mpnatx said:
Thanks. I was leaning towards AARP because of the discount and they claim it will only go up 3% a year for the next 10 years.
Blue cross was more expensive and they couldn't tell me an average of what the premiums will go up each year.
Thanks!
Hi, let me give you my experience. I turned 65 in January and have had the United Healthcare AARP plan supplement.
All the Advantage Plans are decent if you are not planning on going to an MD. That is why they are cheap. Additionally, you can only go to an MD that is in the plan. But you can save money if you don't get sick.
With the Supplement Plans F & N you can sleep at night and feel safe that you are covered completely. One just pays the premium. I went with N. Its almost indistinquishable from F except on has to pay some small co-pays. And there is a small deductible as well. The good thing about the supplement plan is that one can go ANYWHERE. I have a heart condition and will probably be checked out at the Cleveland Clinic or Mayo Clinic if i get Angina again. And its virtually free.
You can go anywhere in the USA that accepts Medicare. Once they accept Medicare --- they have to agree to Medicare payments. With Supplement F you pay virtually nothing after the premium and with Supplement N you pay some smallish payments. But you can go to MD's and hospitals virtually for free. C-Paps, etc are included. Its really paradise as long as you pay the premium. I really like AARP's UHeathcare Plan. I got it because its the cheapest. There is no difference under the different plans (UH, BCross, Aetna, etc) except the price.
The real problem one can encounter is the PHARMACEUTICAL benefit. I purchased a $36/month plan from United Health which is awful. But they are all awful. If one has a cheap drug (Xanax, etc) then its okay. But if you use Nexium or anything expensive, it can be ridiculously expensive. I now buy my drugs from Canada. And my scripts are not bad. I feel bad for people who require expensive scripts! Scandalous how the drug companies have profited off of seniors.
One needs to purchase a PHARMA plan if one has a SUPPLEMENT plan. Not mandatory but there is a penalty assessed each year you don't have the PHARMA plan. With an Advantage Plan you can get Pharma as part of the plan cheaply. But they are, from what i can recall, not very good either.
So......if you want to sleep at night and be fully covered pay the premiums for the Part N or F Supplements.
If you want to roll the dice and use the ADVANTAGE plans --- find one with a cap that is not TOO high. (A cap just means that after you pay into the plan a certain amount, say $5000, the plan will begin to pay the rest of the benefits for that plan year).
Good luck and may the road rise to meet your feet!
