Medicare+Medigap vs. Medicare Advantage

[haha]

I am very soon eligible for Medicare, and I am belatedly getting around to figuring out the insurance angle. It appears to be horrendously complicated!

Is anyone informed about the pluses and minuses of these 2 different approaches to supplementing Medicare? (Or any other approaches for that matter.)

Or could you direct me to any resources that you know about? On the web or elsewhere?

My state insurance department has a hotline. I called today and they said they might be able to return my call within one week!

Likewise the county has a social worker. She is booked for weeks- I think the new Medicare part D is creating a lot of confusion. For me, that doesn’t appear to be very important, since I don’t take any medicines steadily, and besides you can switch annually without penalty. But I think some of these other decisions are irrevocable.

Thanks for any suggestions-

Ha

[Martha]

Have you read through the government's medicare website? That might help somewhat. http://www.medicare.gov/Choices/Overview.asp

[haha]

Thanks Martha. That appears to be a very helpful link.

Ha