Signing up for Medicare is a Frustrating and Expensive Process!?

[pb4uski]

Well I need to vent, just signed up for a Medicare Supplement Plan and cant believe how irritating the process is, and the individual pieces to this puzzle are an additional expense.
First had to sign up for Medicare Plan A & pay for Plan B, then find a supplement plan and pay for that, then find a Prescription Plan and pay for that, oh and a Dental Plan which I also had to pay for. I wonder how annoying I will find dealing with each individual medical bill that comes in the future?

Oh my, you mean to tell me that this great country cant make it easier for
us as we age?

If you think that was frustrating just wait until you start using Medicare and getting medical bills, explanation of benefits statements, etc. Signing up is a piece of cake.

 

[Pellice]

I thought signing up for Medicare was one of the easiest processes I ever went through. And quick.

The difficulty came with the not-Medicare part of the deal - trying to evaluate Medicare Advantage plans vs. Medicare Supplements, going through the piles of mail that came (and come annually now), etc.

Medicare itself was a breeze. So I'm not blaming "government healthcare" at all - it's the PRIVATE portion that is tough.

 

[Montecfo]

I was offered the same $40 dollar Dental premium for my wife and I through subsidized work related Cobra.

Dental makes sense when subsidized. Otherwise it is kind of just moving money around.

Nice you had that available.

 

[LRDave]

I found signing up for Medicare to be incredibly easy. I went through Boomer Benefits and the private part was easy as well. The discouraging thing I found was how hard Medicare Advantage plans are being pushed.

 

[GenXguy]

Medicare itself was a breeze. So I'm not blaming "government healthcare" at all - it's the PRIVATE portion that is tough.

I'm a long ways from Medicare still, but if it covered everything like it should, then there wouldn't be a need for the "private" portion.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I remember frustration when signing up. I am a retired psychologist, and spent years dealing with insurance companies. I recall thinking that if I, with all my education and insurance savvy, found it overly complex, how are others supposed to manage? I caved and went to Boomer Benefits (very popular here!) and got my questions answered.

It is absurdly cumbersome. I think that’s one reason why the MA plans are so popular. The same managed care companies we providers have cursed for decades, getting a huge piece of the Medicare pie.

Even worse, the government is trying to put even those of us who want to choose our own doctors and have opted for original Medicare, into managed care by a different name.

See what this physician group has to say about it: https://pnhp.salsalabs.org/medicare...tion&eId=2a6c743b-1860-4199-bd8b-fe67420c752f

 

[GenXguy]

Even worse, the government is trying to put even those of us who want to choose our own doctors and have opted for original Medicare, into managed care by a different name.

See what this physician group has to say about it: https://pnhp.salsalabs.org/medicare...tion&eId=2a6c743b-1860-4199-bd8b-fe67420c752f

I didn't analyze, but I do recall these coming up in the past on this forum and saved the links for future reference. I've got quite a years to go to get to Medicare at this point, but I still try to keep on it to some degree.

https://www.early-retirement.org/fo...ional-medicare-to-advantage-plans-114780.html

Links from within the above thread:

https://www.levernews.com/seniors-medicare-benefits-are-being-privatized-without-consent/

https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-...threat-to-medicare-youve-never-even-heard-of/

https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/cms-direct-contracting-medicare-biden-value/619507/

 

[pb4uski]

I'm a long ways from Medicare still, but if it covered everything like it should, then there wouldn't be a need for the "private" portion.

That's what most people don't understand... in the popular misconception category. Generally, Medicare only covers 80% of doctor and hospital charges. Since the 20% copays can be a significant burden, most people buy private insurance to cover those copays, referred to as Medicare supplemental insurance plans or Medical for short since they cover the gap between what doctors and hospitals charge and what Medicare pays.

 

[Healthy Lifestyle]

I remember frustration when signing up. I am a retired psychologist, and spent years dealing with insurance companies. I recall thinking that if I, with all my education and insurance savvy, found it overly complex, how are others supposed to manage? I caved and went to Boomer Benefits (very popular here!) and got my questions answered.

It is absurdly cumbersome. I think that’s one reason why the MA plans are so popular. The same managed care companies we providers have cursed for decades, getting a huge piece of the Medicare pie.

Even worse, the government is trying to put even those of us who want to choose our own doctors and have opted for original Medicare, into managed care by a different name.

See what this physician group has to say about it: https://pnhp.salsalabs.org/medicare...tion&eId=2a6c743b-1860-4199-bd8b-fe67420c752f

My feelings exactly Angel, but my situation had an added twist since I had to deal with a work-related Broker in-order to get a retiree Stipend to use toward my medical bills.

Thanks everyone for the great comments and hope this tread may help others when planning for their future health insurance.

 

[MRG]

After private insurance, COBRA, the early days of ACA. Medicare was a breeze. My private insurance days were educational as our insurance changed based upon Megacorp's ability to hook new insurance clients.

 

[ratface]

We signed up for A, B, D and supplemental, and revisit D annually during open enrollment. After dealing with private health insurance for over a decade I thought it was pretty straightforward. For us the only complicated part was Medicare A for DW. She is a naturalized US citizen and they wanted lots of other documents attesting to her citizenship and our marriage.

So far I find dealing with medical billing to be easier now with Medicare + supplement than with previous private insurance.

Being a naturalized citizen would be interested in how much harder it was for you and what documents they wanted? I will be signing up this year.

 

[MarieIG]

We signed up for A, B, D and supplemental, and revisit D annually during open enrollment. After dealing with private health insurance for over a decade I thought it was pretty straightforward. For us the only complicated part was Medicare A for DW. She is a naturalized US citizen and they wanted lots of other documents attesting to her citizenship and our marriage.

So far I find dealing with medical billing to be easier now with Medicare + supplement than with previous private insurance.

DH is also a naturalized citizen. Something to look forward to I guess . . .

 

[fosterscik]

DW and I are both naturalized citizens and our applications could be done online with no further input/documents needed. I believe it was so easy for us because we took copies of our naturalization certificates to the local SS office when we first received them (the docs we got when we naturalized asked us to do that).
I was amazed because (a) you would think government agencies would talk to each other and this step would be unnecessary, and (b) they issued new SS cards which looked identical to the ones we had before naturalization (and were in our wallets) - so we have two copies each!

 

[CRLLS]

We signed up for A, B, D and supplemental, and revisit D annually during open enrollment. After dealing with private health insurance for over a decade I thought it was pretty straightforward. For us the only complicated part was Medicare A for DW. She is a naturalized US citizen and they wanted lots of other documents attesting to her citizenship and our marriage.

So far I find dealing with medical billing to be easier now with Medicare + supplement than with previous private insurance.[/QUOTE]

^+10

As we get older, our need for more medical care will continue and making the billing easier only makes sense as our faculties likely will decline.

 

[DrRoy]

I've got another year. Not really looking forward to it. Also, I just learned that my Megacorp has dropped all assistance after you are eligible for Medicare.

 

[athena53]

After private insurance, COBRA, the early days of ACA. Medicare was a breeze.

I wouldn't call it a breeze but it was a blessing. I had the usual high-deductible "Affordable" Care Act coverage and while I was grateful to have it (we all have one or two quirks in our medical history at that age that would have gotten us denials before ACA), the premium doubled over 4 years and the networks got crappier. Thanks to healthy habits and the grace of God, I got hit with only small OOP expenses during those years for the occasional Urgent Care visit.

 

[pacergal]

Thanks to this forum, I started investigating the Medicare process a year prior to signing up.
The insurance we had from work (Kaiser) had a medicare consultant who helped us with online education videos.
When it came time to sign up, we decided to stay with Kaiser, chose Advantage (an HMO) and she was on the phone with me step by step to sign up both of us. It was so easy by that time.
And we have had wonderful experience with Kaiser, so simple, everything under one roof so to speak, medical, dental, optical. No problems with referrals, urgent care or emergent care.

 

[Out of Steam]

Dental makes sense when subsidized. Otherwise it is kind of just moving money around.

I believe that some of us who grew up before fluoridated water and have extensive prior dental work can benefit from unsubsidized insurance. Dental work begets dental work. My wife and I continue to take a high-option plan for this reason.

For younger people who got through childhood with minimal fillings, I tend to agree with you.

 

[nhcycling]

I’m in the process of signing up for Medicare. I’m retiring in June. I’ve done a lot of research on plans etc. and have a good understanding of it now. At first it was confusing and you’d think it would’ve been easier for this engineer who’s done some very complicated things in my career. Yesterday I signed up for Plan G with Boomer Benefits. In June I’ll sign up for Prescription D coverage. And now I’m evaluating Dental, Vision, Hearing plans.

 

[Rio2016]

Signed up on FB with Boomer Benefits. Learned a lot beforehand. Called Boomer Benefits and signed up seamlessly. They have already resolved a coding error. I have A,B,D and G.

 

[rk911]

Well I need to vent, just signed up for a Medicare Supplement Plan and cant believe how irritating the process is, and the individual pieces to this puzzle are an additional expense.
First had to sign up for Medicare Plan A & pay for Plan B, then find a supplement plan and pay for that, then find a Prescription Plan and pay for that, oh and a Dental Plan which I also had to pay for. I wonder how annoying I will find dealing with each individual medical bill that comes in the future?

Oh my, you mean to tell me that this great country cant make it easier for
us as we age?

our experience was just the opposite. signing up for traditional Medicare, the Blue Cross/Blue Shield (Illinois) Plan F supplement and a BCBS Part D plan was ridiculously EZ. It's been 7-years for me and 6-years for my wife and I can't recall the last time we had a bill problem or had to pay anything out-of-pocket. I'm not a fan of govt. health care but I got to admit that Medicare is working for us.

if the extra $ is the issue maybe a Medicare Part C plan (Medicare Advantage all-in-one) might be a better option? we like the ability to choose doctors, specialists, etc.

 

[KarenF]

We have 3 years to go until Medicare, but unless things change (which they always do) I know I will be using Boomer Benefits, sign up for G or N medigap and the cheapest prescription plan possible. We use Mark Cuban's CostPlus drugs and get $5 refills for the couple of generic meds we take (e.g. thyroid) and our dentist has a membership plan which is cheaper and covers way more than any dental insurance ever has. Ask your dentist! I don't think they advertise these plans. I called the dentist to ask if they had suggestions when my COBRA ran out.

 

[JJpop]

I did have a Broker that I had to work with through my retiree benefits rules to get a small Stipend to use towards my medical expenses.

Moreover, I spent so much time and the stress of doing the deep dive to understand the process and the expense for each part of my Supplement plan.
Truly, I never cared one bit about anything related to medicare before I retired, so now suddenly I need to take a crash course to learn this stuff, I say BS!

So you expect the once in your life time that you need to set up your health insurance for the rest of your life to be something a child can do?
It really is pretty simple if you spend only a few hours on it to get a basic understanding and use a broker like boomer benefits.

It is a pretty big deal so you expect it to take a little effort, right?
It would be great if we turned 65 and all our healthcare was automatically covered 100 pct but what world is that?

 

[HGTVFanatic]

Well I need to vent, just signed up for a Medicare Supplement Plan and cant believe how irritating the process is, and the individual pieces to this puzzle are an additional expense.
First had to sign up for Medicare Plan A & pay for Plan B, then find a supplement plan and pay for that, then find a Prescription Plan and pay for that, oh and a Dental Plan which I also had to pay for. I wonder how annoying I will find dealing with each individual medical bill that comes in the future?

Oh my, you mean to tell me that this great country cant make it easier for
us as we age?

Your post has made me more appreciative that we have my husband’s union insurance which covers prescriptions in addition to being our gap insurance after Medicare. It’s not cheap but we’re glad we have it.

 

[RaySharpton]

It was a chore and a little intimidating, for me initially.

I was more worried about retiring and if I had enough money to live on so I tried to work as long as possible.

At 65 years old, I signed up for Medicare Part A on my birthday. I believe it was suggested to do this at this age.

Finally, at the age of 68 years old, age and mobility caught up with me.

I signed up to start Medicare Part "B" at 68 years old and after four months, I received confirmation of my Medicare Part "C" Advantage Plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield MediBlue Plus (HMO) of Georgia.

At the time, I thought everything was done, but for some reason, I forgot to sign up for a separate Medicare Part "D" prescription plan since I didn't like what the Medicare Part "C" Advantage Plan offered.

I was lucky and signed up before the penalty kicked in.

I signed up for a Medicare EnvisionRxPlus.

I didn't sign up for a Dental Plan because no one covered my dentist and the cost versus paperwork didn't add up for me.

The next year I signed up for Medicare BCBS Plan "F" Medigap. I weighed future health and living alone when I made this decision. I have been happy a couple of times that this plan covered an out-of-state emergency room and hospital stay with little to no extra cost to me.


I required a wheelchair to get around with no car to get to work. I was able to use the local bus, train, and sidewalks, but it started to become too difficult for me. I lived alone, with no surviving family to help, and the travel by car that took me 15 minutes now took me over 90 minutes (as long as the train concourse elevators were working and the sidewalks were passable for my wheelchair.

I was happy to learn I could live on my monthly Social Security check and a very small Northside Hospital Pension without touching my work 403b money.

I live simply with my mortgage paid off before retiring. I do miss having a car, but I'm having difficulty trying to decide what kind of mobility vehicle I want to buy that I can roll into with an electric rear entry ramp and an electric driver's transfer chair from my wheelchair. The place I look at the most is called Freedom Motors.