Medicare Question
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My spouse has me on her health insurance (Aetna). I was on it before I became Medicare eligible. Now, I have Medicare and opted out of any optional coverages, thinking I'm good with having REAL health insurance in addiiton to Medicare. Should I listen to any of the gazillion companies sending me information?
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There are some medicare advantage plans with $0.00 premiums.
Take a look, you might find something that is worth nothing to you.
Also consider a Part D plan for prescription drugs. For every month that you do not have a Part D plan you will incur a penalty. This penalty will be added to your premium every month for the rest of your life if you ever do get a Part D plan. The penalty won't start if you have some other qualifying plan that covers prescriptions - this might be your REAL coverage.
This year I bought the cheapest Part D plan, $7.98 per month, just to stop the penalty from increasing.
If you didn't have the REAL coverage I would advise looking at Medi Gap plans. I have an AARP plan that is pretty good.
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Educate me
I thought that if you want prescriptions that Part D was the place to go
And if you don't get a Part D plan today the penalty grows every month. So if you ever need prescriptions in the future and buy a Part D policy the penalty can get big
I now pay for 3 health policies:
- I pay the government premium for standard vanilla Medicare
On top of that I have 2 other options I can get from private companies:
2 An Advantage policy or a Medigap policy - one or the other (I use Medigap)
3 A Part D policy that covers prescription drugsI haven't heard of the other plans having any relationship to Part D
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In my specific case...My insurance is OGB, Blue Cross. At 65, I apply for Medicare, I inform them and Medicare becomes my primary. Blue Cross becomes secondary. Blue Cross functions as my medicine insurance.
If I sign up for somebody else's Plan D, Blue Cross drops me. And once dropped, it is terminal and never to be renewed.
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In my specific case...My insurance is OGB, Blue Cross. At 65, I apply for Medicare, I inform them and Medicare becomes my primary. Blue Cross becomes secondary. Blue Cross functions as my medicine insurance.
If I sign up for somebody else's Plan D, Blue Cross drops me. And once dropped, it is terminal and never to be renewed.
@Jolly said in Medicare Question:
In my specific case...My insurance is OGB, Blue Cross. At 65, I apply for Medicare, I inform them and Medicare becomes my primary. Blue Cross becomes secondary. Blue Cross functions as my medicine insurance.
If I sign up for somebody else's Plan D, Blue Cross drops me. And once dropped, it is terminal and never to be renewed.
I wasn’t aware that that could happen. My supplement and my Part D are BC as well. It’s been pretty easy though not cheap, of course.
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@Jolly said in Medicare Question:
In my specific case...My insurance is OGB, Blue Cross. At 65, I apply for Medicare, I inform them and Medicare becomes my primary. Blue Cross becomes secondary. Blue Cross functions as my medicine insurance.
If I sign up for somebody else's Plan D, Blue Cross drops me. And once dropped, it is terminal and never to be renewed.
I wasn’t aware that that could happen. My supplement and my Part D are BC as well. It’s been pretty easy though not cheap, of course.
@George-K said in Medicare Question:
@Jolly said in Medicare Question:
In my specific case...My insurance is OGB, Blue Cross. At 65, I apply for Medicare, I inform them and Medicare becomes my primary. Blue Cross becomes secondary. Blue Cross functions as my medicine insurance.
If I sign up for somebody else's Plan D, Blue Cross drops me. And once dropped, it is terminal and never to be renewed.
I wasn’t aware that that could happen. My supplement and my Part D are BC as well. It’s been pretty easy though not cheap, of course.
Remember, my Blue Cross is funneled through Office of Group Benefits.
I'm special...
