Medicare, Part D

[JayhawkCurtis]

I have a feeling this thread is getting ready to go off the rails big time!

 

[Golfman25]

Sorry but that is just not true. You are welcome to believe it, but when you preach it in public you will have to deal with people who know better. We can expect it to be around as long as voters elect representatives who will support it.

YGTBSM. What do you think -- the money fairy is just going to give them all the money needed to sustain the program?

 

[ttmott]

There has been talk for several years to liquidate Medicaid (different than Medicare) and fold it all under the Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare). The ACA is sucking air and needs the infusion of the Medicaid funding. But congress sees the light in that Medicaid will suffer in coverage and quality if diluted into the ACA. It'll never happen.

As far as Medicare goes, the Social Security Administration implements only Part A and Part B. Private insurers provide the Supplements and Parts D (perspiration drugs). As an alternative to Part B (and any Supplements) one can opt for Medicare Advantage which is entirely commercially provided. Part A aside as that is always included, there are limitations and benefits to each of the types of plans.
One thing critical is to enroll before your 65 birthday wither you are working or not or potentially suffer higher premiums. There is a catch if your employer has 20 or more employees and have a health insurance plan you may be able to defer enrollment.

 

[OllieC]

Sorry but that is just not true. You are welcome to believe it, but when you preach it in public you will have to deal with people who know better. We can expect it to be around as long as voters elect representatives who will support it.

My statement was ignorant. I’ve always been under the impression, “what the government giveth, it can taketh away” as far as entitlements….much like the taketh - was it $400m or $400b, for ACA from MC? That could have been a myth as well. Just print more money and it will all be paid for.

I guess it will be there forever….. like SS, thank goodness….

Apologies for the derail….my original comment was pithy and now sadly sarcastic…..

 

[Steve S]

One thing critical is to enroll before your 65 birthday wither you are working or not or potentially suffer higher premiums. There is a catch if your employer has 20 or more employees and have a health insurance plan you may be able to defer enrollment.

Actually I believe you need to enroll and take Part A at 65, no matter if you are covered at work. You can defer Part D until later if your firm has more than 20 employees and provides a plan.

 

[PlayDate]

Sorry but that is just not true. You are welcome to believe it, but when you preach it in public you will have to deal with people who know better. We can expect it to be around as long as voters elect representatives who will support it.

He did say Medicaid which is a version which the States administer with Federal funding.

I believe Medicare will be around forever and consume more of the Federal budget. Medicaid is a different animal. It was organized so that the States could provide Healthcare for its citizens that were not Medicare qualified but were basically indigent. Medicade covers people who can't afford to pay anything and are sick.

I don't see the States giving up control of Medicaid anytime soon. Even the Federal government realizes it would be far more expensive to administer Medicaid on a Federal level than it is on a State by State basis.

 

[Pirate Lady]

Can't help with that, but will expand on something eluded to earlier about having to pay a penalty later for not securing Part D coverage on the front side. I am not quite there yet, but everyone else that is not either, should be aware that is true for Medicare in general (across the board), that is not just applicable to part D. If you don't apply when you are eligible (read '65'), the 'penalty' is lifelong and won't go away.

This is especially important to know, and be considered by those considering working until your full retirement age (so as to not suffer the hit you'd take by retiring 'early' at 65). No matter your chosen retirement age, you need to apply and play the game when you turn 65 or you will be levied that penalty FOR LIFE

Not exactly true. I kept working past 65, did not sign up because I had full Aetna coverage. Signed up after I retired at 70. if you keep working past 65 AND HAVE medical (they call it GHP) then no penalty.
The penalty is you have a limited time after retirement to sign up. Go past that date, penalty. I wont say how long to signup cause I don’t want to say something wrong.

 

[Pirate Lady]

There has been talk for several years to liquidate Medicaid (different than Medicare) and fold it all under the Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare). The ACA is sucking air and needs the infusion of the Medicaid funding. But congress sees the light in that Medicaid will suffer in coverage and quality if diluted into the ACA. It'll never happen.

As far as Medicare goes, the Social Security Administration implements only Part A and Part B. Private insurers provide the Supplements and Parts D (perspiration drugs). As an alternative to Part B (and any Supplements) one can opt for Medicare Advantage which is entirely commercially provided. Part A aside as that is always included, there are limitations and benefits to each of the types of plans.
One thing critical is to enroll before your 65 birthday wither you are working or not or potentially suffer higher premiums. There is a catch if your employer has 20 or more employees and have a health insurance plan you may be able to defer enrollment.

TTs last sentance is EXACTLY what I talking about in my previous post.

 

[sbw1]

When I enrolled the Part C would not cover out of network or foreign travel. The risk was that If I traveled to Montana which had no network participation (for example) I would have no coverage and be subject to the full cost of the service. The Part B Supplementals come in all flavors and costs / deductibles. So, don't discount the Supplementals until they are all looked at and compared. When I owned the engineering firm we brought in an insurance specialist to discuss the various paths forward (many of the employees were once retired and closing in on SS/Medicare). It was an eye opener to decode the spaghetti bowl.

Our Advantage Plans cover foreign travel for illnesses and accidents as well as out of network issues that are not planned. That is to say, you need to stay in network for elective stuff, but emergency care is fully covered. Other plans may be different as you point out, but the plans are becoming more user friendly on this issue. Also, all of our docs accept our plans as well as all area hospitals. Even the U of Michigan Hospital which is outstanding is included in our Priority Health Advantage plans in West Michigan.

 

[Wanderer 290]

Call Tom Selleck, reverse mortgage the house and party until you die at the moment the last equity dollar is gone.

 

[RichieRitz]

Exactly what they are trying to sell. Lol. And people do it. ,..

 

[DylanBlake]

I totally get the confusion; Medicare is not the easiest thing to navigate. While your question's from a while back, it's an evergreen topic, right? So, when it comes to Part D, you've got a couple of options. You can either get it through Medicare itself or go the private route, like with Aetna or another provider. Since you're already confused and want to keep things simple, you might find this info on coveringcfl.net helpful. They've got a breakdown of open enrollment dates for health insurance in 2024 and details on what you need to consider. It might help clear up some of your confusion.