[gamby]

Does anyone have medicare advantage plan and if so are you OK with it ?
Someone I know who is healthy , at least for now ! Wants to use this instead of reg. medicare.

Thank you for any input .

G

[l2ridehd]

Most advantage plans require you to have Medicare A and B and the advantage plans cover what medicare A and B do not. More of a cover the gap plan.

[Floridagal]

Have Medicare Advantage since the beginning of this year and am very happy with it. Taking it for 2013.

[jblum315]

Originally Posted by gamby

Does anyone have medicare advantage plan and if so are you OK with it ?
Someone I know who is healthy , at least for now ! Wants to use this instead of reg. medicare.

Thank you for any input .

G

Check with your doctor first Mine does not accept Medicare Advantage.

[Avista]

We have had both original medicare with supplement and currently Medicare Advantage (Preferred Care Partners). We paid over $300/month for our supplement, plus our RX drugs another $80. Came close to $400/ month. Now we do not pay that plus get back $90.90 into,our Social Security. We save about $500/ month or $6000 per year. We like our doctors.

[rhood]

I saved over $3000 this year after going to an advantage plan.

[Bobcuse]

I had Original Medicare and employer group plan for years. This year I dropped employer plan and switched to Preferred Care Partners Advantage plan and saved $4200 in premiums plus another $600 at least by not having the many deductibles in the prior plans for my wife and myself. It's almost unbelievable but true. We don't go to doctors frequently but would save even more if we did.

[aljetmet]

There is a world of difference of having medicare alone vs having a policy in addition to it. It could be an Advantage plan or a Supplemental plan.
Here is the rub. If you have an Advantage plan, you are limited to the Doctors and facilities that your plan allows. So the most important aspect to check is if your Doctors are on the plan or not. You say your healthy so you may just have an internist. If he's accepted by the plan your ahead of the game. Most Advantage plans are absolutely free. Although you may have to pay for dental and vision. Besides covering you for hospitalization and medical it also includes a free drug plan.

Therefore a relatively healthy person should probably choose an Advantage plan because it covers a lot more than Medicare alone covers just in case. If your healthy and never see a Doctor you have piece of mind if something went wrong you would not be out a lot of money.

Remember you can change plans every year.

Lastly, most plans show you side by side the differences between having just Medicare vs. having their Advantage plan.

Good Luck!

[KayakerNC]

Originally Posted by jblum315

Check with your doctor first Mine does not accept Medicare Advantage.

Maybe not the Doctor, but that last person you see before you leave his office, you know, the one that submits the bills and sets up your next appointment? He/she would be the one to ask about the best (or worst) companies for medical coverage and quick payments.

[CFrance]

Another thing to consider: Do you live here full time, or do you go back to a home state in the summer? Advantage plans are only good for the area of your permanent residence. For instance, we maintain a home residence in MI, and would pay mucho deductibles if we used an advantage plan and had to go to a doctor here in FL, because we would be out of the Advantage plan's network area. So we have a supplemental plan instead. It could work out to be the same either way, but we like being able to use any doctor anywhere who takes Medicare and not be nickle and dimed to death with deductibles.( BCBS Advantage plan in MI was the worst on this--there was a deductible for eating breakfast in the morning.) All our excellent doctors are at University of Michigan, so it is important to us to be able to still use them without deductibles.

And there's no such thing as a free Advantage plan in MI.

You must use an Advantage plan in your permanent residence area, whereas a supplemental is good anywhere. And we travel a lot. Our drug plan is $24/mo through Coventry (online). It's exactly the same coverage as our insurance broker was going to sell us for $80/mo. Do a lot of research!

[Hal :-)]

This is just my hunch, but we should probably enjoy Medicare Advantage while we have it. It's a win-win for everyone but the taxpayer. A win for the insurance industry, the healthcare industry, and the patients. But I'd guess it may be the largest cause of Medicare going broke, and it can't last.

I don't know how the system works. But, it's intuitively obvious that Advantage plans are way over funded. They'll give you back your $99/mo, provide silver sneakers programs, free transportation to doctor and pharmacy, include drug coverage, dental, vision, etc. Given how far they'll go to get your business, it's apparent that the premiums and service fees from Medicare must be very lucrative. That's even considering they are covering the cost for the most expensive subset of the population.

[Cantwaittoarrive]

Originally Posted by Floridagal

Have Medicare Advantage since the beginning of this year and am very happy with it. Taking it for 2013.

[Deerfly]

Originally Posted by Hal :-)

This is just my hunch, but we should probably enjoy Medicare Advantage while we have it. It's a win-win for everyone but the taxpayer. A win for the insurance industry, the healthcare industry, and the patients. But I'd guess it may be the largest cause of Medicare going broke, and it can't last.

I don't know how the system works. But, it's intuitively obvious that Advantage plans are way over funded. They'll give you back your $99/mo, provide silver sneakers programs, free transportation to doctor and pharmacy, include drug coverage, dental, vision, etc. Given how far they'll go to get your business, it's apparent that the premiums and service fees from Medicare must be very lucrative. That's even considering they are covering the cost for the most expensive subset of the population.

I agree that Advantage plans may not last as long as I do. Politicians seem to agree that "entitlements" have to be dealt with and my guess is that Advantage plans are expensive to Medicare.
One other thing to consider when choosing an Advantage plan is the plan's formulary. Most plans have drugs partitioned into Tiers. Your contribution for Tier I drugs are usually $0 and go up for each Tier. There are differences in plans as to which drugs are classified into which tier so that there could be a big difference in your contribution from plan to plan. Might be Tier II in one plan and Tier III in another. Also the plans that refund some of your Medicare Part B contribution are HMO's and their networks of doctors are usually somewhat smaller. A straight Advantage plan has no refund and any doctor that takes Medicare has to take you.
Many plans and many decisions.

[mac9]

The Advantage programs make some of their money because they are paid the last day of the quarter BEFORE and are able to keep that money and the interest accrued by it before they have to make any payments. Doesn't sound like it would be much to you or me, but it is garnering them millions. Also, not all Advantage programs are localized. Many of the larger insurance companies (Aetna, for instance) are nationwide as you can purchase an HMO version which is local, but they also have a PPO that is usually accepted by any Medicare certified physician throughout the country.

[Hal :-)]

Originally Posted by Deerfly

I agree that Advantage plans may not last as long as I do. Politicians seem to agree that "entitlements" have to be dealt with and my guess is that Advantage plans are expensive to Medicare.
One other thing to consider when choosing an Advantage plan is the plan's formulary. Most plans have drugs partitioned into Tiers. Your contribution for Tier I drugs are usually $0 and go up for each Tier. There are differences in plans as to which drugs are classified into which tier so that there could be a big difference in your contribution from plan to plan. Might be Tier II in one plan and Tier III in another. Also the plans that refund some of your Medicare Part B contribution are HMO's and their networks of doctors are usually somewhat smaller. A straight Advantage plan has no refund and any doctor that takes Medicare has to take you.
Many plans and many decisions.

Drugs are more of the same. I'll bet taxpayers overpay considerably. Many of the most popular generic drugs are $0 for the purchase, but Medicare will pay much more than you would if you bought out-of-pocket. I've seen some offered free, and many are $4/mo, $10/90-day supply. You know Medicare is paying much more when you flash your third-party Advantage card.