As with most of American healthcare, Medicare is probably more complex than it needs to be, and I often wonder how many folks really know their exposure and the potential 'gotchas' in the system. That said, the monthly cost for a supplemental around here would have been close to $400/month for my wife and I, so I figure we are saving around $4500 on those, throw in $600 a year for glasses that we both need, a grand or so for dental, and $600 for a nice gym membership and I figure we are ahead almost 7k a year. Last year due to Covid we really didn't go to the doctor much at all, this year the savings will be a bit less as we have been going, although the costs are really low. I had a bunch of expensive tests and co pays were $25 each. I don't think emergency care is a problem, the plans will cover it outside your area if needed. If you live in multiple places regular medicare would generally be the ticket, I have not looked into the possibility that some Advantage plans may cover more one locale. The one biggie people need to be aware of is that it is easy to switch from regular medicare to an Advantage plan, but after the first year it may not be so easy to switch back depending on where you live, as you may be subject to medical underwriting when buying a supplemental.
One thing that was 'music to my ears' is that my plan does not allow 'balance billing', that may also be the case for all medicare, I am not sure. I see that Congress has finally gotten around to fixing that glaring hole in our medical system. It's disheartening that one could do as much homework as possible, go in for a procedure, and face large surprise bill anyway because the hospital uses an out of network doctor on the team performing the operation. Anesthesiology is the specialty that seems to pop up most often in these cases. |