Would those providers be mainly solo or small group practices?
Around here, one of the large multispecialty practices seems to prefer Medicare patients using Medicare Advantage plans that have them in-network, probably because they have a large central billing group that knows how to get each insurance company to pay (at rates higher than the traditional Medicare rates), something that solo or small group practices do not have.
My broker did everything. She was the broker my parents used, and then my sister, her husband, my brother, all my friends…every combo you can think of from still working at 65 to taking SS before 65, to doing it at the last minute (my brother’s birthday is Dec 6 and as we all know, the last day to sign up for medicare for the year is Dec 7 - she did it at like 11 pm on Dec 6.
If anyone needs a great broker, DM me. She’s licensed in like 20-25 states.
What it won’t prevent is your getting 236 pieces of mail about medicare, another 19 phone calls usually at 7 am, from other brokers trying to get you to sign up with them. And for those of us with summer birthdays, that starts in Jan and goes right through your birth month, and then starts again in Sept for the next year.
This is both the small and large practices. All providers around here are very upset with MA and are NOT accepting it.
Many areas do not have good Medicare Advantage, and the coverage can change - then what do you do? My friend’s mother who is bedbound is on an Advantage plan that works in our area - which she needs good coverage, supplies and care coming to her. Her daughter is an LPN that lives with her, so her daughter is able to carry-over care along with other family members.
Also keep in mind that Medicare supplements are different by state. Rules and what they are called (G, B, etc.)
I’m trying to buy Medicare G and suspend it until both H and I die because while we are alive, D is covered under our family policy as a disabled dependent from H’s decades as a federal employee. Just called State Farm to see if it’s possible to do this—online it says it can be done.
A suggestion- If you do not want an advantage plan, beware of agents who want to sell you one (instead of a supplement). It is not easy to change later to a supplement in most cases and in some cases the provider list is limited. Some of our friends were steered to an advantage plan, and are now realizing it may not be the best long term plan even though it has some freebies (vision, dental, some money towards OTC drugs) that the supplements don’t have. In our limited experiences with anecdotes from friends,it seems more people with agents end up with advantage plans in some states than DIYers.
Stay away from advantage plans (the only exception being a state employee retiree plan that is pre-negotiated and is a PPO plan not an HMO plan)
We just want a Medicare G plan and definitely not. Medicare Advantage plan that my PT says are the worst because they don’t pay providers so providers don’t accept people covered by them—large & small providers!
We want enroll D in Medicare G & suspend until she’s no longer covered by H’s federal plan (H & I are dead). My state seems to allow this but have to see if State Farm will sell us the policy and let us suspend as we want.
They really shouldn’t be allowed to use the word “Medicare” in advantage plans. It’s misleading.
Please move back on topic. There are other threads duscussing Medicare advantage plans.
@deb922 I asked my husband and he confirmed that he signed up for Medicare without issue…online. He did part A when he was 65, and when he fully retired and didn’t have credible coverage any longer from his employer, he did the rest.
As noted by @kelsmom above, I believe this is now done on the SSA account page your husband should either have, or create.
He will indicate whether he wants Part A only, or A and B.
My husband got his Medicare card very quickly after applying. He also had to have this to get his additional coverage which he got because of my former job.
Good luck…and if you don’t like the first broker, find another one.
Bumping this up.
Today was the meeting with the broker that my husband must use in order to receive the stipend he gets from his former employer.
He signed up for a medigap plan G. The broker told him he could never switch from this plan without underwriting. So I guess we are stuck with this plan G forever? No matter how much the premiums go up?
My husband has several medical issues and will never pass any underwriting.
We also signed up for a prescription drug plan, apparently that plan can be changed from year to year?
It was very confusing and I hope we signed up for a plan that we will be happy with in the future
My husband and I have plan N and a plan G and a prescription plan each. Yes, we have changed prescription plans. My husband even changed providers. I stayed with the same provider.
After we each chose our plans we chose different plan providers. His is less per month and he has a copay with some office visits.
Recently the plan G prices edged up and the prescription plans totally changed. We also check GoodRx sometimes when we get a prescription.
Deb 922,
Plan G is exactly what three advisors recommended for my H. Four years later, we are extremely grateful he received this advice. He does have a few fairly serious health issues. This was, by far, the most expensive choice for us, but we pay up front and have a small yearly deductible. We know what we’ll pay and we are fortunate that this is something we can afford to do.
Two years ago, I also became eligible for Medicare. I had more choices, as my health concerns were very minor. After much research and debate, I decided to sign up for the same coverage. For about a year, I considered changing my plan, as I might not need this more expensive coverage. Then came my suspicious mammogram and the follow up tests and procedures. All of this was covered, I didn’t have to wait for any referrals, and I was taken care of with no questions or delays. Priceless.
We have separate drug coverage and dental coverage. The drug coverage can be changed yearly.
We are waiting on the status of our part B application. Nothing there and the phone hold time is 2 hours!!
So the quip I’ve heard is “Marry your MediGap, Date your Plan D”. In other words, you can change prescription plans annually at enrollment period.
My husband picked Plan G. I may do same when my time comes, even though my medical issues (at this point) are few. It costs more but gives peace of mind. The other decent option is a more reasonably priced Medicare Advantage PPO employee plan that fellow retirees in my area have seemed to like.
Yes, your state requires underwriting to change supplement (Medigap) plans. Prices will rise annually, make no mistake … but they will go up for all companies. And they won’t rise in a way that will allow you to choose “the best.” It’s the nature of the beast, unfortunately. You just have to make a decision and live with it. If rising prices become a problem for that particular plan compared to others, it’s worth it to talk to the broker about switching … some people on the Bogleheads forum have actually been able to get a better rate even with the underwriting challenges.
Part D is fabulously confusing. Our broker advised us to look for the least expensive plan for our individual situations, because there is no way to know whether you might need other meds & what those would be (unless you have a health issue where you might have a reasonable expectation that you may need a certain medication). You can save on medications with GoodRx, Costco, Cost Plus, etc if need be. H has WellCare, which is free this year. One med is free. The other is very inexpensive when filled at Costco, because they give us their lower price (he could also save with GoodRx at CVS or Kroger). When determining the best Part D, you need to go to the Medicare website & plug in all of the meds to compare plans (we left out H’s drug that he knew was more expensive if he uses Part D for it). There is a $2,000 annual cap, but it is reached in different ways for different Part D plans … it makes zero logical sense, so you just have to plug the meds and compare the annual costs. Every. Year.
Plan G is definitely the way to go, IMO, for those who can afford the premiums. My MIL has an Advantage plan, and her Part A deductible plus copays add up for hospitalization.
From recent personal experience–call first thing in the morning. If they give you the option for a call back and you can do that, take it. I had to call multiple times (long story), and the callback option always worked, even though it was a long wait.
We aren’t there yet but because of this thread I Googled and saw Plan G is less than $2k. I think that’s a deal, but a couple of people here indicated that it was expensive. What am I not understanding? Or maybe I pay so much already this only feels like a deal to me?