what health care policy is the best?

[frank]

my dw has had blue cross for the past twenty years and will be going on Medicare this next December. Her policy had been high deductible hsa compliant in the past. Her insurance covered all medical and drugs after the full deductible. it was expensive but she has health problems and it worked out. my question is now that she is going on medicare, does any company offer a program that covers doctor, hospital, and prescriptions after the deductible? thanks

frank

[REWahoo]

Read up on Medicare Advantage plans here. That may come as close to doing what you are asking as anything available. You'll have to use Medicare.gov or some other means to see what is available to you as the health care insurers who offer these plans vary by location.

[athena53]

DH had the United Healthcare Supplement through AARP. Although I consider AARP just a whiny lobbying organization, we were very happy with the insurance. In his last couple of months he had chemo injections on an outpatient basis (7 days, sticker price $7,000 each) and 3 transfusions that perked him up after they determined that the chemo wasn't working. We didn't owe a dime out of pocket.

We did have prescription co-payments but nothing horrifying. I'm eligible for Medicare in a year and plan to do the same thing even though it kills me to have to join AARP.

[frank]

I checked the site's mentioned above and it seems my zip code only offers one option for medicare supplement and 22 options for part d. is it possible that aarp supplement is nation wide? my zip by the way is 52002

[MBSC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frank I checked the site's mentioned above and it seems my zip code only offers one option for medicare supplement and 22 options for part d. is it possible that aarp supplement is nation wide? my zip by the way is 52002

The link above is to Medicare Advantage plans. Medicare supplement (Medigap) plans available in your area can be found at this link.

https://www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan...igap-home.aspx

AARP/UHC Medicare supplement plans are available in your area. The version described in the post above is "Plan F". AARP/UHC will be rolling out their "Plan G" in the second half of this year.

I respectfully suggest you contact a local insurance agent experienced in Medicare to assist you. If you don't want to use an agent, please contact your local Counsel on Aging or a local SHIP counselor to assist you. The process is much easier face-to-face than trying to learn though a message board.

Find a SHIP counselor: SHIIP :: Find A Counselor

[athena53]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBSC I respectfully suggest you contact a local insurance agent experienced in Medicare to assist you. If you don't want to use an agent, please contact your local Counsel on Aging or a local SHIP counselor to assist you. The process is much easier face-to-face than trying to learn though a message board.

I totally agree. I worked in property-casualty insurance for 38 years so I at least understood some of the terms and still found the Medicare/Medigap/Medicare Advantage/prescription plan array intimidating. One thing the agent volunteered which was VERY good to know was that if you choose Medicare Advantage and then decide to go with a supplement instead (e.g. an AARP product), the supplement carrier can decide whether or not they want to cover you and you may be turned down. I know people who have Medicare Advantage and love it, but with DH's known health issues we went straight for the AARP/United Healthcare supplement.