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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Nov 30, 2023 13:04:02 GMT -5
Didn't feel like searching through the threads to continue the discussion about Medicare and the exchange. Just got an email from Medicare about the deadline and just went in to my account for a minute to research... starting with this so I remember to follow up later today when my rat killing (chores) are done- A Medicare-approved plan from a private company that offers an alternative to Original Medicare. With a Medicare Advantage Plan, you’ll get your Part A (Hospital Insurance) and Part B (Medical Insurance) coverage through your plan. Most plans include prescription drug coverage, and some offer extra benefits that Original Medicare doesn’t cover (like vision, hearing, or dental services). You must have both Part A and Part B before you can join a Medicare Advantage Plan. Part A premium: Usually free Standard Part B premium: $174.70
I found this- www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/2024-medicare-parts-b-premiums-and-deductibles?ref=biztoc.com#:~:text=Medicare%20Part%20B%20Premium%20and%20Deductible&text=Each%20year%2C%20the%20Medicare%20Part,%249.80%20from%20%24164.90%20in%202023. Need to read it later. It appears I was incorrect about the amount of increased premiums surpassing the COLA but in terms of % the 2024 COLA was 3.2% and Part B premiums will go up right about 6% and there is a $240 deductible. The premiums are less than I thought/stated in the other post but the last time I even looked at that was in 2021 when I originally qualified. Since I have Medicaid, for now, it's of no benefit to have Part B or C. However, I'm not entirely why Medicaid hasn't reviewed and dropped me at this point. I will have to look into that also but I won't be asking them directly for obvious reasons.
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Post by minx on Dec 1, 2023 8:41:31 GMT -5
Thanks for this John!
My mom has Medicare and had a super good plan from BC/BS. Some asshole at my sister's job convinced her that Medicare Advantage would be better. Still pisses me off.
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Dec 1, 2023 10:03:19 GMT -5
I had a friend in Lynchburg that had been battling cancer long before I got there and passed away right after we moved back here. One day we were discussing insurance and Medicare stuff, and he said to absolutely get the Advantage plan, because having what I assume is referred to above as original Medicare was eating through his wallet with copays, deductibles, etc, and that he got the added benefits like prescription coverage, dental, vision, etc.
I assume it's going to depend on your individual situation to determine what will work best. Say you're a generally healthy person for your age and don't have any chronic illness etal, Part B ("original Medicare") would be similar to having a bronze plan: inexpensive and access to any doctor/s you choose and you just pay out of pocket for $X for this and $X for that. Whereas a person who has one or multiple chronic illnesses or a rough health history that finds them in a doctors office 5 times a month, a dozen prescriptions to take every day, and in need of DME, providers to do in-home care/help, assisted living, transportation...... would greatly benefit from a well-chosen Advantage Plan. That's just from a health perspective without complete attention to the individual's financial situations that also would need to be considered when making the choice on how to go with the various choices.
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Post by k9krap on Dec 1, 2023 17:06:10 GMT -5
I kept my federal Blue Cross coverage instead of opting for the Advantage plans. Anthem keeps trying to get me to switch to their advantage coverage but I’m happy.
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Post by minx on Dec 2, 2023 13:09:46 GMT -5
Back at the time, my mom was still driving and doing shit, so she'd go to the Y twice a week for water aerobics. That's how they lured her in - free gym membership!!!
Mind you, she had a single membership and was paying $45/mo after the senior discount. Ugh.
Sister does have it because it makes more financial sense for her. When she retired, she also lost her insurance through work so having the little extra things mattered more to her.
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Dec 3, 2023 12:45:45 GMT -5
The Medicare website isn't showing any plan options like it did a while back. Went on the exchange website (not logged in to my account) and entered my general info and it referred me to Medicaid. They did show me the plans available in the area though. Holy fucking sheepshit. I thought is was called the "affordable" care act? Nothing on there made any kind of cost-benefit sense to me. Some of the Bronze Plans were significantly less expensive than Silver but still, the policies have anywhere from $5,000-$12,000+ deductibles. Even some of the higher tier plans had extremely high deductibles despite the UFB premiums.
Sidebar: Here's an issue I've been harping about and how this administration has completely failed to address. Considering Joe Biden is not a proponent of socialized medicine, single payer, or Medicare for All, you would have to assume he has no priority nor political will to expand or improve on the current state of health care and the laws that were enacted, and preserved, prior to his election. That's a mark against IMO.
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Post by minx on Dec 4, 2023 10:54:25 GMT -5
Well I will defend him on this one - the ACA is a balancing act at the moment, because Republicans will take any excuse they can find, however small to ditch it entirely.
As it is, they pretty much gutted it by having the individual mandate ruled unconstitutional. Without that, the insurance companies lost that pool of 'young'uns' who were supposed to help level out the prices.
But if he gets re-elected and has a majority in the house and senate, healthcare needed to be their top priority.
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Dec 4, 2023 11:42:56 GMT -5
If he can find a way to subvert the court's ruling on student loans, he could find a way to bolster/improve the ACA if he put half the effort into it as the former. Priorities matter. I agree with not wanting to drain the baby with the bath water but I see this as a failure of his Presidency at worst and a broken promise at best. We went from enacting the first health care law in history (that he co-presided over) to a single republican defeating the attempt to repeal it, to status quo. I want to hear him talk about what changes need to made and how he plans to make them. Why in the world is he and the democrats resting on their laurels?
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Post by minx on Dec 4, 2023 13:47:40 GMT -5
I could easily be mistaken, but I didn't think he really emphasized the ACA or even healthcare that much as a campaign issue.
His campaign was all about economics and being the anti-Trump from what I remember. And student loan forgiveness was a HUGE part of his platform.
His healthcare position was more about getting Covid under control, and not much else.
The promise of the ACA was made by Obama, but that is absolutely no reason for it to be abandoned. But as usual all of us have allowed Congress to kick this can (and many others) down the road. The moment SCOTUS ruled that the individual mandate was out, then every damn Democrat in Congress should have been working with Obama on an alternative. Instead, they tossed their hands in the air and collectively exclaimed 'Well, we tried!'
Same with student loans - Obama could have done Biden's workaround while he was in there, but didn't bother.
It's infuriating.
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Dec 6, 2023 11:45:11 GMT -5
It was a part of his campaign promises. Some of the left-friendly media even reports that it is a "promise kept" because he signed an EO about Medicaid when he took office, because of the pandemic. To give you an idea about the credibility of those outlets they also updated their tracking of his promises to say he renewed some of those policies when they were set to expire and that in the "Inflation Reduction Act" is expanded access to medicaid and more subsidies for plans purchased through the exchange. Do we really need to be fed bullshit little bits at a time to acquire a taste for it? Sorry bit doesn't pass the smell test for me.
If there was expanded access, which might be creative writing by his team, I only need one example of where that has happened and I'll STFU. Medicaid roles were nearly gutted in 2/3 of the states in April of this year. As for more subsidies for plans purchased on the exchange, I don't have that info but what I do have is what I posted the other day about out of pocket costs for deductibles, copays, coinsurances, etcetcetc but the biggest thing to consider is that the middle class is being sodomized by all concerned since those subsidies are based on income. "Middle class" income is what, 70-100k/yr? Guess how much your subsidy is with that income? Zip.
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Post by minx on Dec 6, 2023 18:04:43 GMT -5
I think 'expanded access' means that more states opted into the marketplace, not that any further outreach or price reductions took place.
And I stand corrected on it being a campaign promise. It's hard to keep track of all the bullshit lately.
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Post by Dave's Not Here Man on Dec 8, 2023 16:53:08 GMT -5
...........................annnnnnnnnnnnd guess who just got his Medicaid renewal application yesterday? Mm-hm.
Hers was automatically renewed for next year. We got that notice in the mail a day or two before.
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Post by k9krap on Dec 8, 2023 17:20:16 GMT -5
I just received notification from Blue Cross that Medicare has approved my entry to their Part D prescription plan. It is “free” with federal Blue Cross. Of course, the Federal Blue Cross is in no way free!
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Post by minx on Dec 8, 2023 17:59:08 GMT -5
Yeah, but from what I understand Pam, the cost of Part B and Part D are a lot higher than the BC premium. Not sure though.
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