03/07/16 11:32 AM

#2809    

Cheri Kelly (Dannenberg)

Hi Everybody,

As you may remember, I am an Insurance Agent and I sell Medicare and Part D.

I am glad to help or answer any questions. The Classic Plan "F" is definately the plan that I recommend.

It isn't a plan likely to change in the future, and basically, with the "F" in place, you won't have any out-of-pocket

medical Expenses. The "Part D" is the prescription Drug coverage. If you have other Insurance with Drug 

coverage, you don't need it now, but if you don't, it is mandatory, unless you are willing to penalty every year

for not having it. The penalty goes up every year you don't have it. It comes in 3 levels.

03/06/16 06:48 PM

#2808    


 

Charlotte Check (Miller)

This is to help anyone turning 65. I went to insurance broker and she did all the work for me. She did not charge me anything. I took all my papers I have received in the mail and she went thur them and toss most of them out and told what to keep. She shows all your options. I know her from church. I now am on the medicare plan. and Its not too bad. I was able to keep my dental and vision thur work at a small cost. She gets paid by the insurance companies. And she will update me on any cost increase. I hope I was able to help anyone out. Can you believe we are or about to turn 65 WOW where did time go?

Hope I can get down to the cruizing grand in June we will just be getting back from Utah for almost 3 weeks.

03/05/16 05:25 AM

#2807    


 

Georgana Slagel (Pryce)

Hi all,   I went through my Medicare set up yesterday. I am retired and currently on Blue Cross Blue Shield. I went with Medicare A and B and the supplemental plan F with BCBS. My prescription coverage will be with Silver Script. The F plan covers the 20% but also any overage from providers who don't accept what Medicare says is the price. it will also cover my Y membership with only a $50 contribution by me.

Since I tend more towards integrative medicine as a first line of defense, you can have any labs or procedures paid by Medicare as long as they participate. Even though I had experience with selling life and long term care insurance as a financial advisor, I found it very helpful to just sit down with someone like Steve (Hurd) and lay out your particular concerns and needs and he can guide you to the right combination. My total cost will be less than the high deductible policy I currently have. Good luck!

03/03/16 05:56 PM

#2802    


 

Rick Barthel

You can apply for your medicare care card as early as 3 months before and as late as 3 month after your birthday month. DON'T be late. The company I work for (owned by Clarice and I) paid 100% of my heallthcare coverage. Actually, I was a dependant under Clarice's policy. She is much younger so it was cheaper that way. Anyway The owner of the company ;-) said I would be cut off at age 65, and I would have to go on Medicare. It turns out that it is a great thing. I was already on Kaiser HMO and after talking with a few people I decided to stay with them.  I signed up for Part A, and Part B. As long as you are paying the Part B rate of $121.80 Kaiser gives you part C and Part D (perscriptions) and no extra charge (at least here in San Diego area) My copays are all much reduced from the plan I had at work, and the pharmacy items seem to be much less as well. I also signed up for their $20.00 per month supplimental plan that includes Dental, Hearing, and vision. I have no use for the dental plan but I may use the other two. The kicker here was it also includes my membership to LA Fitness which was costing me $29.00 a month.  Great deal.

03/01/16 12:53 PM

#2798    

Jan Gardiner

Hi guys. I have been following the discussion about Medicare and turning 65 and decided to add my experiences.  In 2003, I was declared permanently disabled by my doctors and Social Security.  Because I would be receiving disability payments, not retirement, I had to wait a year before I could apply for Medicare.  Yes, it's stupid but that's the way it was. What I know is based on this rather than on turning 65 but I think it is all the same.  I received a ton of literature in the mail and I did a lot of research online.  It took me hours and hours and hours and days and days.  It's a big process and there is very little personal support/advice out there.  Medicare part A is automatic and you can choose whether or not to add part B.  When I was researching this, most insurance plans that were economically good required that you have part B. So check this out closely because you make your choice and you are stuck with it until "open season" in the late fall when you can make changes to you insurance and your Medicare.  I had high medical and prescription costs so I needed serious coverage from a Medicare Supplemental insurance policy.  Because my only income was Social Security, the cost of the supplemental policies was as important at the prescription costs. In my position, I ened up with a "Medicare HMO plan". It is now referred to as a "Medicare Advantage plan".  I am with Health Net here in Sacramento. As it worked out, I was able to stay with the same medical clinic that I had been using for years.  That was important to me because the flow of information is contained in one system. I don't have to explain myself every time I see a new doctor.  Also, I was able to keep my own primary care doctor who knew the progress of my disability and so he always has respected my needs without question. These plans offer coverage for dental and vision care additionally. I don't know what it is like today but I can imagine little has changed regarding available individual advice. I searched everywhere: disabled persons groups, government agencies, for-profit businesses, and nonn-profit groups that were staffed with volunteers.  There was little to none.  So, if you find someone who will look at you and understand your needs and help you make these decisions, go for it. The more you study, the less you will make mistakes. I'd be happy to discuss this with anyone.

 

03/01/16 11:08 AM

#2797    

Phil Christofferson

Steve, I just went through this with my company medical insurance.  I spoke with our insurance, United Health, and with Medicare directly.  If you are employed and have company medical insurance, you only have to sign up for Part A of Medicare.  Part A is free.  As soon as you retire and your medical insurance lapses, a special enrollment period opens allowing you to register for Parts B, D without paying a penalty. There is a time limit.  I found that a fairly quick and easy call to Medicare clarified everything.  It is also necessary to talk with your current medical insurance to see what their rules are.  The Medicare rules are different if your medical insurance is through Cobra.

03/01/16 06:27 AM

#2795     EDIT     DELETE


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Steve Fehlhaber

Cathy/Susie... I only worked the last few years before 65 JUST for medical insurance.  Home Depot offered full medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance.  Medical, Dental and vision covered both my wife and I.  When I was getting within a few months of 65, I queried my company about my medical insurance and how it would be affected.  Bottom line, when I went on Medicare, I could not continue to carry my wife (she is 62) without continuing my policy with them.  My policy with them was about $250 per 2 week pay period.  For us, by me not working, having Medicare and supplements and paying for her private insurance (about $470/mo) it comes out about the same costs except I don't have to work any longer.  When she goes on Medicare, our Medical costs will be reduced significantly!  Just make sure with your employer how your insurance will be affected when you turn 65 as you will be automatically enrolled for Medicare.  I don't know what would happen or how they would interact if you tried to keep your company policy and Medicare....... don't know if you can decline Medicare until you need it without paying penalties or premiums?

 

02/29/16 05:02 PM

#2794    


 

Cathleen Courson

Thanks Steve H and Steve F. Like Suzi I am still working and have full coverage at work but have gotten conflicting info from my companies benefits group. I appreciate everyone's input. Everything helps.

 

 

02/29/16 11:17 AM

#2793    

Susie Toft (Cortez)

Good Morning All,

Thank you Cathy for asking about Medicare experiences.  I'll be emailing or calling Steve Hurd with my questions.  I am working and receiving United Health Care medical benefits, we have a prescription drug plan, Metlife Dental and VSP for eyecareIt's good coverage and I don't wish to change it.  But I can see Medicare will be a different experience!  I appreciate all who took the time to share your information.  So nice to have such a great resource and great people to talk with.  Many thanks,  Suzi ;)

 

 

02/29/16 06:32 AM

#2792     EDIT     DELETE


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Steve Fehlhaber

Just want to share my experience on Medicare and supplements.  I went on the program on Jan 1, 2016. Medicare Part A comes automatically (no charge) to us and we have the Option of accepting Part B.  "B" costs us $121.80 (was $104.90 last year!) and comes directly out of our Social Security distribution from the government.  Parts A and B will only cover up to about 80% of our medical and hospital costs so I also signed up for a United Health Care/AARP supplemental insurance policy which I pay for as an automatic deduction from my checking, ($100.90/mo).  What is interesting is that my old friend Mike Curley, receives this same policy for free somehow because he is in a large Metropolitan area, Las Vegas.  Weird but confirmed.  Your Prescription, Dental and/or Vision policies will be other separate items.  I signed up for a Humana prescription supplemental that costs $18.40/mo and might not be a good investment for me.  I use a $2/mo in Blood Pressure medication! We live and learn.  I have not signed up for a Dental or Vision plan but will just bite the bullet if something comes along in those groups.  Don't expect anything severe at this stage of my life.  Anyway, I hope this is helpful to any of you who might be looking at making decisions this year.  I would recommend you consider Steve Hurd's offer, I wish I would have known/remembered he was involved in the industry before I made my decisions.  Good luck and enjoy!  Note: Policies, coverages and costs can be completely different from any given area in the US.  Make sure you solicit coverages for the area where you live for them to be the most effective!

 

 

02/28/16 05:46 PM

#2791    

Steve Hurd

Cathleen:

I've been placing Medicare Supplements, Medicare Advantage and Medicare RX plans with Seniors for close to 30 years now.  While I'm loath to post a shameless solicitation, I couldn't resist.  Send me an email (steve@pacifichealthbrokers.com)  or call me ( 800-858-0563 FREE) for any no oblication questions you might have.

 

Steve

 

02/27/16 09:38 PM

#2787    

Mark Cooley

Hi Cathleen,

First thing about approaching 65 is that your mailbox will be full of solicitations for Medicare supplemental coverage. The most important decision will be how much out of pocket do you want to expose yourself to. Several plans will be listed. Each plan is the same from one company to another, i.e., a plan F in one company is exactly the same in another company. The difference ends up being the cost.

Presciption plans vary, however. Some require a deductible, others don't. Some will have drugs that aren't covered. You can check this website that will help you more:

https://www.medicare.gov/part-d/index.html

We went with Mutual of Omaha since they gave us a 10 % multi-policy holder discount, and choose plan F. With that as of now, I walk away without paying a thing. You should check with your doctor about which plans they accept. We went with basic plan with SilverScript (owned by CVS) for our Plan D prescription plan. Runs about $23/month person.

You can email me if you have more questions.

02/27/16 12:10 PM

#2786    


 

Cathleen Courson

Had dinner last night with Suzi, Bev and Louise. We started talking about turning 65 and how little we knew about what we are supposed to do regarding Medicare. All of the workshops we've seen seem to be sponsored by companies that want to sell you something. I thought maybe some of you who have already turned 65 and done your homework would be willing to share what you've learned and experienced. Thanks!