AARP Medicare supplemental - big increases for 2012
 

Just got the Annual Notice of Changes for the AARP Medicare Complete Choice Plan 2 (Regional PPO).

Their annual out of pocket maximum is going from 4,750 to 5,900, an increase of 25%. And most of the co-pays are being raised by 30% or more. All of this in the middle of a serious ongoing recession.

Time to start looking for alternatives. We have until December 7th to switch providers.

Try Preferred Care Partners $0 monthly. They are in Sumter Landing.

We left AARP Supplemental insurance last year and went with Preferred Care Partners. We are saving $400 a month in premiums and that is based on what they were in 2010. PCP's Advantage Plan is being merged in with their Gold Plan for 2012. We have been very pleased with this insurance. The biggest change you would notice is that you will have to stay within a network of providers. We have had no problems finding care within the network. Some of my doctors participate in the plan so I didn't have to start completely over. Urgent care is covered out of the area and I used that benefit when we were away from The Villages this summer. There is no premium for PCP's coverage. Go talk to the folks at Sumter Landing and then you can decide for yourself what to do. Just keep in mind that once you leave AARP you most likely will not be able to return to them without a health exam. This means that they can charge you higher premiums, if they cover you at all, for any pre-exisiting conditions.

When I signed up for Medicare last year, it came down to a choice between AARP Complete Choice and Preferred Care Partners.

Have either of you received your Open Enrolment forms along with the Notice of Changes for the PCP plan. If so, did you notice any substantial increases like I did.

We got new info in the mail last week from Preferred Care Partners and I couldn't see much in the way of changes....nothing big, anyway. The biggest change is the merger of their two plans, The Advantage Plan and The Gold Plan. It will just be The Gold Plan starting Jan.1st. We were going to switch from The Advantage Plan to The Gold Plan anyway. One change that I noticed in The Gold Plan is that chemo drugs will no longer be covered at 100%. Looks like there will be a 20% co-pay on these drugs, going forward. This is a bit concerning to me since I am a cancer survivor, but there IS an out-of-pocket limit that would keep MY share from taking me to bankruptcy court! PLUS, I have to remind myself that between the two of us we are saving almost $5000 a year in supplemental insurance premiums. PCP includes some dental coverage, including two cleanings a year and some X-rays. That saves us another $700 or $800 a year, easily. We did not have any dental coverage with the AARP plan. I would go into more detail about coverage with the PCP plan but I am currently dog sitting for our daughter and don't have access to the booklets that explain the coverage.

Thanks for the update. The medicare.gov web site has a nice feature for comparing several plans but it looks like it hasn’t been updated yet with the new rates and plans.

I only have Plan D coverage with Unicare (out of CA)
 

My physician in South FL suggested until plans for Medicare are in place,
a not for profit hospital would have to accept coverage I have through the government. And, by switching my 7 (yes) daily prescriptions to generics, he also saved me $500 a month. I was, of course, in the heart of a number of not for profit hospitals there which must accept Medicare reimbursement. So
that worked for me there.

When I recieved my new prescription notice the other day from Unicare, I did not notice a major change in the fee for prescriptions, BUT I did notice
that several of the drugs are no longer in their formulary. Oh great. This
growing old is not for sissies. I have some homework ahead.

My AARP Medicare Rx Preferred plan premium is going from $35.80 to $40.80, not a big increase. And the gap starts at $2930 instead of $2840, which is a good thing because it will take longer to "fall into the gap." Also, most of the co-pays are reduced next year.
I don't intend to change.

Medicare Supplemental
 

If I understand correctly, this insurance pays what Medicare doesn't pay.
Here's the reason why the premium keeps going up: Too many people take advantage of the fact that they can go to the doctor whenever they want without any cost to them. I had a neighbor who had this insurance and I know for a fact that she overused it. Every time I talked to her she would tell me about some doctor she was going to. Her reasoning: She said she was paying a high insurance premium and wanted to get her money's worth.
Well, if everyone does that, you know the premium has to go up.

Same here. I have had this plan since moving to TV 4 yrs ago. I have compared with other plans each year & always stay with this plan.