Quote:
Originally Posted by LoriAnn
The sole purpose of all Medicare replacement plans is to save Medicare money. That is accomplished by decreasing benefits to the Patient. They advertise services not offered by traditional Medicare to lure you. They never disclose all the benefit cuts compared to traditional Medicare. Keep in mind that everyone you are meeting with are sales people who stand to make money when you give up your traditional Medicare. Often they do not know every detail of the replacement policy in comparison to traditional Medicare. It is very complex. You always get more services with traditional Medicare. I have seen people choose replacement policies for gym memberships and covered medications that are generic inexpensive and generations removed. They never cover the most effective latest developed meds. In return the patient gets co-pays and/or deductables on hospitalizations, homecare, DME, and limited choices in providers. When a person on replacement policy needs a referral to a specialist they don't even get the best choices. The referral person can only pick from the list that accept that policy. Every provider accepts traditional Medicare, it's always the best choice.
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While what you are saying here is true for Medicare Health Plans that are categorized as HMOs, it is not true for all Plans. Some plans like the AARP Choice plan mentioned are categorized as a PPO which allows you to use an out of network provider for an additional fee.
The best place to compare the various plans is right at the
Medicare Website under the “Compare Drug and Health Care” menu option. Just follow the step by step guide and enter any medications you take. Be sure to select the option to save the medications list and jot down the serial number and password date that it provides you. After selecting the last step, it will give you a detailed list of each plan and an estimate of the annual out of pocket expense that you can expect to pay. You can even get adjusted figures if you have certain high cost ailments.
As for compensation to the insurance agent, they have a link to download a spreadsheet and view the agent's compensation for all the plans.