on Original Medicare + Medigap + Part D... record keeping?

[Telly]

I'm a Medicare newby, and wonder what others are doing here with regards to any personal record keeping, for those on Original Medicare (NOT a MA Plan).

For 40+ years of health insurance plans, DW has kept track of what we paid, when, to who, what the insurance co. picked up, what the state of our deductibles were, etc. This was on paper originally, until we got our first home PC (a 286 machine) and went to a spreadsheet. When I was on my own separate insurance for intervals in the past, I did the same.

Now I've transitioned to Original Medicare, all the EOB-equivalents are online and spread across three different entities. Printing out some of them that are PDFs would be easy, those that are not would require the cutting tool to avoid creating a paper monster.

Are you doing any sort of separate record keeping system? Or just looking at what's online? Are you keeping a scratch pad on deductibles? I have no experience with this!

 

[bja1234]

Nope

 

[Silver]

I maintain an Excel spreadsheet on almost everything, and tracking all of our healthcare spending is one. I include the monthly policy costs, and I check the online Medicare and Medigap sites for charges long before I get a paper bill. I just fill in columns with the amount billed, medicare approved, amount applied to the deductible, and amount I owe. It's arranged by service date and provider. And there is a column for date paid.

All prescription costs are in there as well.

 

[SumDay]

One of the things I most love about DH being on Medicare is the lack of paperwork involved on my end for getting things paid. That said, I do print out his quarterly Medicare statement (basically to help keep track of which doc did what to him when) along with the Humana and CVS Silver Scripts statements of what was paid and to whom, all stored in his 3-ring "Health" binder. He can't remember doctor's names, so this has been helpful to him.

He's only been on Medicare for 1/2 a year, so how long I'll keep these paper records is yet to be seen.

 

[CRLLS]

We get no bills or copay at the time of service is provided. Later the various statements and emails start coming in. To keep things straight in my mind, I keep a paper copy of everything related to a potential claim. with a small checklist paperclipped and it is kept in a file called Medical Pending. When everything is in agreement (Dr's office, Medicare and Supplement provider) I then, and only then pay whatever is due the Dr's office. I staple the papers together and move them to a file named Closed Medical. Sometimes it can be a real challenge to match things up as the name on the statements do not always match. Sometimes there is a 2nd billing from the Dr as payment pass in the mail. Here is a copy of my sheet. THis helps me keep all the billing straight. YMMV

 

[bingybear]

I track what I think is useful. If medical expenses can be used to withdraw HSA funds down the road or be a deduction for taxes, then I record it and save the receipt (usually electronically).

At the end of the day most of the records we can keep are just trashed. They really have little use. Save the ones that have a purpose.

We've had to clean out both our parents houses and it is amazing how much useful stuff people keep. Keep what is useful and enjoy your life.

It makes sense to me to do what CRLLS notes, keeping record of all related bills until everything is covered or paid.

 

[Katsmeow]

DH is on original Medicare and a supplement. I scan in the quarterly Medicare statement and save it. I also download or scan it EOBs from his supplement carrier. He doesn't take regular prescriptions so rarely have anything on Part D. When he does, I scan that statement in as well.

With Medicare and a supplement it is actually pretty simple so it is easy to keep track of it all.

 

[travelover]

My former employer reimburses me for my Medicare Part B premiums, though I must submit receipts. Initially, I paid these premiums directly and got a receipt. Now that I am on Social Security the premiums are deducted from my payment, but I'm at a loss as to where this is documented to use as a reimbursement receipt. Anyone else solved this puzzle?

 

[kaneohe]

My former employer reimburses me for my Medicare Part B premiums, though I must submit receipts. Initially, I paid these premiums directly and got a receipt. Now that I am on Social Security the premiums are deducted from my payment, but I'm at a loss as to where this is documented to use as a reimbursement receipt. Anyone else solved this puzzle?

I have an HRA from former employer who reimburses medical insurance premiums (up to some limit). The HRA accepts the SS statement that comes out late in the yr (typ. Dec) that shows the SS projected for the next yr. That statement also shows the Medicare premiums for the next yr. The HRA reimburses monthly based on that statement which must be submitted annually.

If your employer does not accept that,the only other thing I am aware of is your tax document SSA-1099 which also gives that info.........the only problem with that is that you receive that in Jan after the yr has ended so it would be late.

 

[kaneohe]

I was originally on Medicare and Medigap Plan F. Between them,they covered everything so I did nothing. Both EOBs (Medicare/Medigap) were mailed to me so I did no online searching or printing. I never received bills from providers since they knew I wasn't paying anything.

Last yr, I switched to Plan G which covers everything but the $185? Medicare deductible so I will get provider bills.....at least until that deductible is paid, I assume.
I don't know if any provider bills will be sent after that.

After years of having to send in bills to get reimbursed, the Medicare/Medigap combo has been incredibly easy. Only once has there been a case where a bill wasn't taken care of and I basically told them........I don't pay anybody......you two guys (Medicare/Medigap) figure it out........and they did......a coding error by doctor's office.

 

[Telly]

Thanks to all!
I had previously been keeping track of health insurance premiums, so I expanded that part of the health premiums sheet to include my Part B, Plan G, and Part D premiums.

With your comments, I thought about what my other-than-premiums record keeping goal should be. And I think it's to avoid possible overpayment of Part B or Part D deductibles. With DW's help, we have been able to figure it out, though it's taken me multiple times to get a handle on the way it flows.
If "I" was creating the official Medicare online format, I'd list columns of "Provider Rack Rate", "Medicare's Value", and "Medicare 80% Paid"
Medicare leaves out an intermediate step, which throws me off... I'm learning. "show your work, or you won't get any partial credit!" (remember that?)

If something goes wrong and someone sends us a bill that doesn't seem warranted, and enough time has gone by since the service date, I think we can dig through the online info to prove/disprove the bill. Though we may end up printing some things out then.

So all said and done, I'm not going to create my own master spreadsheet and be filling in dollar amounts everywhere flowing through the process. Though that makes me a wee bit nervous (DATA! we must have DATA!), I can't see ANY of the people I asked in-person last year about their Medicare approach doing a spreadsheet! And yet they continue to exist...
I feel like I should be knocking on wood, or something!