Medigap Advice Please

[Dash man]

With Humana, be prepared for the jump in price the following year.

DH switched to the Aetna $7 plan during open enrollment when Humana increased prices significantly on their prior $13 plan. He takes no drugs.

For Plan D we have to reevaluate every year anyway. I will just pick the best one for the drugs I need each year.

 

[ncbill]

If someone wants to skip Medigap - just imagine being diagnosed with cancer and facing the unlimited 20% copays...

It happened to someone I knew after dropping supplemental insurance a couple of years earlier.

As noted in the second video, treatment for liver cancer which ultimately required a transplant only incurred ~$15k in deductibles & co-insurance over 2 years...what did your friend have to pay?

 

[audreyh1]

So basically a new enrolls not already on meds should just pick the cheapest Part D plan & switch later depending on whether or not the new plan saves them money versus just paying out of pocket?

Yes.

You have to review your existing plan any way at open enrollment time because companies keep switching the drugs covered.

 

[audreyh1]

As noted in the second video, treatment for liver cancer which ultimately required a transplant only incurred ~$15k in deductibles & co-insurance over 2 years...what did your friend have to pay?

It would have been $75,000 dollars if they hadn’t been able to sign up for a bunch of programs, beg for relief, etc. The chemotherapy was crazy expensive per session. I remember their shock. We helped them find some programs. Medicare paid $300,000 over two years for her treatment. I don’t know what they actually ended up paying themselves.

 

[RetMD21]

I will be turning 65 ...

Since I live by myself, I am thinking that I would need to go to a skilled nursing facility if I had to recover from some sort of procedure, so the SNF coverage seems like something I would want to have.

The benefit is used to expedite hospital discharge so typically you have little choice in the matter. A surgery that might have resulted in a 1 week stay is now 3 days with 2 weeks in the SNF. Both parties maximize billing and more often than not it works out well for the patient.