General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: medicare etc [View all]csziggy
(34,141 posts)J and K plans. I'm not which of us is on which one - my husband has a yearly deductible (about $180) and my plan has no deductible. We both also have drug plans (Part D), this year with a new company that has much cheaper plans than we paid for last year. Right now neither of us are on very many medications, or expensive ones. Previous years I got socked with meds costs.
A friend of ours worked for an insurance company and guided us through the options. I did some shopping around, but found his advice good. The plans he recommended were slightly more expensive but also more comprehensive, so we went with him.
One caution he gave me with the particular plans - there has been talk of phasing those out. If we went with a group plan such as AARP or other organizations offer, you really can't be grandfathered in when the plan is closed out. Since we are buying direct, we will be grandfathered in unless we cancel our plans or the company goes out of business.
The year I went on Medicare and began my supplemental I had aortic valve replacement. The only thing I had to pay out of pocket was the co-pay for drugs, nothing else. I'd only been on Medicare for two weeks when they did the MRI I'd been trying to get for six months. About three months after the MRI I was getting a new valve. MY ACA plan through Blue Cross had delayed - I suspect so I would be on Medicare before BC had to pay for it.