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To: Kirk © who wrote (115181)8/19/2021 2:55:35 PM
From: John Koligman
1 Recommendation   of 116405
 
The other thing I noticed is that some groups are 'transitioning' their primary care physicians to patients with Advantage plans only. They claim the care will take more time and be more 'comprehensive', hence the change. My cynical side says maybe it is also due to money/reimbursement advantages, but thought I'd mention it. Here is part of a letter our group sent my wife, as her primary care physician is included in the move.


"Our New, Com­pre­hen­sive Pri­ma­ry Care Ini­tia­tive for Medicare Advan­tage PatientsAt DuPage Med­ical Group our physi­cians and asso­ciates are com­mit­ted to pro­vid­ing our patients with the high­est qual­i­ty health care. We con­tin­u­ous­ly seek new ways in which we can enhance patient care and their over­all patient expe­ri­ence. DuPage Med­ical Group is excit­ed to announce our new – Com­pre­hen­sive Pri­ma­ry Care Ini­tia­tive for Medicare Advan­tage patients.

This Ini­tia­tive will allow a select num­ber of DMG Pri­ma­ry Care Physi­cians (list­ed below) to tran­si­tion their Medicare (Age 65+) prac­tices to the more com­pre­hen­sive patient and well­ness focused care mod­els pro­mot­ed by cer­tain Medicare Advan­tage plans. Effec­tive Jan­u­ary 1, 2021, and due to the addi­tion­al demands on their time that this Ini­tia­tive will require, those select Physi­cians will only con­tin­ue to serve as a pri­ma­ry care physi­cian to those Medicare-eli­gi­ble patients which are enrolled in the Medicare Advan­tage plans they par­tic­i­pate in. They will no longer con­tin­ue see­ing pri­ma­ry care patients with tra­di­tion­al Medicare insurance.

Medicare Advan­tage plans typ­i­cal­ly pro­vide addi­tion­al ben­e­fits not avail­able under tra­di­tion­al Medicare. These plans may also pro­vide ben­e­fits that address patients’ social and envi­ron­men­tal needs as well. Patients impact­ed by this change should have received a let­ter from their pri­ma­ry care physi­cian advis­ing of this change and spec­i­fy­ing the Medicare Advan­tage plans they par­tic­i­pate in. More infor­ma­tion as to par­tic­u­lar plan ben­e­fits may be obtained by con­tact­ing a licensed and inde­pen­dent insur­ance agent, if you do not have an agent we have part­nered with agents who can help. They can be reached at 855-429-1086 for a no oblig­a­tion Medicare ben­e­fit plan review. Their goal is to help our patients find the best plan that fits their indi­vid­ual health­care needs.

All physi­cians will con­tin­ue to accept patients with Com­mer­cial insur­ance plans that are cur­rent­ly accept­ed by DMG. Please refer to the Insur­ance infor­ma­tion page in the Resources sec­tion of our site for a list of DMG accept­ed Insur­ance Plans."

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To: John Koligman who wrote (115182)8/19/2021 3:28:08 PM
From: Kirk ©
   of 116405
 
I think your cynical side is correct but if you have the MA plans, then it is good news since they won't have to spend as much time on insurance issues.

I long thought Medicare should change to a "whole health per person" deal where the government pays a certain amount per subscriber (Medicare adult) then it is up to the hospital to figure out how to care for the person then prevent them from all merging so you have choices to keep them competing for RESULTS.

But it really needs this as a single payer system that starts when you turn 18 and spends the money up front to keep people healthy so they are not already basket cases by the time they reach 65.

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To: John Koligman who wrote (115180)8/20/2021 4:21:30 PM
From: Rarebird
   of 116405
 
My supplemental Plan G plan with Aetna costs me $143 a month. The problem with these plans are that there are 8-10% rate increases per year. I was with Cigna Plan G for 3 years and switched out to Aetna Plan to save $50 per month. Same benefits for both. So, in a way, it is like trading.

What I don't like about the Medicare advantage plans is that G-d forbid you get unexpectedly sick and are out of your home area, you better be careful what hospital or doctor you see because if it is not in network, you will get charged a fortune.

If you plan on staying put in your home area, then medicare advantage is worth it if your network is composed of top doctors and hospitals.

I understand in cases of emergency the extra fees are waived. But that can be a debatable point outside of sudden heart attacks and epileptic seizures.

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To: Kirk © who wrote (115181)8/20/2021 4:31:16 PM
From: Rarebird
   of 116405
 
The Dental insurance I have in my Plan G supplemental Plan is basic and does not include periodontal cleanings, which I need and have seperate insurance for.

As for gym memberships, that is a bit overrated as it only costs $10 a month for a good gym membership in Las Vegas. I had that gym membership with Cigna Plan G for $25 a year. But Aetna and the other providers dropped that this year ( and some the year before).

You make a good case for being on a Medicare Advantage plan. But just make sure you stay put in your local network and don't get sick if you are travelling outside your local network. If you do, you will be charged a small fortune, outside of what is considered an emergency.

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From: Rarebird8/20/2021 4:40:54 PM
1 Recommendation   of 116405
 
GDXJ with a close below $40 for the week. I expect more follow through to the downside next week, with an initial strong bounce at the 200-SMA.

Gold miners are good for a huge 7 month rally every 4 years. Otherwise, they are a short sellers dream, as close to a sell and hold as you get.

Interesting that the Gold bugs still dream about the Miners rallying while the broad market tanks. That happens after the Fed stops tightening and the first of a long series of rate cuts is anticipated.

MSFT and AAPL are the real safe havens today, not the Gold Miners


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To: Rarebird who wrote (115184)8/20/2021 6:05:10 PM
From: John Koligman
1 Recommendation   of 116405
 
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.

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From: The Barracuda™9/10/2021 11:23:37 PM
   of 116405
 
Biden's recent executive order regarding vaccines is, IMO, a reason why the TX gold depository is where one should store their gold/silver/other PM.

Why?

Because, if in the future, another govt bureaucrat decides that your gold is not really your gold, the private vaults will say "yes sir". However, a state government vault, holding your property, will have the protection of being a sovereign states facility .

That means that the states police power and its access to the federal courts will most likely be defending your property from theft by the bureaucrat.

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From: rdkflorida29/27/2021 3:25:12 PM
   of 116405
 
GDX dropped below $30. More down or a rebound?? Anyone with thoughts??

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To: rdkflorida2 who wrote (115189)9/27/2021 3:28:08 PM
From: Sun Tzu
   of 116405
 
Interest rates and the dollar are going up, which makes gold a bad hedge right now.
Even Dalio is not as bullish on gold as he used to be.

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To: Sun Tzu who wrote (115190)9/27/2021 3:43:56 PM
From: rdkflorida2
1 Recommendation   of 116405
 
Noticed a lot of TV ads for gold usually a counter indicator. I'm just watching. Thanks for your input.

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