Originally Posted by Happydaz (Post 2193391)

I have been researching different Medicare health plans. I currently have traditional Medicare and a supplement plan. I have looked at the Villages Health plan and United Health Care. The upfront costs of Medicare Advantage plans are lower than my plan. It looks very attractive but I am concerned that at some point Medicare may reign in these Advantage plans as they are costing Medicare more than traditional Medicare. If that were to happen and I had made a switch I couldn’t go back to my former company sponsored plan. I get all drugs for a small co pay in my current plan, a great benefit. My concern is further increased because the Villages sells its assets when they no longer see they are needed, e.g. rec centers, fire departments, water and irrigation systems, etc.. The people making the most money in healthcare are the insurance companies not the medical personnel or hospitals. Now I see the Villages Health is advertising in the Daily Sun and is offering residents bounties for physician referrals. Maybe it is becoming difficult to attract physicians to central Florida? What do you think?

Originally Posted by villagetinker (Post 2193455)

Medicare and supplemental you get to decide what doctor to see, etc., Medicare ADVANTAGE is MANAGED CARE you do not get to decide on which doctor to use, your PCP makes this decision for you as well as your insurance company. This seems to work very well if you are healthy, not so good if you have medical problems. We tried it and were able to get back to original Medicare and are much happier. SHINE (Senior Health Information Network) has a lot of unbiased information on this subject and has local meetings for one on one discussions.

The above comments regarding specialists is from 8 years ago and may not be valid under the current insurance coverages. We had very long waits (3 to 4 months) for specialists, and the ones we had been using would NOT accept the advantage plan. We had no option but to drop Advantage and go back to Medicare and supplemental. NOTE: there is a limitation (50 weeks I think), that if you go over that you may be subjected to underwriting to get back to regular Medicare and supplemental.

Originally Posted by Happydaz (Post 2193391)

I have been researching different Medicare health plans. I currently have traditional Medicare and a supplement plan. I have looked at the Villages Health plan and United Health Care. The upfront costs of Medicare Advantage plans are lower than my plan. It looks very attractive but I am concerned that at some point Medicare may reign in these Advantage plans as they are costing Medicare more than traditional Medicare. If that were to happen and I had made a switch I couldn’t go back to my former company sponsored plan. I get all drugs for a small co pay in my current plan, a great benefit. My concern is further increased because the Villages sells its assets when they no longer see they are needed, e.g. rec centers, fire departments, water and irrigation systems, etc.. The people making the most money in healthcare are the insurance companies not the medical personnel or hospitals. Now I see the Villages Health is advertising in the Daily Sun and is offering residents bounties for physician referrals. Maybe it is becoming difficult to attract physicians to central Florida? What do you think?

Originally Posted by retiredguy123 (Post 2193496)

To clarify, if you have original Medicare, you can use any provider who accepts Medicare. But, if you have an Advantage plan, you can only use providers that are part of the insurance company's network of providers.

Originally Posted by maistocars (Post 2193722)

Exactly! Plus Advantage was way more expensive for me as the co-pays will be very expensive and more than outweigh any monthly premiums IMO.

Originally Posted by rustyp (Post 2193489)

Once again false information. Both the The Villages accepted United Healthcare Medicare Advantage (HMO POS) and AARP Medicare Advantage Choice (PPO) 2023 plans do don't require a specialist referral.

Originally Posted by rustyp (Post 2193727)

In 2022, nearly half of (48%) eligible Medicare beneficiaries – 28.4 million people out of 58.6 million Medicare beneficiaries overall – are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. Medicare Advantage enrollment as a share of the eligible Medicare population has more than doubled from 2007 to 2022 (19% to 48%).

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the share of all Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans will rise to 61 percent by 2032

In the state of Florida Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans this year is between 50 - 60 %.

Apparently 28.4 MILLION seniors must all be either naive or healthy !

Originally Posted by maistocars (Post 2193722)

Exactly! Plus Advantage was way more expensive for me as the co-pays will be very expensive and more than outweigh any monthly premiums IMO.

Originally Posted by bowlingal (Post 2193682)

DO NOT go with the advantage plan. You will be very sorry. It's fine as long as you are healthy, but get sick? You are looking at very expensive bills. Health care is NOT free, you will pay somewhere down the road. Stay with what you have.