ACA vs Medicare, Different Ages

[ShokWaveRider]

We have found that in our case, ACA is a lot cheaper than Medicare, assuming you do not opt for the most expensive plans that cover Mayo Clinic and such, and Medigap Part G is also taken into account. DW still used the ACA, I use Medicare. However, the coverage is more like Medicare Dis-Advantage and has nowhere near the coverage as Medicare from a provider perspective. It is always a challenge to find a specialist get a referral etc. With Medicare you just go to whoever you want assuming they take Medicare. There is no one in our area that does not take it.

[pirsquared]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xlf11 First of all, get a local agent who handles both ACA and Medicare if you are on your own. It costs you nothing and might help to get the best plans in your local area. We just went through the similar ACA/Medicare for two of us and everything was smooth... As for ACA cost after you are on Medicare, it definitely will be more expensive than before for the same income and you can put your income on the ACA website to have an estimate. Be careful about the transition from your both to one on ACA as this will be a new plan with different plan # even everything stays the same so your spouse needs to setup again for payment etc. as if this is the first time on ACA. Good luck!

I think this depends on who is listed as primary. I am primary on our ACA account, so when DH started Medicare, DD and I stayed on our same plan with the same account number and the same online access. etc.

[Rianne]

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Originally Posted by ivinsfan who told you this about ACA? A reliable source? Have you already signed up for a Medicare supplement? IMO you have all this sorted out already...it costs what it cost but the more important is making sure you both have the coverage you qualify for...

I called ACA twice. Both times reassured that the ACA plan can be backdated to cancel on the 1st of the month. I just have to make sure I tell them only to take me off the plan. I'm all signed up for Medicare with a Medigap plan and prescription plan to start Sept. 1. It's considered a life change and I received a letter from the ACA that also explained a few things.

[Rianne]

Update: All this just scared me . I called and made an appt. with a local broker to take care of the transition. Literally, the rules have changed. She will go online and take care of it. DH keeps the same plan but pays a bigger premium as we'll lose about 1/2 of the subsidy. It has to be done before Sept. 1. I got conflicting information from the ACA phone-in service. It's a huge mess if you cancel ACA after the Medicare transition date, Sept. 1 for me.

[ivinsfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rianne Update: All this just scared me . I called and made an appt. with a local broker to take care of the transition. Literally, the rules have changed. She will go online and take care of it. DH keeps the same plan but pays a bigger premium as we'll lose about 1/2 of the subsidy. It has to be done before Sept. 1. I got conflicting information from the ACA phone-in service. It's a huge mess if you cancel ACA after the Medicare transition date, Sept. 1 for me.

I'm not an expert but that's why I kept asking you for more details because what you said originally did not make sense to me. I don't know if the rules have changed or you got bad info but the important thing you can do it properly now.

[pirsquared]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rianne I called ACA twice. Both times reassured that the ACA plan can be backdated to cancel on the 1st of the month. I just have to make sure I tell them only to take me off the plan. I'm all signed up for Medicare with a Medigap plan and prescription plan to start Sept. 1. It's considered a life change and I received a letter from the ACA that also explained a few things.

This is interesting. When DH started Medicare (6/1), I called 5/31 and they said to call back on 6/1. I called on 6/1 and the rep said I was too late to make the change effective 6/1, but I think she was mistaken because she eventually connected me with a supervisor who said she would "escalate" the issue to "backdate the change to 6/1," which was kind of funny because it was still 6/1. But it was fixed within a couple of days (although they snail-mailed me the notice which took 8 days which messed up a claim in the meantime). So backdating is possible, but I did not realize it was standard. I thought it took a supervisor to do that.

[Rianne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivinsfan I'm not an expert but that's why I kept asking you for more details because what you said originally did not make sense to me. I don't know if the rules have changed or you got bad info but the important thing you can do it properly now.

Thanks, when one spouse goes off ACA to Medicare and the other remains, you have to be careful how that's done. Especially since I'm the primary ACA holder. We'll be in Montana on Sept.1. All this confusion is about: you have to call the day before Sept.1 or you can wait a week after Sept. 1 and we can backdate canceling ACA. So much misinformation! Caution to anyone doing this. Ivansfan, you pointed this out, thank you. I'm glad I still have a relationship with our ACA broker.

[pirsquared]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rianne Update: All this just scared me . I called and made an appt. with a local broker to take care of the transition. Literally, the rules have changed. She will go online and take care of it. DH keeps the same plan but pays a bigger premium as we'll lose about 1/2 of the subsidy. It has to be done before Sept. 1. I got conflicting information from the ACA phone-in service. It's a huge mess if you cancel ACA after the Medicare transition date, Sept. 1 for me.

This was my experience as well when transitioning DH to Medicare. I got it done but it involved a supervisor and lots of follow-up phone calls. DD is starting new insurance for a job on Sept. 1, so I have to go through this transition all over again. Maybe I should contact a broker this time. But it seems that I should be able to just go into the website in August and "report a life change" and have it effective Sept. 1, just like I have done for income changes in the past. Maybe I will call and ask for a supervisor and see if I can get more reliable info that was. I would love to be able to do the transition online and not by phone.

[xlf11]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rianne Update: All this just scared me . I called and made an appt. with a local broker to take care of the transition. Literally, the rules have changed. She will go online and take care of it. DH keeps the same plan but pays a bigger premium as we'll lose about 1/2 of the subsidy. It has to be done before Sept. 1. I got conflicting information from the ACA phone-in service. It's a huge mess if you cancel ACA after the Medicare transition date, Sept. 1 for me.

That was exactly what we were told and done by the local agent two years ago. I was the primary on ACA and went to Medicare first and DW remained on the same plan with a higher cost than before. She was assigned a different # even everything was the same and she needed to setup the new plan on the same insurance website for the new monthly payment. Also, her transition later from ACA to Medicare was much easier as there was no complication of two people.