I"m not going to read all of the above posts because I don't have time. I'll just say that the Advantage Plans, regardless of which company provides the plan must abide by the rules of Medicare. The Part A coverage is almost identical to Medicare Part A, and while the copays may be different for Part A and Part B, it provides pretty much the same coverage. Part D, aka the drug coverage is included in the low monthly premium and my AP's drug coverage is better than the one I had prior to having an AP. Traditional Medicare gives no help with things like vision, dental or hearing, but APs do. I'm not saying they are better, but they are far less expensive and all of my close friends who are on Medicare have an Advantage Plan due the affordability.
For two people our age, traditional Medicare with a drug plan, dental plan and a supplement would cost us close to 1000 dollars a month, more than any mortgage we had prior to paying off our last mortgage. Our AP costs us about 400 a month for the two of us, and we've been using one for over 5 years without any problems. Most large medical groups accept APs, especially for primary care. As I said before, I don't want aggressive care at this point in my life. Neither did my late mother, but she was very healthy until age 90 when she developed signs of dementia but then lived for 7 more years, the first two, she was still very active and only mildly forgetful. She also had medical coverage due to my late father being a disabled veteran, but she barely ever needed any medical coverage. And no Medicare plan pays for long term care, other than 21 days of inpatient rehab, home health if you are unstable medically or need PT, ST or OT. That's about it! Long term care insurance is very expensive and it usually only lasts for about 4 years. If you are dirt poor and have spent down just about all of your assets, you may get long term care from Medicaid. Most of my former patients had Medicare Advantage plans and they received the care they needed.
I'm not saying these plans are wonderful. I'm saying they are far less expensive and for the most part, they cover what traditional Medicare does, but with higher copays for certain things. If we can save 600 bucks a month on the cost of coverage, we can. use that money for copays etc. if and when needed. So far, it's worked well for us. Of course, if you have lots of savings like we do, it sure does help. If you can't afford traditional Medicare, it helps too.
I know a woman who was still working almost full time at age 85, just so she could keep her traditional Medicare plan. Her supplement was over 350 a month and that was at least 10 years ago. Part B was only about 105 back then. It's about 200 a month now. She was paid less than the minimum wage, under the table, so she could continue to receive her rent subsidized apartment. Both she and her employer were doing something illegal, but that was on them. Sadly, she didn't have a Part D plan so if she ended up needing expensive drugs, that would be on her. If you don't get Part D when you first start on Medicare, the cost of the premium will be much higher, the longer you wait. The APs cover Part D. Plus I had a Part D when I started on Medicare over 10 years ago. All Part D plans are provided by private insurance companies, as are supplements, so it's not just APs that are managed by private insurance companies. To each their own.
I do strongly suggest getting a good insurance agent once you are on Medicare. Mine gives really good advice, answers any questions and at least seems to be very caring. She never pushes any kind of coverage on you, but is very knowledgeable abut all the available plans. If you're not happy with your plan, she does her best on finding you something else, regardless fit's a drug plan, supplement, or AP. She also warns about any scams out there as well. Right now, there are a lot of Medicare scams, things that were never performed being paid for, so it's very important to check your Medicare statements to make sure there is nothing on the statement that you never received. Due to Musk, a lot of information has been leaked. Mr. Sohy got a letter from a doctor's office almost 100 miles from us, telling us that they received all of his medical information and plan ID. My neighbor got one from someone as well. This incompetent, corrupt administration is doing far more harm compared to anything else, so be careful and check you statements carefully.
If I've made a lot of typos, I apologize, My eyes are kind of blurry this morning.
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