tof

Planning to go with a Medicare Advantage plan to replace spouse coverage Sandy carries for me now. Just gotten too expensive as her employer and their insurer tries to incentivize employees to drop said spouse coverage when spouse have other options.

So do I need to sign up for Part B on the Medicare site first?

I know I could call the Medicare help line for clarification but I trust you guys more.

Legal Bill

It would be stupid if you had to do part B first cause, you know, B comes after A. So because its the government, I'm gonna guess yes, you do B first. I can't wait to see if I'm right.

tof

Me too. -ed

Chuck S

A is the hospital part. B is the doctor part. D is the prescription coverage.

Part A is free and you get it automatically at age 65. Part B and D are optional and you can decline it at age 65 and pick it up later during "open enrollment" (now).

Your mailbox should be crammed full with "Part C" offers which replaces A, B, and D with commercial coverage.

Easy link (commercial site).

-- Chuck

boltonblue

a yes Humana, if I recall correctly it was one of Dean's favorite experiences.
channeling Dean but without his eloquence... may their maggot infested corpses rot in hell for all eternity. ... or something like that.

Lainey

Beware the Advantage type plans is what I've heard. Recently a local LARGE practice and Tufts Health Care could not come to an agreement for a contract; 3600 people at this area practice alone on Tufts HMO/Advantage plan are now scrambling for new primary care docs.

A friend of mine is coming up on the magical 65. He spoke to a local council on aging rep who advised of various options as it is overwhelming. He is paying for whatever you have to pay to subscribe to medicare $130.00? and purchased a Blue Cross Supplement for B and purchased D for drugs. No referrals needed. Not sure I got all the letters correct.

buckeyesue

I know very little about Medicare, because we only have Medicare A, the free one, for hospitalization. (We are required to have that because my husband is collecting Social Security. However, we are not required to have Medicare B yet, because he is still working and we have comparable health insurance, actually much better, through his employer.)

Have you looked at the Medicare Website? Here is a useful summary about Medicare Advantage plans. It says that you must have Part A and Part B to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan. There are many other pages on the Medicare website with info about the Advantage plans, how to enroll, etc. On some of those other pages, it says that the Medicare Advantage premiums are in addition to Part B premiums, so it does sound as if you have to sign up for Part B before you can sign up for an Advantage plan.

https://www.medicare.gov/pubs/pdf/11474.pdf

However, like Lainey, I have heard warnings about Medicare Advantage plans. You can find lots of info on the internet about advantages and disadvantages of the Medicare Advantage plans. I have a friend whose mother was in her 90's. At one time, they signed her up for a Medicare Advantage plan because it seemed to have many advantages. It was fine for several years, but then, one by one, her doctors dropped out of the plan. She could switch to another plan at open enrollment, but then pre-existing conditions would be counted, and the premiums became prohibitive, thousands of dollars a month, so they were pretty much locked into keeping the Medicare Advantage plan. By the time my friend's mother died, at age 93 in 2013, since all of her doctors were out of the plan now, only her hospitalization was covered, and my friend's mother had to pay 100% of everything else.

So, I would make sure you do your homework before signing up for a Medicare Advantage plan.

tof

The ONLY insurers who offer Medicare Advantage in Harrison County, MS are Humana and Cigna Healthspring. I have heard all the horror stories about Humana but I have also heard a number of good reports from people in my area, which given that these plans are regional, seems higher quality evidence. Neither payer is rated especially high on the Medicare web site but I think if my providers dropped either one, it would be Cigna as Humana covers the vast majority of Medicare Advantage patients they see (and get their revenue from).

Just spoke with SSA and, yes, I need to enroll in Medicare Part B before I can apply for any Part C (Medicare Advantage) plan.

Thanks to all for your replies and advice.

Jet sitter

The +1 and I have the Humana Advantage plan, it's a PPO so we can use our same doctors and hospitals. Very pleased with the coverage. You should be receiving all kinds of medicare mail and the State should provide a booklet with insurance coverage offered and what the customer satisfaction is. Typically, the plan I have receives a 87% rating.

dlq04

We have A & B, and I have D. Thankfully, we have not had to use C.