dickg1 wrote:May I suggest that you call Medicare (1-800-medicare) and ask for the phone number of the SHIP ( State Health Insurance Assistance Program ) office in your state. That office in your state will be able to give you a contact number of a Medicare qualified counselor who would be in a position to provide information on Medigap and Medicare Advantage programs as well as Medicare Prescription Programs in your state. BTW, the service is free.
I would guess that you had a PPO through your employment and indeed the premium may have been reasonable. Many PPO plans have deductibles and co-payments, which if they were in your package, should be considered as a portion of your total medical costs.
There are a number of Medigap (supplement) plans available, all of which have been set by Medicare. So it matters not what company offers the plan you may be interested in since they are the same. The criteria for the selection of a plan is based upon which plan meets your needs and which company offers that plan at the lowest premium.
Since you are just turning 65 and are "new" to Medicare you have a unique and one time opportunity to enroll in a Medcare Advantage (MA) plan for up to 12 months on a TRIAL basis. That MA plan may either be a PPO or an HMO. The advantage you have is that you can cancel the MA plan and return to original Medicare anytime within the 12 month period merely by enrolling in a Prescription Drug Plan - you don't even have to call the company! BTW, no insurance salesman will advise you of this trial basis option.
Unfortunately, whether you enroll in a Medigap or a MA you must continue to pay the premium for Medicare Part B. If your wife was included in your plan unfortunately there are no family Medigap or MA plans. If she is not yet on Medicare either a private or Affordable Care Plan would be necessary.
Best wishes,
Dick
BTW, I am the Medicare Coordinator for my resident county in New Jersey and am in no position to advise on MA plans in your state. I do believe that my comments above are general enough to provide some assistance. If you have some questions re: Medigap plans I am able to provide specific information or answer questions since they are standardized, except in four states, one of which is Massachusetts (I don't remember the others).
OK Dick,
I wanted to find out what was up and report back here. It turns out that it is my wife's fault .....
When she enrolled me in the Medicare supplement plan she took me from a bronze plan regular insurance to a Platinum Medicare supplemental plan (these women are sneaky LOL) probably because of my issues of a year ago.
So to be honest, I have no deductibles, no co-pays, piratically nothing out of pocket, so I guess, I will draw my horns back in and just accept that .... well .... I was wrong to be bitching. <- That won't happen very often ...
So all is good, I am a little poorer, but there is more "fluff" in my nest .....