On 9/24/2019 10:35 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 23 Sep 2019 17:21:48 -0500, Dean Hoffman
wrote:

I need to sign up for Medicare in the next couple months and was
wondering if anyone had words of wisdom to offer.

Yeah, iirc, you're eligble from the first day of the month in which you
turn 65, not your birthday.

I couldn't make up my mind about supplemental, because there are so many
choices, and I ended up with no insurance for that month, and maybe the
next month, and finally choose AARP / UHC, not because they were the
best but because they were big enough and famous enough that is
something big were wrong with them, I'd have heard of it.

Now afaik, the only thing wrong might be how much I pay. Maybe I could
pay less and get less and not miss what I don't get. For example, I
rarely get the mammogram and I've never had a caesarian, if you don't
count the one the day I was born.

UHC also has some health line that will answer questions 24 hours a day,
and there have probably been times I should have asked them questions.
At least once so I could judge how well they answer. For example, are
they like the Whirlpool Cool Line, which answered excellently every
question about my washing machine, even how to take out the main
bearings. Or will they say, See your doctor.

UHC pays with no trouble. In fact I don't have to do anything, except
give the account number to the doctor. I don't need a referral to see
a specialist. Either I haven't come acrosss a single doctor who is not
in network or there is no network. I think there is no network for the
supplemental plan but in theory a doctor might not take medicare, yet
every doctor I've even considered does take it. Including
the urologist at Chesapeake Urology, which has literally 200
urologists in the Baltmiore area, and staffs the urology depts. at most
of the hospitals near me. All but JHH.
the urologist at Johns Hopkins, when I got tired of Chesapeake. I
think I'm done now for the rest of my life.
the endocrine surgeon at Univ. of Md Med Center. It really only took
him 15 minutes to cut out one lobe of my parathyroid, but he cut out the
right one so I'm happy.
the endocrinologist who said I needed the surgeon.
an orthopedist in a separate large orthopedics practice.
a diferent one there when I thought I might have broken my hand.
a different one who gave me a shot for trigger finger.

I think other than this I've just had one checkup a year for the last 7
years.

If dental was offered, I didn't want it. My dental expenses have been
low.


UHC has lots of plans and this is the UHC/AARP Medicare supplemental
plan. I'm sure I could specify it with fewer words, but once or twice
it hasn't been in the list I've been looking at because I used UHC when
I shoudl have used AARP, or maybe vice versa.

I guess I bought the drug plan, and maybe since I don't take many drugs
I didn't need it. I forget how I decided. One time I made the mistake
of telling the orthopedist that Tylenol didn't work and he gave me a
pescription that I didnt' ask the price of and once filled, it cost
$100. I'm sure I could have refused, but I didnt', I've only taken 1 or
2 of them and my regular doctor said it was no better, just different.
But I wasn't really complaining about the pain, just informing him. I
have to do better with that distinction in the future.

Membership in AARP is cheap, and I'm not sure I have to renew it to keep
the insurance. maybe, and AARP annoys me because it says it
"represents" so many millions of people. It doesn't ask my opinion on
issues and it doesn't represent me. People join not to put forth ideas
in Congress but for the insruance and other things. But I know they are
counting me. And maybe most of the time what they say I want and what
I actually want are the same. I don't keep track.

I'm paying $241/month for UHC. I was 72 in January.
In march of 2013 wWhen I was 66, it was $157, same plan.

That includes the drugs. I'm 99% sure it's not an HMO or a PPO. I would
have gotten a list of doctors in the network if it were, right?

Also plan F.

I was supposed to only be an outpatient for the last urology thing but
he kept me 3 nights and it was $5 or 10,000 and I think I only paid for
the TV.

In your honor I logged in for the first time in years, but it didnt' say
about hmo/ppo.





I don't know if this relates directly to your question, but one of my
best friends got a concierge doctor, who was supposed to give him better
than average attention, and when he had trouble, the guy tolld him to
keep seeing the physical therapist. My friend died at age 78 from
sepsis without ever seeing his doctor, though he did spend his last 3
days in the hospital, mostly unconscious. I wanted to go yell at or
send a nasty letter to the doctor, even went to his office to get his
phone number etc. but his brother and his wife didn't seem to want me
to. So concierge is only good if it's good.


AARP is an insurance salesman but does not sell their own insurance. I
object to this as they should have seniors best interests at heart but
their executives are compensated by the insurance company which has the
insurance company's best interest at heart.

Our family doctor went concierge a few years ago but we quit him. Up
front cost would have been $1,600 which is not covered by insurance. My
wife, in great health, said that $1,600 was too much when all you need
is an annual flu shot. I personally liked the guy but our new doctor
turned out better.