Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Medicare Supplemental...

If it's an emergency, out of town etc., they will pay. Aetna is nationwide where as Blue Cross is pretty small. It's a mess but the bigger can be better

I have A,B and D,had A and B for years but when they retired me i got D.

The rest have not made any sense to me but maybe it's just all of the darn phone calls that leave me jaded.

We have a Blue Cross Advantage. It costs us $19/mo each. We've both had surgery in the last 2 years, her knee, my shoulder. Her out of pocket was under $2000 and that includes 3 braces, therapy, the works. Mine was about $1000.

I start Medicare in March of 2023. Currently I have no health issues other than slight elevation of eyeball pressure that could be a future glaucoma issue, no prescriptions other than eye drops for the ocular pressure.

I like the option that original medicare provides where I can be serviced by any medical doc that accepts medicare. No screwing around with choosing docs that are in network and all that mess. This is important for me 'cause never know when I'm traveling the country might need to get something fixed.

Research I've done and advice I've read suggest that if I choose original medicare be sure to enroll in the Part D for prescription drugs 'cause it's inexpensive, part G MediGap to cover A&B deductables with one exception. Info below was copy/paste from MedicareGuide.com, link below:

Medicare Supplement Plan G, also called Medigap Plan G, is a supplemental policy that has become more common since it was first made available a few years ago. And thanks to the phasing out of the popular Medigap Plan F in 2022, Plan G is now the plan of choice for many.

Medicare Supplement/Medigap Overview
There are 10 standardized Medicare Supplement policies (A, B, C, D, F, G, K, L, M, N) that help reduce your costs under Original Medicare (Part A and B). Medicare doesn’t fully cover all treatments and services, leaving “gaps” that these policies can fill.

If you have a Medigap policy, you can use any doctor, hospital or facility that accepts Medicare in the U.S. and U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. The healthcare providers must be enrolled in Medicare and must accept new Medicare patients. The majority of doctors and hospitals in the U.S. take Original Medicare.1 Six of the plans (C, D, F, G, M, N) cover foreign travel emergencies up to plan limits — typically $ 50,000-lifetime limit coverage after an initial $250 deductible in the first two months of travel .2

What Does Plan G Cover?
Plan F is considered the top-of-the-line Medigap policy. It covers 100% of the gaps in Medicare. Plan G’s coverage is nearly as good with one exception: Plan G does not cover the Part B deductible, which is $233 in 2022. Even with paying the Part B deductible, many Medicare enrollees find Plan G more cost-effective than Plan F when considering their respective premiums.

Plan G covers everything that Medicare Part A and B cover at 100% except for the Part B deductible. This means that you won’t pay anything out-of-pocket for covered services and treatments after you pay the deductible.

Like Medigap Plan F, Plan G also covers “excess charges.” Doctors who don’t accept the full Medicare-approved amount as full payment can charge you up to 15% more than the Medicare-approved amount for services or procedures. This is known as the “excess charge.”3 Most doctors accept the Medicare-approved payment and cannot bill you the extra amount. Since 2016, excess charges are illegal in these states: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.


This link is worth a read: https://medicareguide.com/medicare-supplement-plan-g-150859#cover

Enjoy your retirement Jeffry, I am, every day is a saturday!

One important aspect of this whole Medicare three-ring circus that can bite you in the butt is the fact that when you FIRST BECOME ELIGIBLE FOR MEDICARE any of these Medicare plans MUST accept you regardless of your state of health. But later, if you want to change to a “better” plan, that plan can reject you!

So, if you are 65, in perfect health, and decide to join a plan with zero monthly premium, minimum coverage, and they even give you $75/month free money ... then two years later you come down with a serious disease and your plan sucks as far as treatment goes, EVERY plan with serious coverage WILL reject you!

And whatever plan that does accept you will require you to cough up big bucks for everything.

Advantage plans will throw roadblocks in your path, deny or interfere with your treatments, dictate EXACTLY what is done in an operating room, and what and how many medical professionals can participate.

Best bet is pay more for better/best coverage when you first join Medicare.

There are a few exceptions that would force a Medicare plan to accept you, like move to another state, or your original plan is no longer being offered, etc.

I don't think Medicare Plan F is available now to new subscribers.

THAT! All the nurses at the place my wife works say the same thing.. They're fine for preventive stuff, but if you need surgery etc., you'll pay YUGE outta pocket..

Not true. I have had a replaced shoulder, stroke, back surgery, and hand surgery. No HUGE out of pocket cost.In fact most have a limited max out of pocket cost for everything. All follow the Medicare guide line for the doughnut gap for prescriptions

Had all the same problems as everyone else plus not being able to hear well. My auto and home policies in the same place. I asked the agent if they handled Medicare supplements to. He told me that my insurer didn't do that but they have an associate who deals with that exclusively for Blue Cross Blue Shield for Medicare supplement policies. So I scheduled an appointment. Ended up getting BCBS "g" a little more than some little less than others. Thing is when there are questions and bills she is right there guiding me thru it or handling what needs to be done. No talking to some asswipe on the phone with a foreign accent at 500 words a minute and gusts to 1000. It works for me because of my major hearing loss and the ability to go face to face with my BSBC agent. It's all fugging expensive. The 170 up frt and about 195 BCBS that includes the prescription coverage/ per month..mb

I’ve had Plan N for the four yrs since retired. I had bilateral TKR February 14,’20. Not one dime was I charged. Nada. Different surgeon and team on each side. Accepted Medicare Assignment. Also, scheduler discovered that if both performed at same time the second was half rate, per Medicare rule. These cutters were the principals w Dallas Orthopedic Surgery Inc. All they do is knee and hip replacements and Sports injuries of same.
Plan N has been the stuff for me.

I am retiring in 60 days and have been researching this subject. Three different brokers have mentioned Mutual of Omaha. Identical coverage for lower price.

We are meeting in two weeks with a broker reccomended by our Primary Care Provider. As the broker handles provider's husband's accounts.

Who would recognize a quality broker better than a health care provider. Especially a provider who's family one has known for 30 years, and know she is sincere and trustworthy.