If you are a retired Federal employee and have the Blue Cross standard health plan, you have an annual catastrophic limit of $5,000. That is a huge financial benefit. It means that all of your out-of-pocket expenses, including copays, coinsurance, prescription drug costs, surgery costs, and anything else that is a covered insurance expense can never exceed $5,000 in any calendar year. I know this from personal experience in taking care of a cancer patient, who greatly exceeded the limit 3 years in a row. After you have spent $5,000, everthing else is covered at 100 percent. So, in my opinion, if you can budget $5,000 for out-of-pocket health care expenses, there is really no need to buy any other health insurance. So, why sign up for Medicare and pay thousands of dollars every year in premiums to the Federal Government, when you are already fully covered by the FEHB insurance plan? By declining Medicare Part B, you will most likely save thousands of dollars over the years by not paying those premiums. That is my 2 cents worth.
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