that route you have to decide on a drug plan.

Also the supplements you have to find whether they are community rated or age related or a third one I can't think of off the top of my head and decide which is best for YOU there.

It is completely out of line and unfair to judge Maggie Too about what her plan costs since you don't know a thing about her situation.

[MaggieToo]

HH:

My office visits are going from $15.00 to $20.00. Specialist stays at $50.00. All but one of my nine meds are Tier 1.

I'm going to one of their meetings next Monday and will find out just what my options are.