First off, I have Medicare, so this is not a worry for me, but…..
I was checking my doctor’s web listing, and I noted her large regional medical group accepts more than 125 insurance plans from more than 20 insurers. Yipe! Glad I don’t have to find my own medical insurance.
... Me too. 
Well, I have Medicare, then I have a Blue Cross supplemental plan, then I have a prescription plan, and it seems that the main function at the doctors office these days is to see what all tests and procedures are "covered" and then prescribe every damn one of them. Honestly, their focus on payments over patients is disgusting. But they indeed have their hands full with all these plans, and it can take a long time to get paid by them, or by the government.
The heavily advertised "Advantage Plans" are usually confined to one county, and the pricing and coverage changes at the county line. Insane. Getting care outside of your county will be very expensive, so choose where you live carefully if you go that route.
What about all those supplemental plans that cover some of the cost not covered by Medicare. Every time I turn on the TV there’s some 60plus individual hawking a supplement plan. Joe Namath needs to get a new gig.
Edited by - 5B-Ranch on 11/21/2022 18:14:55
We have an agent that helps us with our supplemental and prescription plans. This time every year he goes over our plans and either recommends that we keep them or if something better is available. He does not charge us anything for his services and since he is an independent agent he represents practically all insurers.
My Medicare supplement is through the NEA-Retired operation. Excellent coverage and a plan that works to serve members—not just make money.
Right now I'm on Tricare Prime. When I'm old enough for Medicare that will switch to Tricare Standard and become my supplemental policy. I pay about $150 per quarter for a family and when it switches to Standard it's free, at least for now, so it's kind of a no-brainer for me.
Be glad there are choices...
Some day there may be...
No..Choice....
I have Medicare, a secondary and a prescription plan. Together they cost a little over $300 a month. For anyone who is still healthy and is lucky enough to have no big health problems, that is a high price to pay and could be used better elsewhere. However, one has little choice in the matter: you HAVE to have Medicare and a Prescription Plan. If you don't enroll then when you do need to, you're penalized for not doing it sooner.
I usually check around every year to see what prices are for both secondary and prescription coverage. It's amazing how different that can be.
I've checked into the Medicare Advantage programs and have never gotten what I consider a good answer to; what about that extra 20% that Medicare doesn't cover, who or what takes care of that? All I get is insurance garbage talk. No Advantage for me. No having to go to their providers. No having to ask their doctor if I can see a specialist. I could go on, but you get the idea.
Medicare with BC supplemental and "I don't know who" medication plan. Marilyn, is our HR person. Now that we are both on meds, she does the annual review to see which company's plans suite our profile best. Makes a big difference.
Brad
I'm covered with Medicare,Medicaid and my VA plan.
I don't really know who does what.They seem to communicate well with each other.I get sent to any VA hospital or any private hospital depending on what needs to be done.
The doctors and nurses I've spoken with tell me I have excellent coverage.I just got another junk phone call from someone claiming to be from Medicare and asking questions about my coverage.
I always tell these folks that I don't discuss medical things over the phone.Sometimes I ask them to prove to me that they are who they claim to be.
That's usually when they hang up.
My goal with junk calls is to frustrate them enough to make them hang up on me.
Edited by - steve davis on 11/22/2022 07:55:33
quote:
Originally posted by STUDBe glad there are choices...
Some day there may be...
No..Choice....
I wouldn't care about choices if everyone got full coverage.
My first question would be to question who has the most refused claims. I'm not under an American plan so I can't criticize a specific company. When I got my first home my dad who was in the business told me to check out who is most likely to bilk you when you need to submit a claim. The cheapest of anything is seldom the best.
