Medicare supplemental insurance at NO cost affiliated with AARP?

[Orchidflower]

OK, 2 different people have mentioned that there is some no cost at all medicare supplemental insurance affiliated with AARP for those 65 y.o. And today I met a couple that told me they had gone to a meeting held by AARP regarding this no cost medicare supplemental insurance last week.
After numerous calls to a variety of departments at AARP, nobody seems to know what this is about. There is a company called Secure Horizon that has meetings like this affiliated some way with AARP, but they don't even come into Illinois or Iowa which is the area I am in now; and the couple did say the meeting was in THIS area.
Anyone have any idea what this is? Who to call? Anything?Ever heard of anything like this?

 

[REWahoo]

I believe you are referring to Secure Horizons Medicare Direct , which is a Medicare Advantage program. As I understand it, the plan is an authorized Medicare HMO. No need for Medicare supplemental coverage - the HMO plan is all inclusive.

 

[Orchidflower]

Thanks, REWahoo. You are a fountain of good information.
Since there is NO charge for this: How do they make money?
A friend had the website that Social Security puts up for each State regarding these programs...finally...I spent well over 2 hours and couldn't get anywhere (in fact, AARP's phone kept hanging up after pressing all those stupid numbers). Anyway, I do see where it is Secure Horizons--and they are having meetings.
A sweet girl working there gave me the times, addresses of meetings and the Representative's phone number to RSVP. Life is good...finally...I got the right person on the phone.

Case closed for me.

 

[samclem]

I hope this works for you. Medicare Advantage coverage is very popular with seniors who use it--the plans often cover a lot of common-sense preventative medical services at low or no co-pay. These Medicare Advantage plans are targeted for large cuts under many of the health care reform laws now being considered.

 

[REWahoo]

Since there is NO charge for this:

There is no free lunch. From the Medicare Advantage link above:

To join a Medicare Advantage Plan, you must have Medicare Part A and Part B. You will have to pay your monthly Medicare Part B premium to Medicare. In addition, you might have to pay a monthly premium to your Medicare Advantage Plan for the extra benefits that they offer.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

We have the Medicare Advantage plan and for 2010 it is called "AARP MedicareComplete Choice Plan 2 (Regional PPO) and the plan number is R5287-00. The plan is administrated by United Health Care. I'm in Florida but you could Google it and see if it is available in your state. This is the first year we've had it and so far so good. After GM cancelled my health care plans in 2009 I had to find a supplement to my Medicare. A Medicare Advantage plan replaces Medicare totally but it has to provide all the care you would normally get with Medicare. Decided to go with this plan as everything sounded good to me. The only premium you pay is the Medicare premium. When you contract with this plan, Medicare takes your premium and sends it United Health Care and they are then responsible for your total health care. Medicare is out of the picture. We have prescription drug coverage, some dental and some vision. AARP has nothing to do with it. United just purchased the rights to use their name. A sales pitch. We've been happy so far this year.

 

[Htown Harry]

My MIL had a very poor experience with switching to a Medicare Advantage HMO. I hesitate to say it was Secure Horizons, because I don't remember the firm's name 100%, but this pitch sure sounds familiar.

The issues were similar to that found with any HMO - not all doctors will play with a given provider, and the HMO's have some discretion in "gatekeeping" the treatments, specialist visits, etc.

In her situation, the problems related to quarterly specialist visits and steroid treatments for a chronic condition.

She discovered after she had switched to the new plan that her doctor didn't want anything to do with the selected firm because of past business experiences. So she started the process of cancelling the HMO policy and went to doctor #2 to get that quarter's treatment, where she ran into problem #2. The insurance company said the treatment was experimental.

It took months to get it all untangled.

YMMV, of course, but be sure you check out such things before signing up.

 

[charlie]

You might want to consider buying a Medicare Supplementary policy
instead of shifting to a Medicare Advantage Plan. This type of insurance
picks up where Medicare leaves off. There is no restriction on doctors
or hospitals. You still have to pay the Medicare Premium plus an
additional fee to the provider. DW and I use United Health Care
Plan F at a total cost of about $340/month in Texas in addition to
the regular Medicare premiums. This is certainly more expensive than
using a Medicare Advantage plan but could save a lot of money if
you have a major problem. It also saves a lot of frustration.

Cheers,

charlie

 

[JOHNNIE36]

As I mentioned in my previous post, the United Health plan we are using is Secure Horizons PPO, not an HMO. All the doctors and hospitals we have used in the past are affliated with Secure Horizons PPO. For 2010, their maximum out of pocket is $3950. I just hate to pay up front (premiums) for something you may not use and their drug program is good.