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

On 9/23/19 6:21 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
Â*Â*Â*Â* I need to sign up for Medicare in the next couple months and was
wondering if anyone had words of wisdom to offer.

Consider a Medicare Advantage HMO plan- as long as a good HMO is
available in your area.

Most have Rx coverage, no "supplement" plan is needed, emphasize
preventative care, and usually it's one-stop shopping when you need to
see the doc...lab, xray, pharmacy, etc., in the building.

Kaiser Permanente has been the top-rated HMO for many years where I live
and I've generally been happy with the quality of care I've received. I
was also with them for a long time before I went on Medicare.

But lately they've been hiring a ton of fresh-out physicians from
foreign medical schools in regions I'd hardly consider centers of
medical excellence. We'll have to see how it goes.

--
Why is it that the people who want more government control over your
life are the same ones who want you to be disarmed?

On 9/23/19 6:21 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
Â*Â*Â*Â* I need to sign up for Medicare in the next couple months and was
wondering if anyone had words of wisdom to offer.

You can start by understanding that anything you hear from friends, etc
may not apply to you. MC is not by any means a "one size fits all" deal.

First d/l and read thru a copy of "Medicare and You" at
https://www.medicare.gov/forms-help-...ferent-formats
or https://tinyurl.com/yxl8xej7

Next read thru Medicare's website at https://www.medicare.gov/
to expand on what you learned in the "MC & You" handbook. Take it slow
and read it carefully.

Then when you have questions, go to this Health Insurance forum
http://www.city-data.com/forum/health-insurance/
and either search for your question, and/or post an inquiry.

Several very knowledgeable people hang out there and are good at answering.

If all that fails, every State has a free group called SHIPS that are
there to help people understand Medicare. Go here to find yours:
https://www.medicare.gov/Contacts/#resources/ships


Good Luck, just take your time to understand what choices are best for you.

On 9/23/19 6:47 PM, Wade Gattett wrote:
On 9/23/19 6:21 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â* I need to sign up for Medicare in the next couple months and was
wondering if anyone had words of wisdom to offer.

Consider a Medicare Advantage HMO plan- as long as a good HMO is
available in your area.

Most have Rx coverage, no "supplement" plan is needed, emphasize
preventative care, and usually it's one-stop shopping when you need to
see the doc...lab, xray, pharmacy, etc., in the building.

Kaiser Permanente has been the top-rated HMO for many years *where I live*
and I've generally been happy with the quality of care I've received. I
was also with them for a long time before I went on Medicare.

But lately they've been hiring a ton of fresh-out physicians from
foreign medical schools in regions I'd hardly consider centers of
medical excellence. We'll have to see how it goes.


Unfortunately Kaiser's Part C Advantage plans are only available in 8
States & DC (and not all counties in those States). So Dean will need to
be in their Service Area to consider them.

https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/

In article ,
says...

If all that fails, every State has a free group called SHIPS that are
there to help people understand Medicare. Go here to find yours:
https://www.medicare.gov/Contacts/#resources/ships




Wife and I checked the SHIPS at a local senor citizen center. Man was
very helpful and gave us some options. We went with AETNA . That
seemed to be the best for us at the time. If you are on any expensive
(before insurance) medications make sure they are on the formulary (list
of drugs they cover).

On 9/23/2019 6:47 PM, Wade Gattett wrote:
Medicare Advantage HMO plan

Disadvantage is that it only pays for doctors within the plan so I guess
it does depend where you are located and who the doctors are.

Some retirees have no supplemental but my former employer pays for most
of it. I have never met the over $2,000 deductible for the over 10
years I have been on the supplemental and the only benefit I get is free
fitness club membership.

You should get a supplemental drug plan. Generics are usually cheap
enough not to need one but name brands can be out of sight. Years ago I
took one for a year that would have cost me $36,500 but only cost me a
$80 copay.

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.

Choose your gap plan wisely. This may be the last chance you have for
Plan F (the platinum one) if you are sick. After the initial offering
you have to go through underwriting and if you are too sick they just
say no.
Other than that it is "do you feel lucky"?
You can get an advantage plan in most states with zero monthly
payments, minimal co pays that includes the Plan D (Drug) coverage.
That is probably not for you if you go to the doctor a lot tho.
It is the classic pay me now (~$300/mo for plan F and a drug plan) or
pay me later (~$6500 max out of pocket every year)

On Mon, 23 Sep 2019 18:47:38 -0400, Wade Gattett
wrote:

On 9/23/19 6:21 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
Â*Â*Â*Â* I need to sign up for Medicare in the next couple months and was
wondering if anyone had words of wisdom to offer.

Consider a Medicare Advantage HMO plan- as long as a good HMO is
available in your area.

You can also get zero pay Advantage PPOs that give you a lot more
latitude in which doctors you can see. The two medical conglomerates
that dominate the Naples Ft Myers area take United Health Care so I
can go just about anywhere and see anyone without seeing my primary
care guy first and getting a referral. HMOs are not that patient
friendly.

Dean Hoffman writes:

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

I went with AARP Medicare Complete.
They had me enroll in Medicare Part B and D.
There is _no_ other premium for supplemental coverage.

I've had it for a few years, everything covered 100% and same doctors.

The plan does have dental but my dentist won't do any form of Medicare.

I take 2 medications, both sent through the mail for free.
On my old employer plan, I paid for them.

So, working well for me.

--
Dan Espen

On 9/23/2019 6:21 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
Â*Â*Â*Â* I need to sign up for Medicare in the next couple months and was
wondering if anyone had words of wisdom to offer.

Medicare itself is easy and can be done on line. Just Medicare leaves
you open to a lot of costs for the other 20% not covered.


You have choices for supplements. Plan F is best but may be
discontinued but Plan G is next best. You will pay about $200 to $225 a
month for it but coverage is excellent. No co-pays and any doctor you
want. Choice depends on your health and tolerance to deductibles.

I see others are touting Medicare Advantage plans. Be careful. There
are a lot of deductibles and co-pays. A co-worker was bragging how much
money they save with it. Husband got sick and needed a $400/month
medication not covered. Its a crap shoot.

OTOH, one of my wife's hospital stays was over $200K and my cost was $0
with a United Healthcare plan F supplement.

On Mon, 23 Sep 2019 21:26:18 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 9/23/2019 6:21 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
Â*Â*Â*Â* I need to sign up for Medicare in the next couple months and was
wondering if anyone had words of wisdom to offer.

Medicare itself is easy and can be done on line. Just Medicare leaves
you open to a lot of costs for the other 20% not covered.


You have choices for supplements. Plan F is best but may be
discontinued but Plan G is next best. You will pay about $200 to $225 a
month for it but coverage is excellent. No co-pays and any doctor you
want. Choice depends on your health and tolerance to deductibles.

I see others are touting Medicare Advantage plans. Be careful. There
are a lot of deductibles and co-pays. A co-worker was bragging how much
money they save with it. Husband got sick and needed a $400/month
medication not covered. Its a crap shoot.

OTOH, one of my wife's hospital stays was over $200K and my cost was $0
with a United Healthcare plan F supplement.

Like I said, do you feel lucky?

On 9/23/2019 8:32 PM, Dan Espen wrote:
Dean Hoffman writes:

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

I went with AARP Medicare Complete.
They had me enroll in Medicare Part B and D.
There is _no_ other premium for supplemental coverage.

I've had it for a few years, everything covered 100% and same doctors.

The plan does have dental but my dentist won't do any form of Medicare.

I take 2 medications, both sent through the mail for free.
On my old employer plan, I paid for them.

So, working well for me.

My former employer pays for a supplemental dental plan. My dentist
would only accept about 70% for checkups and charge me the rest so I
just switched to a dentist that accepts the plan. It is a poor plan in
that I may pay nothing for biannual checkups but it paid nothing for a
broken partial replacement.

In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 23 Sep 2019 19:08:48 -0400,
wrote:

On 9/23/19 6:47 PM, Wade Gattett wrote:
On 9/23/19 6:21 PM, 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.

Consider a Medicare Advantage HMO plan- as long as a good HMO is
available in your area.

Most have Rx coverage, no "supplement" plan is needed, emphasize
preventative care, and usually it's one-stop shopping when you need to
see the doc...lab, xray, pharmacy, etc., in the building.

Kaiser Permanente has been the top-rated HMO for many years *where I live*
and I've generally been happy with the quality of care I've received. I
was also with them for a long time before I went on Medicare.

But lately they've been hiring a ton of fresh-out physicians from
foreign medical schools in regions I'd hardly consider centers of
medical excellence. We'll have to see how it goes.


Unfortunately Kaiser's Part C Advantage plans are only available in 8
States & DC (and not all counties in those States). So Dean will need to
be in their Service Area to consider them.

https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/

And if he is eligble, what happens when he travels to other parts of the
country? I have no idea if that is a problem. I think I got letters
from them and that was part of the reason it took me 2 extra months to
decide.

On 09/24/2019 05:32 AM, Frank wrote:
On 9/23/2019 8:32 PM, Dan Espen wrote:
Dean Hoffman writes:

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

I went with AARP Medicare Complete.
They had me enroll in Medicare Part B and D.
There is _no_ other premium for supplemental coverage.

I've had it for a few years, everything covered 100% and same doctors.

The plan does have dental but my dentist won't do any form of Medicare.

I take 2 medications, both sent through the mail for free.
On my old employer plan, I paid for them.

So, working well for me.

My former employer pays for a supplemental dental plan. My dentist
would only accept about 70% for checkups and charge me the rest so I
just switched to a dentist that accepts the plan. It is a poor plan in
that I may pay nothing for biannual checkups but it paid nothing for a
broken partial replacement.

I haven't seen many dental plans that let you do anything more than
break even. Start talking crowns and root canals and you'd better bring
your checkbook.

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.

On 9/24/19 9:33 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 23 Sep 2019 19:08:48 -0400,
wrote:

On 9/23/19 6:47 PM, Wade Gattett wrote:
On 9/23/19 6:21 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
Â*Â*Â*Â*Â* I need to sign up for Medicare in the next couple months and was
wondering if anyone had words of wisdom to offer.

Consider a Medicare Advantage HMO plan- as long as a good HMO is
available in your area.

Most have Rx coverage, no "supplement" plan is needed, emphasize
preventative care, and usually it's one-stop shopping when you need to
see the doc...lab, xray, pharmacy, etc., in the building.

Kaiser Permanente has been the top-rated HMO for many years *where I live*
and I've generally been happy with the quality of care I've received. I
was also with them for a long time before I went on Medicare.

But lately they've been hiring a ton of fresh-out physicians from
foreign medical schools in regions I'd hardly consider centers of
medical excellence. We'll have to see how it goes.


Unfortunately Kaiser's Part C Advantage plans are only available in 8
States & DC (and not all counties in those States). So Dean will need to
be in their Service Area to consider them.

https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/

And if he is eligble, what happens when he travels to other parts of the
country? I have no idea if that is a problem. I think I got letters
from them and that was part of the reason it took me 2 extra months to
decide.


Here is what the "Medicare and You" handbook says at the 6th bullet down
on page 59 at
https://www.medicare.gov/sites/defau...-and-you_0.pdf

"What do I pay?
Your out-of-pocket costs in a Medicare Advantage Plan depend on:

€¢ Whether you get services from a network provider or a provider that
doesnt contract with the plan. If you go to a doctor, other health care
provider, facility, or supplier that doesnt belong to the plans
network for non-emergency or non-urgent care services, your services may
not be covered, or your costs could be higher. In most cases, this
applies to Medicare Advantage HMOs and PPOs."

On 9/24/2019 10:05 AM, rbowman wrote:
On 09/24/2019 05:32 AM, Frank wrote:
On 9/23/2019 8:32 PM, Dan Espen wrote:
Dean Hoffman writes:

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

I went with AARP Medicare Complete.
They had me enroll in Medicare Part B and D.
There is _no_ other premium for supplemental coverage.

I've had it for a few years, everything covered 100% and same doctors.

The plan does have dental but my dentist won't do any form of Medicare.

I take 2 medications, both sent through the mail for free.
On my old employer plan, I paid for them.

So, working well for me.

My former employer pays for a supplemental dental plan.Â* My dentist
would only accept about 70% for checkups and charge me the rest so I
just switched to a dentist that accepts the plan.Â* It is a poor plan in
that I may pay nothing for biannual checkups but it paid nothing for a
broken partial replacement.

I haven't seen many dental plans that let you do anything more than
break even. Start talking crowns and root canals and you'd better bring
your checkbook.

That's right. I had two plans available and took the one that cost half
as much as it appeared both maxed at $1,000. My original dentist would
have accepted full payment from the more expensive plan but he was young
and I only had him for a couple of years after my older dentist retired.

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.

On Tue, 24 Sep 2019 08:05:35 -0600, rbowman
wrote:

On 09/24/2019 05:32 AM, Frank wrote:
On 9/23/2019 8:32 PM, Dan Espen wrote:
Dean Hoffman writes:

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

I went with AARP Medicare Complete.
They had me enroll in Medicare Part B and D.
There is _no_ other premium for supplemental coverage.

I've had it for a few years, everything covered 100% and same doctors.

The plan does have dental but my dentist won't do any form of Medicare.

I take 2 medications, both sent through the mail for free.
On my old employer plan, I paid for them.

So, working well for me.

My former employer pays for a supplemental dental plan. My dentist
would only accept about 70% for checkups and charge me the rest so I
just switched to a dentist that accepts the plan. It is a poor plan in
that I may pay nothing for biannual checkups but it paid nothing for a
broken partial replacement.

I haven't seen many dental plans that let you do anything more than
break even. Start talking crowns and root canals and you'd better bring
your checkbook.

I have had some kind of dental plan from IBM since the 70s and it
never really paid squat. The dentist says I get a discount from the
full rate but when I pressed them about whether I could negotiate the
same price as a cash customer he stuffs that spit sucker back in my
mouth.

On Tue, 24 Sep 2019 12:33:57 -0400, Frank "frank wrote:

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.

I am getting the same AARP plan straight from UHC without AARP being
involved at all. The monthly is zero and the co pays are the same. My
doctors say I am on AARP as far as they are concerned.

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.

Mine too. ( went Concierge) That guy pretty much just looked on his
computer and quoted WebMD to me almost word for word tho. I doubt he
even recognized my name. I was whomever the tech had up on the PC when
he breezed in.
These days my PCP is really just a tech. They say there is a doctor
there somewhere but it is "Weekend at Bernies". I have been there over
a half dozen times in 3 years and never even saw him. All of the real
medicine is done by specialists anyway. That is all I ever had a PCP
do was send me to a specialist for the last 35 years no matter what I
was there for unless it was just a prescription he could write.

On 9/24/2019 12:33 PM, Frank wrote:


AARP is an insurance salesman but does not sell their own insurance.Â* 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.


This is true. But. . . .
In nine years my wife has had hundreds of thousands of $$$ in medical
bills. rehab, hospice. My cost aside from the premium was $0. My time
to do paperwork or appeal claims is 0 minutes. The premium cost
compared to others was the same or slightly less.

I have no complaints and will not change.

My son had a medical equipment business. He billed medicare, various
insurance companies, patients. The fastest pay was UHC.

I don't know how they are as an independent insurance company but as a
Medicare supplement with AARP they do a fine job.

On 9/24/19 3:35 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 9/24/2019 12:33 PM, Frank wrote:


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.


This is true.Â* But. . . .
In nine years my wife has had hundreds of thousands of $$$ in medical
bills. rehab, hospice.Â* My cost aside from the premium was $0.Â* My time
to do paperwork or appeal claims is 0 minutes.Â* The premium cost
compared to others was the same or slightly less.

I have no complaints and will not change.

My son had a medical equipment business.Â* He billed medicare, various
insurance companies, patients.Â* The fastest pay was UHC.

I don't know how they are as an independent insurance company but as a
Medicare supplement with AARP they do a fine job.

UHC, as a Medigap supplement insurer, MUST pay its 20% if Medicare pays
its 80% of a claim. No questions asked.

This applies to all Medigap plans. They cannot deny claims under
Medigap, like they can with a Part C Advantage plan.

On 9/24/2019 11:11 AM, wrote:
....

And if he is eligble, what happens when he travels to other parts of the
country?Â* I have no idea if that is a problem.Â*Â*Â* I think I got letters
from them and that was part of the reason it took me 2 extra months to
decide.


Here is what the "Medicare and You" handbook says at the 6th bullet down
on page 59 at
https://www.medicare.gov/sites/defau...-and-you_0.pdf


"What do I pay?
Your out-of-pocket costs in a Medicare Advantage Plan depend on:

€¢ Whether you get services from a network provider or a provider that
doesnt contract with the plan. If you go to a doctor, other health care
provider, facility, or supplier that doesnt belong to the plans
network for non-emergency or non-urgent care services, your services may
not be covered, or your costs could be higher. In most cases, this
applies to Medicare Advantage HMOs and PPOs."

There are rules to cover such cases of what is, in essence, emergency
care. They will be specifically spelled out in each plan.

--

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.

And one more thing, Medicare doesn't apply when you are out of the USA,
and aiui all of the supplemental plans only apply when Medicare applies.

How does that compare with union or employer insurance?

Travel insurance sometimes includes lost luggage, cancelled tickets**,
probably hotels if the airline doesn't pay for the hotel, and also
medical, but you can get medical-only travel insurance.

However after age 70, I think some US and foreign companies won't insure
you and for those that do, the rate goes up and there may be substantial
limits on coverage compared to people under 70, or 75. And even
rentacar companies may either want a letter from your doctor or refuse
to rent altogether. What a pain. I'm looking into getting a new
passport that says I'm 30 y.o.


**The one time the airline lost my luggage, they delivered to my home
the next day. I wish they would lose it like that every time. I've
never had a cancelled flight but I did have one leave late because they
were changing a flat tire. I got to England too late for my connection
and they gave me a room at an airport hotel, 5 minute walk, from 10AM to
5 or 6PM until the next flight. So I've never needed more than medical
insurance, and not even that.

On 9/24/2019 4:41 PM, 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.

And one more thing, Medicare doesn't apply when you are out of the USA,
and aiui all of the supplemental plans only apply when Medicare applies.

How does that compare with union or employer insurance?


Some medigap plans do have some coverage out of the US.

https://www.medicare.gov/supplements...digap-policies

On 9/24/19 4:41 PM, 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.

And one more thing, Medicare doesn't apply when you are out of the USA,
and aiui all of the supplemental plans only apply when Medicare applies.

snip

While Medicare itself does not cover outside the US, some Medigap
"letter" plans do provide *emergency* coverage outside the US.

This from
https://www.medicare.gov/supplements...medigap-travel

"Medigap coverage outside the U.S.

If you have Medigap Plan C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, M or N, your plan:

Covers foreign travel emergency care if it begins during the first
60 days of your trip, and if Medicare doesn't otherwise cover the care.

Pays 80% of the billed charges for certain Medically necessary
emergency care outside the U.S. after you meet a $250 Deductible for the
year.

Foreign travel emergency coverage with Medigap policies has a lifetime
limit of $50,000.

Find out before you go

Before you travel outside the U.S., talk with your Medigap plan or
insurance agent to get more information about your Medigap coverage
while traveling."

Even with that, it is still good to get medical travel insurance for any
NON-emergency need that may arise. When I went to the UK 3 years ago, I
got a good travel & health policy for less than $300 at age 72.

On 9/24/19 3:41 PM, 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.

And one more thing, Medicare doesn't apply when you are out of the USA,
and aiui all of the supplemental plans only apply when Medicare applies.

That's one thing I don't have to consider. There is so much to
see and do
in the U.S. that traveling outside the country doesn't appeal to me. I
have a trike and
riding that thing is a completely different experience that in a closed
vehicle.

On 9/24/2019 3:35 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 9/24/2019 12:33 PM, Frank wrote:


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.


This is true.Â* But. . . .
In nine years my wife has had hundreds of thousands of $$$ in medical
bills. rehab, hospice.Â* My cost aside from the premium was $0.Â* My time
to do paperwork or appeal claims is 0 minutes.Â* The premium cost
compared to others was the same or slightly less.

I have no complaints and will not change.

My son had a medical equipment business.Â* He billed medicare, various
insurance companies, patients.Â* The fastest pay was UHC.

I don't know how they are as an independent insurance company but as a
Medicare supplement with AARP they do a fine job.

I have no objection with the insurance company and you do get what you
pay for. My beef is with AARP. They take advantage of their membership
to sell them insurance. It is not coming from AARP. They are not an
insurance company themselves. I think most of it is from the Hartford.

On 9/24/2019 6:46 PM, Frank wrote:


I have no objection with the insurance company and you do get what you
pay for.Â* My beef is with AARP.Â* They take advantage of their membership
to sell them insurance. It is not coming from AARP. They are not an
insurance company themselves.Â* I think most of it is from the Hartford.

So what? Every insurance (and car) salesman I ever knew did the same
thing. They belonged to the VFW, Lions, American Legion, church group,
etc. They prey on fellow members.

My electric company wants to sell me insurance for my water main, my
credit card company wants to sell me insurance for life and other
things, Joe Namath wants me to get what I deserve. . . . you see the
trend?

Ed Pawlowski writes:

On 9/24/2019 6:46 PM, Frank wrote:


I have no objection with the insurance company and you do get what
you pay for.Â* My beef is with AARP.Â* They take advantage of their
membership to sell them insurance. It is not coming from AARP. They
are not an insurance company themselves.Â* I think most of it is from
the Hartford.

So what? Every insurance (and car) salesman I ever knew did the same
thing. They belonged to the VFW, Lions, American Legion, church
group, etc. They prey on fellow members.

My electric company wants to sell me insurance for my water main, my
credit card company wants to sell me insurance for life and other
things, Joe Namath wants me to get what I deserve. . . . you see the
trend?

I agree, attaching the AARP logo to a United Healthcare policy is
just marketing.

You can get AARP Medicare without being an AARP member.
I'm not an AARP member, never have been, and I have AARP Medicare.

--
Dan Espen

In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 23 Sep 2019 19:51:22 -0400, Frank "frank
wrote:

On 9/23/2019 6:47 PM, Wade Gattett wrote:
Medicare Advantage HMO plan

Disadvantage is that it only pays for doctors within the plan so I guess
it does depend where you are located and who the doctors are.

Some retirees have no supplemental but my former employer pays for most
of it. I have never met the over $2,000 deductible for the over 10
years I have been on the supplemental and the only benefit I get is free
fitness club membership.

You should get a supplemental drug plan. Generics are usually cheap
enough not to need one but name brands can be out of sight. Years ago I
took one for a year that would have cost me $36,500 but only cost me a
$80 copay.

Wow, 36K. May I ask, did it work?

In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 23 Sep 2019 19:51:22 -0400, Frank "frank
wrote:

....

You should get a supplemental drug plan. Generics are usually cheap
enough not to need one but name brands can be out of sight. Years ago I
took one for a year that would have cost me $36,500 but only cost me a
$80 copay.

Wow, 36K. May I ask, did it work?

He's still posting isn't he?

That's cheap for many of the newer cancer or others...a friend is on one
that is $60K/mo. But, it's kept him going for almost 10 yr now when
before started his prognosis was 6 mo.

--

On 9/24/2019 8:27 PM, wrote:
....

I still haven't figured out what AARP has to do with it. I get the
"AARP plan" from United Health Care and I am not an AARP member, nor
did I use them to find the plan. It was an offering presented by IBM.
(who is not chipping in a dime). Perhaps UHC put the plan together for
AARP (or IBM and maybe a dozen other companies) but they will sell it
to anyone with exactly the same terms and conditions.

He's complaining about the Hartford ripoff whole life plans AARP gets
kickback on.

AARP is a scam preying on the older generation.

--

On 09/24/2019 04:03 PM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On 9/24/19 3:41 PM, 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.

And one more thing, Medicare doesn't apply when you are out of the USA,
and aiui all of the supplemental plans only apply when Medicare applies.

That's one thing I don't have to consider. There is so much to
see and do
in the U.S. that traveling outside the country doesn't appeal to me. I
have a trike and
riding that thing is a completely different experience that in a closed
vehicle.

How do you like it? I getting close to the point where three wheels
might be better than two. The last time I picked up the VStrom it was a
lot of work. (no drama, I just lost it taking it off the center stand)

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 24 Sep 2019 19:08:55 -0400, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

On 9/24/2019 6:46 PM, Frank wrote:


I have no objection with the insurance company and you do get what you
pay for.* My beef is with AARP.* They take advantage of their membership
to sell them insurance. It is not coming from AARP. They are not an
insurance company themselves.*

I gave my complaints about them yesterday. This one doesn't bother me
too much because I thought it was clear, at least to someone who is not
totally naive.

The AARP was only $5 or $3 a year. That's cheap because they want big
numbers so they can claim to represent millions. And they send me a
magazine whilch probalby has advertising, so they can claim a large
circulation. It's almost interesting enough to read. (and if I had
nothing else in my life, I would read it.) If I can keep the UHC and
don't have to renew the AARP, I might cancel it.

I think I tried the AARP discount at motels between Balt. and Florida a
couple years ago and I think I could get the same discount just by
asking for a senior citizen discount. Plus I don't stay in motels
often.

I think most of it is from the Hartford.

Isn't United Health Care an insurance company? Or is it just another
name for Hartford or something? They might reinsure for large losses
with Hartford (well, that's if Hartford is a reinsurer.)

So what? Every insurance (and car) salesman I ever knew did the same
thing. They belonged to the VFW, Lions, American Legion, church group,
etc. They prey on fellow members.

It's a church group, so they prey.

My electric company wants to sell me insurance for my water main, my
credit card company wants to sell me insurance for life and other
things, Joe Namath wants me to get what I deserve. . . . you see the
trend?

The one I don't like is the Hawaii detective who lived in Robin Masters
big house and had a helicopter buddy, and he says "Some people think a
reverse mortgage is just another way to get your house. It's not." but
if you don't have enough money to pay off the mortage when you die, they
get the house**. So maybe it's not "JUST another way" but it's a way.
Not a real difference afaic.


**I considered it for a while and the thing he denies was the advantage
of a reverse mortgage. Instead of having a house that no one wanted in
my estate, there would either be money that everyone wants, or money I
would have already spent. (I considered an annuity too, but then I'd
still be dead and stuck with a house. It's very hard to fix up your
house for sale, and to sell it, when you're dead.)

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 24 Sep 2019 20:59:41 -0500, dpb
wrote:

On 9/24/2019 8:27 PM, wrote:
...

I still haven't figured out what AARP has to do with it. I get the
"AARP plan" from United Health Care and I am not an AARP member, nor
did I use them to find the plan. It was an offering presented by IBM.
(who is not chipping in a dime). Perhaps UHC put the plan together for
AARP (or IBM and maybe a dozen other companies) but they will sell it
to anyone with exactly the same terms and conditions.

He's complaining about the Hartford ripoff whole life plans AARP gets
kickback on.

AARP is a scam preying on the older generation.

But what is the scam? Dues are $5 or less a year. That's not going to
break many people.

That people take too seriously an AARP endorsement? I don't konow how
many do but they are free to compare prioces.

I'm glad to hear from 2 or 3 of you that I don't have to continue the
AARP. It's not the money.

In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 24 Sep 2019 20:51:58 -0500, dpb
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 23 Sep 2019 19:51:22 -0400, Frank "frank
wrote:

...

You should get a supplemental drug plan. Generics are usually cheap
enough not to need one but name brands can be out of sight. Years ago I
took one for a year that would have cost me $36,500 but only cost me a
$80 copay.

Wow, 36K. May I ask, did it work?

He's still posting isn't he?

I already thought about that, but that doesn't actually mean it worked
(if what Frank had was not fatal), or maybe it worked some but not much.
I was hoping fof details.

That's cheap for many of the newer cancer or others...a friend is on one
that is $60K/mo. But, it's kept him going for almost 10 yr now when
before started his prognosis was 6 mo.

Wow. I guess this is why I save my money. If I get to be 95 and
haven't spent much on drugs and doctors, I'll have to spend 60K on I
don't know what. Maybe I'll fly in some malted milks from indiana.

On 9/24/2019 9:44 PM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 23 Sep 2019 19:51:22 -0400, Frank "frank
wrote:

On 9/23/2019 6:47 PM, Wade Gattett wrote:
Medicare Advantage HMO plan

Disadvantage is that it only pays for doctors within the plan so I guess
it does depend where you are located and who the doctors are.

Some retirees have no supplemental but my former employer pays for most
of it. I have never met the over $2,000 deductible for the over 10
years I have been on the supplemental and the only benefit I get is free
fitness club membership.

You should get a supplemental drug plan. Generics are usually cheap
enough not to need one but name brands can be out of sight. Years ago I
took one for a year that would have cost me $36,500 but only cost me a
$80 copay.

Wow, 36K. May I ask, did it work?


Not really. It was a blood thinner, Lovenox, that was injected, two
shots a day at $50 a pop. I had a pulmonary embolism which would not
resolve with Coumadin so they put me on Lovenox to no avail. I had to
have it surgically removed. That was nearly 20 years ago and the
hospital bill itself was $130,000. I think the doctor wanted $20,000
but they would only pay him $10,000.

Doctors in Delaware could not do the surgery and I was lucky to find a
surgeon in PA, a professor at Penn. that had done it maybe 50 times.
Otherwise I would have had to go to San Diego. Scary time. There was a
10-15% chance of not surviving the surgery and then a chance that the
surgery would not fully resolve the problem.

On 9/24/2019 9:51 PM, dpb wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 23 Sep 2019 19:51:22 -0400, Frank "frank
wrote:

...

You should get a supplemental drug plan.* Generics are usually cheap
enough not to need one but name brands can be out of sight.* Years ago
I took one for a year that would have cost me $36,500 but only cost me
a $80 copay.

Wow, 36K.* May I ask, did it work?

He's still posting isn't he?*

That's cheap for many of the newer cancer or others...a friend is on one
that is $60K/mo.* But, it's kept him going for almost 10 yr now when
before started his prognosis was 6 mo.

--

I'm nearly 80 and still walking a couple of miles every day. Lot of
things I'm not up to doing today but this is a home repair ng and I
might mention that just this week I was able to remove a ceiling vent
not needed, close off the duct and put drywall in the vent opening and
seal and paint. Not too bad for an old guy that nearly died 20 years ago.

On 9/25/2019 3:25 AM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 24 Sep 2019 20:59:41 -0500, dpb
wrote:

On 9/24/2019 8:27 PM, wrote:
...

I still haven't figured out what AARP has to do with it. I get the
"AARP plan" from United Health Care and I am not an AARP member, nor
did I use them to find the plan. It was an offering presented by IBM.
(who is not chipping in a dime). Perhaps UHC put the plan together for
AARP (or IBM and maybe a dozen other companies) but they will sell it
to anyone with exactly the same terms and conditions.

He's complaining about the Hartford ripoff whole life plans AARP gets
kickback on.

AARP is a scam preying on the older generation.

But what is the scam? Dues are $5 or less a year. That's not going to
break many people.

That people take too seriously an AARP endorsement? I don't konow how
many do but they are free to compare prioces.

I'm glad to hear from 2 or 3 of you that I don't have to continue the
AARP. It's not the money.


I am not a member but my wife is so I am considered an associate member.
I do like their magazine and news letters and have taken their online
defensive driving course and refreshers which saves money on car
insurance. I would think that dues income plus regular magazine ads
would support AARP but not at the level they are as insurance peddlers.