[twinklesweep]

This will be a long read, but IMO is extremely important!

Originally Posted by snhmhg

Because I am going on Medicare and a UH supplement plan F, I cannot see my primary at the Villages Health anymore. You have to have a Med Advantage plan, Villages requires it. I think Med plus the supplement F is the best way to go if you have health issues.

From my experience and that of a fair number of others, find a new primary who is independent of TV's Health program.

Originally Posted by rsmurano

IMO, the supplement plans (F, G, others) are the better way to go. My insurance broker told me last year these are the Cadillac plans (I have plan G). You can’t go to the villages health centers but from what I have heard, that’s a good thing.
Don’t take my word for this, do some checking yourself during the open period. I pay a small fee per month and have a small deductible (I think a couple hundred $$$ a year) but I don’t pay copays and can go anywhere where Medicare is accepted. The advantage plans you usually pay a copay for each visit, more restrictive on who you can see.

Don’t take my word for it either. I have heard the same about TV Health—that not going there is "a good thing." From what I've also been told, those who disagree are generally healthy, but inevitably as we grow older, it doesn't remain that way.

Originally Posted by esteelenov

I agree, I have plan F but I think it is no longer available. Plan G has taken its place.
Husband and I have both had to see specialists and have never had to pay a copay. Actually, we have never gotten a bill for any doctor or hospital. I have been hospitalized for kidney stones and husband has had operations and procedures (he has cancer).

They have honored grandfathering in the past. We have Plan J, which has not been offered for quite a few years. I once became ill while traveling overseas, and much to my surprise, my overseas medical bills were covered by Plan J (even though original Medicare would not even look at them).

Originally Posted by bonrich

I have Plan G, recently changed from F. We are primary in Florida and have a home in NYS. So, it was important to us to have a portable plan. We have United Health Care/AARP. Accepted anywhere the service accepts Medicare. Never a problem through the years of major health issues.

Yes absolutely! If original Medicare is accepted—and it is accepted virtually everywhere throughout the US—the Medicare Supplement automatically kicks in.

Originally Posted by aldeana

If you have plan F that tells me you have freestanding Medicare with a Medigap (a supplemental policy-type F) and not an advantage plan. If you are not in an advantage plan, you don't have any network problems.

Absolutely true!

Originally Posted by Larchap49

Exactly why I have traditional Medicare and Humana plan F supplement. Go to any DR, any facility, anywhere in the USA. I pay the monthly premium and never another dime. I avoid all Villages facilities with their restrictive policies. One thing I won't let TV control is my health care. Their $0.00 premiums are not worth the restrictions on care centers, referrals, co-pays, wait times, etc. and when the UHC contract expires and it will expire, who will you get next. Again any DR any hospital anywhere except in TV. Why do you suppose TV restricts this when the top Doctors and hospitals in the country don't? I think their right to make another dollar goes too far when they dictate where you get your medical care.

The level of greed is shocking—and that is exactly what it is.... This is not to say that no one is pleased with TV Health, but wait until those persons start developing the inevitable issues that come with age.

Originally Posted by Zenmama18

Agree, my husband's 2 specialists do not take any Medicare Advantage plans, just traditional Medicare. Medicare Advantage is great if you're in generally good health, but if you have complex medical issues you may not have access to the best docs and facilities.

You think "may not"? More likely "will not" have access to what you determine is the best care for what you're dealing with. You have no such choices with TV Health or any other HMO or Advantage plan or whatever new names they come up with to counter what becomes the stigma of the existing names!

Originally Posted by WindyCityzen

Plan F is the Golden Ticket. Everyone takes it, no copays, no fuss/no muss. And once you’re in, never ever leave. You’re set for life.

Very true "no fuss/no muss." Your original Medicare automatically files the balance of your claims to the supplement, and the supplement then handles it from there. You do not have to deal with claim forms and such.


My two cents:

As far as supplement plans are concerned, Plan G is Plan G, spelled out by contract with Medicare. However, one insurance company may charge X dollars a month, while another company charges a considerably higher Y dollars a month. But the plans are by law identical! Many years ago, we "inherited" the plan that our employer had been paying for in our behalf, and we had always had a good relationship with its agent. When our employer quit the "health care for retirees" business and instead opted to pay retired employees a stipend, we went searching and discovered that that (again the identical) Plan J with a different company was a little over $100 difference in premium per month per person! Greed? So it appeared. When we went back to the formerly personable agent, his response bordered on nasty! We naturally changed companies!

Can an employer really opt out of health care for retirees? Evidently.... The only benefits that remain intact and cannot be touched were dental and vision (eyeglasses) coverage, and why? Because they were union-negotiated benefits!

We are constantly being enticed to sign on for an HMO or Advantage plan with so-called freebies—membership in a gym, free OTC drugstore supplies, coverage for prescription meds, zero premium (while the cost of original Medicare keeps going up), and more. But as pointed out above, with a supplemental plan there are zero deductibles and zero copays. Do an analysis of what one of these HMO or Advantage plans would cost you per year in contrast with no deductibles (including the $200 or however much it is nowadays each year for Medicare), and you might find it an eye-opener.

If you are relatively healthy, you may feel that financially there is a great advantage to an Advantage plan. But once you opt into one of these plans, it is extremely difficult to virtually impossible to be allowed to go back to original Medicare plus Medicare supplement.

And there are those of us who feel (nothing to document this ... yet) that when enough seniors are enticed into making this poor choice, the rest of us will then be told that the conventional original Medicare plus Medicare Supplement will no longer be available as of whatever the date will be. A profoundly scary thought!