[Byte1]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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

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