Medicare Advantage vs Supplement

[mf15]

Hi all, hoping for some insight.
Wife will be going on medicare shortly,I am trying to decide what is best,been looking at this stuff for 3 months and still not sure.
Leaning towards Aetna medicare advantage plan for 72 a month with drugs. It is a HMO, they also offer supplement plan F for 156 month and you need to get a seperate plan for drugs. The cost of the supplement also rise with increasing age.

We are in the Philly area,travel to Indianapolis a lot and they have network docs out there also.

The downside to a advantage plan is you need to go to a PCP in network doc and get a referral if you need to see a specialist, outside of that seems like advantage plans are better than a supplement.
What am I missing.

No underwriting for advantage plans, supplements have underwriting if you do not enter when you first go into medicare.

She is healthy takes no drugs. I am becoming insurance poor especially with LTC isurance at about 4200/year for both of us.

Also what I have read is that the governemnt with the new healthcare bill is trying to kill off the advantage plans for some reason. They seem pretty good to me.

Thanks
Old Mike

 

[kaneohe]

Here's my meager knowledge of those plans. (I have supplement/DW has advantage).
You pay more for supplements generally so I would expect them to be "better"......no need to see a gatekeeper; not restricted to a particular network, altho if PPO, there might a financial advantage to staying in network. For the ones I am familiar with, advantages have no deductibles but have copays. Supplements have deductibles and coinsurance---typically 20%. Supplements may have lifetime maximums? Advantages may not. Supplements may have annual out of pocket max? Advantages may not. If the doctors in your Advantage network are ok w/ you (including any unanticipated issues in the future) and the payments are ok/comparable with supplement, and monthly premiums are lower, then I would pick the Advantage.
In my case, I picked the supplement because it had a lower premium than the Advantage (company sponsored benefit) for some reason unknown to me.

My impression was that the the new healthcare bill was trying to divert funds from the Advantage plans for the new coverage, not that they were trying to kill them off.

 

[mf15]

Thanks kaneohe:
Good info. If the govt diverts funds from the advantage plans the premiums will go up,which would make them less attractive. Aetna has a good network here in the Philly area with all the major hospitals and doc's.
We have had a PPO all my working life I never liked HMO's because you need a referral but, I would normally go to my regular doc first anyway if something were wrong.
So I guess now I don't see it as a big deal to get a referral. My son has done it without problem.
Thaks Again
Old Mike