[chachacha]

I am approaching my 65th birthday and am deluged with information selling various medicare supplemental insurance plans. Many have zero monthly premiums due to agreements with the federal govt...The question is, which plans are best for our area, accepted by most physicians and the hospital as well as Shands hospital in Gainesville which is the best for anything serious?
Any opinions? Thank you....

[dfn8tly]

You're right about getting deluged with advertisements from insurance companies. I finally accepted a home visit by an local agent who answered many of my questions. She had a lot of product to sell and I decided to initially go with AARP Secure Horizons administered by United HealthCare. I had this insurance company while still employed and found them pretty easy to work with. Remember, you get the opportunity to change every year.

Best of luck. This is NOT a fun process.

[GatorFan]

A good friend of mine also went with Secure Horizon. She checked first to make sure all her Doctors accepted (they did) She is very happy with her choice so far.

[KayakerNC]

Originally Posted by chachacha

I am approaching my 65th birthday and am deluged with information selling various medicare supplemental insurance plans. Many have zero monthly premiums due to agreements with the federal govt...The question is, which plans are best for our area, accepted by most physicians and the hospital as well as Shands hospital in Gainesville which is the best for anything serious?
Any opinions? Thank you....

The best way to check on insurance plans is to ask the billing clerk at your doctor's office. (You know, the last person you talk to before you leave.)
He/she would know which plans are the easiest to deal with, and which plans make them jump through hoops. Some plans still have a nasty habit of denying every claim on the first try, making you responsible to re-submit.

[NJblue]

Another option is to go with a Medicare Advantage plan rather than Medicare plus a supplemental plan. My mother has one with Aetna and she pays considerably less than the AARP plan that she had and it also covers prescriptions. Be aware, however, that these are the plans that Obama wants to get rid of so you may not have it long.

[Avista]

We have AARP Health Care Options as our Medicare Supplemental. We have Plan C. Love it and never have had to pay a thing following 2 different surgeries. No deductable at the beginning of each year.

[chachacha]

i had an agent here today from united healthcare and i decided on secure horizons with no premium as i am very healthy so far and it is better than just medicare alone...it is a ppo rather than an hmo...a friend of mine had also recommended it and i was happy to see a couple more recommendations here...sorry i did not know we had an agent right here in the villages....get your name out there as there are many who will be turning 65 soon, i am sure...

[chachacha]

just to avoid misinforming anyone, the plan i selected is not accepted at shands, which i had hoped for, but everything is a tradeoff...i would have to pay the difference in cost if i chose to go there...

[ajdeck]

I have Medicare Plus Blue. I currently have cancer and that is the only reason we have not moved to TV yet.

The insurance has been good so far and have not had any real problems with payments. Only thing is I'm in Michigan and don't know what will need to be done when moving to TV. I would assume I will have to change from Med Pluse Blue of Michigan to Med Plus Blue of Florida.

With that said, I think it should be an easy transition.

Another fact, all of us at work were also attacked by many insurance companies. One of the main reasons Blue looked good was it was one of the few that coveded me out of the area/or state. Most all of us went with Blue and have not heard of anyone having problems.

aj

[anita1955]

I too have Secure Horizons Medicare Advantage PPO insurance. I am now thinking of changing because I need a procedure at Shands hospital and have been told they do not accept my insurance. I would have to self pay and the cost of the procedure is over $3000. I was told by my doctor that the procedure I need is only done at Shands and Mayo Clinic. Therefore next month, November, I will be looking to change my insurance.