Medigap or Medicare Advantage Plan?

[modhatter]

Curious as to your thoughts and experiences with either one.* You all know what Medigap insurance is I know.* Medicare Advantage Plan is either a HMO or PPO offered by a particular insurance company in your state that offers coverage a little more extensive that thn most Medigap policies, but with certain restrictions concerning where you can go (What hospitols, doctors, etc.)

Getting close and need to* make some decisions.* Also, most appealing of the Medicare Advantage Plans, are that they for the most part, pay for prescriptions with a reasonable co-pay, as opposed to the sucky one our government has come up with.

[haha]

I recently went through this decision process. I chose Medigap, for several reasons. I almost always had private indemnity insurance. I just didn’t want to go to gatekeepers or anything of that bs now. My FIL is 92, he recently needed heart surgery. He went to Cleveland Clinic, although he lives in Maryland. Why? The Cleveland Clinic docs were somewhat less likely to kill him in the process of fixing his heart. Also, if you plan on RVing or traveling in the US, Medigap goes with you- as does traditional Medicare.

Since Bush is trying to move us off Traditional Medicare, I figure that in itself is one good argument for Traditional Medicare.*

I am sure it varies a lot from state to state; but I almost always will opt for control.

HA