Medicare and FEHB

[Duke-SRT]

I’m turning 65 in August of this year and I was hoping there was someone out there who is a retired federal employee who was in The FEHB and has signed up for Medicare. I need someone familiar with this procedure to help walk me through it. I can be contacted at duke1978@hotmail.com. Dave

[Dan9871]

Check with Shine

SHINE - 3 (http://www.floridashine.org/Community-Events/3.aspx?q=Sumter)

[Navy (SSBN 633)]

Medicare and FEHB Options - What Will You Do When You Turn 65 | Federal Employee's Retirement Planning Guide (http://fedretire.net/medicare-and-fehb-options-what-will-you-do-when-you-turn-65-part-1/)

[retiredguy123]

I’m turning 65 in August of this year and I was hoping there was someone out there who is a retired federal employee who was in The FEHB and has signed up for Medicare. I need someone familiar with this procedure to help walk me through it. I can be contacted at duke1978@hotmail.com. Dave
I am 68 and have had the FEHB Blue Cross Standard plan since I retired. Personally, I think it is a waste of money to pay for Medicare Part B in addition to FEHB. It is redundant. My Medicare premium would be over $260 per month, based on my income. I don't see any reason to pay over $3,000 per year for Medicare when the Blue Cross catastrophic limit is only $5,000 per year. So, I have saved over $10,000 in premiums so far by not buying Medicare. Medicare part B is optional and not necessary. That is my opinion. Good luck.

[784caroline]

You never need it....UNTIL...you need it, At 69 Plus i was getting ready to drop meicare until MAJOR inicident occuerd. Glad I kept everything and MAYO clinic accpeted everything with no issue. $2,000 - $3,000 for medical treatment is nothing in the shchme of the things. I will show you presprsetion orders for $10000 each order. By the way i way a was in good.

My advice...FEHB is not a place to short change $$$...you never know what tomorrow will bring..

[retiredguy123]

I agree that FEHB is needed. But, I cannot see paying an additional $3,300 per year for Medicare Part B. The only possible benefit I could get from that would be maybe $1,700. That is the difference between the FEHB catastrophic limit of $5,000 and the $3,300 Medicare premium. By the way, Medicare Part B does not cover prescription drugs, but, if you had the Blue Cross FEHB plan, you would not pay $10,000 for anything because you would have exceeded the catastrophic limit, and everything would be covered at 100 percent.

[gatorbill1]

I don't think rx costs go toward cat limit

[retiredguy123]

I don't think rx costs go toward cat limit
Not true with the Blue Cross plan. Drug out-of-pocket expenses are included.

[Radioman41]

we have Medicare Parts A & B and Federal Blue Cross Standard. Several years ago we started having major medical expenses and are thankful we have both. Almost no out of pocket expenses. You never know when something major will come along.

[retiredguy123]

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.

[OCsun]

Dave,

I will send you an email.

Retireguy123 - It seems like you have selected the best option for you and I admire your effort to want others to save money too.

However, as you know there are many different levels of Federal Employees and different costs to Federal Employees for Medicare B. Additionally, FEHP introduced a new benefit to the Basic Plan during the 2017 open enrollment period which reimburses members up to $600 annually of their Medicare premium.

Shine is a great service offered here in The Villages. Shine Representatives are not trained to know and should not need to know all of the tidbits of FEHP employee plans. FEHP employees would further benefit themselves to compare a few plans offered to them before visiting with a shine representative.

[KenJoan]

We have Federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield basic plan along with Medicare Part A and B. My Wife and I are reimbursed $600 a year each (total of $1200) with basic plan towards medicare part B premiums. She has had both hips replaced and both shoulders replaced. We had no out of pocket expenses.

[thompsonjn1949]

I also recommend you talk to SHINE. As I recall, once you are eligible for Medicare Part B, FEHB alone will only cover what Medicare Part B would cover (80%) - for more money (thanks to Congress). If you have both Medicare Part B and BCBS Standard supplemental, there are no co-pays or co-insurance and generic drugs are 15% of BCBS costs. Also if you decide later that you want Medicare Part B, there is a 10% cumulative penalty for each year you don't have it. Medicare Part B has no overseas coverage and most FEHB supplementals do. We keep BCBS Standard vice Basic because of out-of-network coverage. If you can afford it, I recommend to do both Medicare Part B and a FEHB supplemental. With an August birthday, you can sign up for Medicare Part B on the Medicare website starting the first of May

[OCsun]

We have Federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield basic plan along with Medicare Part A and B. My Wife and I are reimbursed $600 a year each (total of $1200) with basic plan towards medicare part B premiums. She has had both hips replaced and both shoulders replaced. We had no out of pocket expenses.

Good to know! Thanks for sharing.

[Villageswimmer]

We have Federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield basic plan along with Medicare Part A and B. My Wife and I are reimbursed $600 a year each (total of $1200) with basic plan towards medicare part B premiums. She has had both hips replaced and both shoulders replaced. We had no out of pocket expenses.


We have the same. Very happy with it.

[Byte1]

I am 68 and have had the FEHB Blue Cross Standard plan since I retired. Personally, I think it is a waste of money to pay for Medicare Part B in addition to FEHB. It is redundant. My Medicare premium would be over $260 per month, based on my income. I don't see any reason to pay over $3,000 per year for Medicare when the Blue Cross catastrophic limit is only $5,000 per year. So, I have saved over $10,000 in premiums so far by not buying Medicare. Medicare part B is optional and not necessary. That is my opinion. Good luck.

I totally agree. Medicare B will cost you over a hundred bucks per month, per person. So if you are married, you will be adding a couple hundred bucks a month that gives your private insurance break from the responsibility of providing the same service. Medical services always charge Medicare FIRST before the private insurance provider. If you have BC/BS like I do, then why bother throwing away a couple hundred bucks a month? The one problem I have encountered in Florida is that BC/BS has caused me billing problems because they think that everyone has Medicare B and they act like they do not want to pay your bill. It has been a major headache trying to get them to pay the bill and I have had to send them copies of our Medicare card that says we only have Medicare A; so far we have mailed them around 8 times in six years. I never had problems with Blue Cross until I moved here. So far, Medicare has been a total waste of my decades of paying for it. But, that is just my opinion.

[Byte1]

We have Federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield basic plan along with Medicare Part A and B. My Wife and I are reimbursed $600 a year each (total of $1200) with basic plan towards medicare part B premiums. She has had both hips replaced and both shoulders replaced. We had no out of pocket expenses.

I have Medicare A only and Federal BC/BS and by NOT paying for Medicare B I will save $3252 per year. I have the same BC coverage as I would if I was still employed, so since I did not need Medicare before, I still don't need it. I have basic instead of standard because I pay a small co-payment but I do not have a yearly deductible. I paid a $150 co-payment to the hospital and $150 to the doctor/surgeon for my spouses $22,000 knee replacement. Of course, that was before we were eligible for Medicare coverage.

[retiredguy123]

I also recommend you talk to SHINE. As I recall, once you are eligible for Medicare Part B, FEHB alone will only cover what Medicare Part B would cover (80%) - for more money (thanks to Congress). If you have both Medicare Part B and BCBS Standard supplemental, there are no co-pays or co-insurance and generic drugs are 15% of BCBS costs. Also if you decide later that you want Medicare Part B, there is a 10% cumulative penalty for each year you don't have it. Medicare Part B has no overseas coverage and most FEHB supplementals do. We keep BCBS Standard vice Basic because of out-of-network coverage. If you can afford it, I recommend to do both Medicare Part B and a FEHB supplemental. With an August birthday, you can sign up for Medicare Part B on the Medicare website starting the first of May
If you are talking about the FEHB Blue Cross standard plan, it is not true that it only covers 80 percent of covered Medicare Part B costs. FEHB has totally separate rules for what percent they cover. For example, office visits have flat rate copays and surgical procedures have a percentage which is often higher than 80 percent of the cost. But, to me, the most valuable FEHB benefit is the catastrophic limit, which is a benefit that Medicare Part B does not offer. And, the FEHB catastrophic limit applies to all out of pocket expenses, including copays, coinsurance payments, prescription drug costs, and hospital costs. With the Blue Cross plan, once you have spent $5,000 out of pocket in a calendar year, everything else is covered at 100 percent.

[mary.eill]

I am a retired Federal Employee...there is nothing much to it but call SHINE & they will be able to direct you to a local contact..
Call SHINE: Liaison: Cheryl Harris
Address: 100 SW 75th Street Ste. 301, Gainesville, FL 32607
Phone Number: 1-800-96-ELDER or 1-800-963-5337