Medicare Store-- BUYER BEWARE
 

I went to the Medicare Store at LSL last week as I'm turning 65 soon. I wanted info on both the Medicare Advantage and Supplement Plans offered by United Health Care. What I got was a hard sales pitch for their advantage plan that was filled with misleading and at time totally false info. I was shocked by their sales tactics and misrepresentation. Here are some of the things the sales rep told me that I have since learned is simply not true: 1) "no one in the Villages ever meets their annual $4500 out of pocket maximum" (I must live in an unlucky neighborhood because 2 neighbors shared with me they met their $4500 and 3 paid over $2500 last year). 2) "the only people who buy a supplement are those who have it paid for by their employer as a part of a retiree benefit" (this is simply not true. I personally know of many people who have a supplement who pay for it themselves). 3) "A supplement plan and Part D plan will cost you $3500/yr". (fact: a F plan costs $2200/yr and a N plan will cost only $1800/yr. A part D plan start at $18/mo and the average premium people pay is $30-35/mo. This equals far less than the $3500/yr the rep quoted) 4) " a Part D plan with $O deductible will costs you $80/mo". (fact: Silver Script costs $26.40/mo for a $0 deductible plan). I'm so glad I went to see a SHINE counselor. They don't sell anything. They just gave me the facts about all the various plans/options and costs. If you go to a "Medicare Store" just remember they are sales people, just like those at your local car dealership. And like at a car dealership there are sales people who will say or do anything, including lie, to get that sale.

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

They were just trying to help you. Advantage plan is best for 95% of people on medicare. I would worry if they tried to sell you a suplement

I prefer Medicare plus a supplement because I can choose my doctor anytime anywhere. I am not stuck with whatever doctor is in their plan. Remember half the doctors graduated in the bottom half of their medical school class. I do not want a foreign trained doctor either but one from a first class US school who was accepted based on how smart he or she was as evidenced by their college grades and testing.

Try SHINE - Home for better advice. They do not sell anything just explain medicare.

My brother-in-law's wife had problems finding a doctor in the network in her area and had to go 300 miles to a specialist. United Health Care cut out hundreds of doctors in its network in the recent years.

I chose the Supplemental Plan F when I turned 65. The premium payments are my total cost per year. So when I tripped in the garage fracturing my shoulder which required a total reverse shoulder replacement I paid nothing for a $65,000 procedure.

The supplement F plan is the ultimate insurance your yearly costs are fixed no matter what happens!

I think that's what she did, as stated in her post.

Good work, Barb! And I detect some of your humor in there too.:ho:

:agree:

That is the one I use. I have yet to be out of pocket for anything other than a couple of blood tests which I opted to have knowing they were not covered. This is a great plan.

I travel so Plan F was my choice also.

We had Villages advantage for 50 weeks, during that time my wife had multiple problems with specialists. The straw that broke the camels back was when her pacemaker needed replacement, and they could not get a specialist for almost 2 MONTHS. We were able to go back to a supplemental, get a specialist at Monroe Regional, and had the pacemaker replaced in less than a month.
As stated above IF you are in good health, advantage plans are great, if not..................

But, but, their name sounds so...paternalistically benevolent you just want to sit down with them and trust everything they say. You’re smart.


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I also have Plan F and would never do a Medicare Advantage Plan. Horror stories abound, get approvals for everything you need other than your primary provider. Not for me. I want the best doctor, not the one on "their" list

This is why you NEVER go to an insurance company to get advice on insurance. Those medicare stores are owned by United Healthcare. What insurance do you think they are going to promote and recommend....Aetna? It's like going to a Ford dealer to get their advice on a Chevy....

And, I would personally never buy anything with AARP associated with it. AARP takes a cut for everything sold with their name on it. And, they lobby for political views that are opposed to my own.

I do appreciate the comparisons of Advantage vs Type F. We are moving this spring to the Villages and I will be shopping for a new plan. I currently have an Advantage PPO with Florida Blue and have never had any of the issues others are complaining about in this thread.

The Medicare stores in the town squares will only try to sell you the insurance accepted by the Villages Health System. That would be UHC Advantage Plan. You were wise to meet with the reps from SHINE to get honest comparisons of available plans that will best meet your needs.

That's true, but the name of the "store" itself is deceiving. I can see where it might mislead someone into thinking it's a government agency designed to give you advice on Medicare. OP saw through it, but others might not.

Don't you love it when you get mail that tries to deceive you and imply it's official govt business.

Medicare store... lol... scum for using that name.

Traditional medicare plus a supplement offers complete flexibility, choice and location of doctors or specialists.

Since turning 65 (many years ago!) with traditional medicare and our supplement we have not had to reach in our pocket for one dime for some pretty exclusive surgical and post surgery procedures.
With doctors and specialists in multiple states.

What is monthly cost of supplement? Isn't this reaching into your pocket?

We travel quite a bit, my wife has a plan F supplement from Blue Cross/Blue Shield. This is great when medical care is needed away from home. You can shop for a plan F supplement, you'll find a variety of prices but you should expect to pay less than $200 a month, over and above your Medicare coverage. Remember, a plan F is a plan F regardless of what insurer you buy it from. Be cost conscience.

I am 70 and my Florida Blue Plan F is 210.20 month.

I just turned 76 and my NM UHC plan F moved up a few bucks to $213/ mo.

It pays whether I use it in NM or in CA where I have a second home and I prefer to see to my medical needs when possible as I believe the doctors there are better. Never been a problem. Oh, and I have used it in FL a few times and in MD, TX and AZ.

Have the advantage plan, so far (3 years) no issues and because of that, significantly less that Plan F. Have no problem when traveling since they have a Passport Plan but haven't had a need to use it. This year, headed for a hip replacement which of course will carry deductibles.....so will see how it all shakes out since this is the first step outside the usual stuff. Stay tuned.

Sometimes people deliberately mislead us. Sometimes they just aren’t good employees. I would talk to management at United Health Care and let them know your disappointment. We have had The Villages Advantage plan since it’s inception and have never paid more out of pocket than our previous insurance premiums. This year my husband had over $300,000 of expenses and we still did not reach the out of pocket amount which is about 4600.00. I don’t recall the exact amount. We have also been out of state and needed medical care with no problem. I’m sure it’s not the plan for everyone but it has served us well.

Do you work for the Villages health? This simply is not true.

NO I do not work for anyone. It is a fact that most medicare recipients are enrolled in an advantage plan. I recently switched to uhc because you do not need referrals and they have the most specialists available when needed.
A lot of people are afraid of what they do not know enough about.
I merely stated what is best for MOST people, not everyone.

It appears that about 33% of Medicare recipients are enrolled in an Advantage Plan, a bit higher in FL. This is hardly "most". You are not in a position to state what is "best" for most people. It depends on individual circumstances.

Wrong again. Most Medicare recipients are not enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan.

Correct!

Please don't categorize all insurance agents as "bad used car salesmen"!! Not all are that way. As a licensed agent for 30 years we have lots of clients on medicare supplements and medicare advantages. No agent should try to persuade you to go either way. You should have all options explained to you and then you decide for yourself which is best. Some feel more comfortable with a supplement and some like the either low or no premium with advantage plans. Bottom line: It is you and your insurance coverage and should be your decision and not an agents!! Shine is a great place for information but don't forget that there are lots of good and knowledgable agents out there as well!!

I have Villages Advantage and will be switching back to Medicare Plan F next year. I think The Villages is a fine plan for people in general good health, but I'm not. The trouble and stress of getting referrals, finding specialists who accept my plan, and dealing with conflicting information from UHC customer support is not helping. Plan F will be more expensive but I think will provide more peace of mind for me. People's needs are different!

I also exceeded my out of pocket limit last year.

This may be minor to others, but I also find Villages Advantage to be quite intrusive. They call me a lot and send 2-3 letters a week, trying to sell other services and get me to "partner" with them to discuss my health issues. Sorry, but I don't consider an insurance company to be my partner. Their bottom line is not mine.

But then, I'm a loss leader for them and am sure they won't be sorry to see me go. I won't be discussing the change with my agent beforehand. ;-)

I’d contact your agent just to stick it in his ear, but that’s me.
I’m so glad to be reading everyone opine on the Villages Health and supplement plans. I’ve 23 months to go, on the VA now and will go with a supplement plan when eligible, no if’s and’s or but’s about it.





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You will be very pleasantly surprised to find that there is no deductible for your surgery. You will be charged $275 per night of hospital stay. Period. Not another red cent!

My husband has had 2 major surgeries while on our UHC Advantage plan. Both were with world reknown specialists in Orlando. We were able to choose the very best doctors for his procedures. His knee replacement with Dr Nguyen was “billed” at $85,000. My husband paid $275.00.

His other surgery was a DaVinci robotic prostatectomy. Dr Patel is the best in the world, having pioneered this procedure. I am a RN and I know it makes a huge difference. Again. 1 night hospital stay and $275 co pay. TOTAL!!

We also get to choose $40, each, worth of OTC meds, supplements, first aid supplies etc AT NO EXTRA COST, every quarter.

We are amazed that the Advantage plan is so fabulous!! And not a penny in premiums!!

Don’t know why it gets a bad rap!! What we pay in specialist co pays and Rx copays are less than the premium for 1 month on the supplement.
Do your homework!!!
No premiums. We couldn’t be happier with UHC Advantage.

VERY INTERESTING to read these details of your coverage. Thanks for posting.

I couldn't agree more. I as bad as my experience at UHC's Medicare store was, I had the exact opposite experience at the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Store off of 101 near Lil' Bits restaurant. The agent gave accurate information on all options (that matched what SHINE provided). She answered all my questions, gave me the costs associated with each option etc. I was very impressed with her professionalism and honesty.

[QUOTE=dotti105;1515225]You will be very pleasantly surprised to find that there is no deductible for your surgery. You will be charged $275 per night of hospital stay. Period. Not another red cent!

My husband has had 2 major surgeries while on our UHC Advantage plan. Both were with world reknown specialists in Orlando. We were able to choose the very best doctors for his procedures. His knee replacement with Dr Nguyen was “billed” at $85,000. My husband paid $275.00.

His other surgery was a DaVinci robotic prostatectomy. Dr Patel is the best in the world, having pioneered this procedure. I am a RN and I know it makes a huge difference. Again. 1 night hospital stay and $275 co pay. TOTAL!!

We also get to choose $40, each, worth of OTC meds, supplements, first aid supplies etc AT NO EXTRA COST, every quarter.

We are amazed that the Advantage plan is so fabulous!! And not a penny in premiums!!

Don’t know why it gets a bad rap!! What we pay in specialist co pays and Rx copays are less than the premium for 1 month on the supplement.
Do your homework!!!
No premiums. We couldn’t be happier with UHC Advantage.[/QUOTE

My experience with Advantage is similar to yours, have not had any major procedures so far but no problems so far. Just curious on what I bolded in your post, please explain a bit further.

Interesting discussion. I turn 65 this year and need to decide if I stay with TVH by purchasing a participating Advantage plan.

Being a fairly healthy snowbird, I thought my choices would be quite simple, so I was looking forward to reading this message thread!

Unfortunately, in just 38 posts, you all described 100% opposing views on:
- Who to trust for insurance advice
- How much the two major plans hit Out of Pocket
- If Specialized physicians are readily available
- Whether it is possible to choose a preferred specialist
- If Out of state care is covered and available
- Whether most or only 33% of people are on Advantage plans

Wow, no wonder people are confused by medical insurance options. None of the people posting here are doing so with the intent to mislead -- but each have reported immensely different opinions and experiences when using identical plans.

Hmmmm. Making a decision might not be as simple as I thought...