Medicare Premiums

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm paying the $185 plus $130 for my supplemental policy provided by my previous employer, while living in retirement on $35K. My coverage is great, I pay nothing for office visits, labs, procedures, surgeries, and almost zero for my prescriptions. I am extremely grateful for all of it, and to be frugal and careful enough to live a great life in retirement.

Who exactly did you think was going to feel sorry for you, the other majorly rich people? I guess so.

Well it is a bit ridiculous to be required to pay for medicare if you plan to go "out of network" and pay on your own.

[Anonymous]

Wait until you find out about the tax hit generated by your RMDs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in the process of starting full retirement. Silly me to think Medicare Part B is free.

Today I received a letter telling us that our monthly premium for medicare will be over $629 a month for both myself and my spouse (an annual expense of over $15,000). This is extremely hard to swallow because for the past 15 years of my husband's employment, we paid no premiums, and our coverage pretty much ensured no out of pocket expenses at all with no deductible.

We generally use out of network providers who do not take Medicare, so it is really infuriating that we have to pay this money for insurance we will rarely use. The regular premium for most people is $185, but we get slapped with an adjustment based on our income. I feel like we are paying everyone else's insurance premiums while we won't even be tapping into medicare providers.

We have supplemental insurance provided by my husband's previous employer which will cost us nothing and provides the same coverage as before. So we will be paying nothing for the insurance we use most. It is crazy.

I know, first world problems.

you were extremely lucky to have this. pretty much nobody has insurance that coveres everything, or, at least, nobody that i have ever heard of. hopefully you weren't expecting thst to be the case when you went on medicare, because that just isn't realistic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are a tone deft. Don't you realize how lucky you have been? And you are upset because you have to pay like everyone else? Hard to feel sorry for you.

OP is rich and complaining

Typical DCUM elite

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are a tone deft. Don't you realize how lucky you have been? And you are upset because you have to pay like everyone else? Hard to feel sorry for you.

OP is rich and complaining

Typical DCUM middle class

Fixed it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The vast majority of providers take Medicare. You have to work to put together a collection of providers who don’t.
Also, Part B is voluntary. You can always choose not to sign up. Only Part A is automatic and sort of mandatory, and also has no premium.

OP here. My internist, gynecologist, and physiatrist all opt out of Medicare. So I won’t be tapping into that coverage for the most part. I have to enroll in Medicare to take advantage of the free supplemental coverage from the previous employer. I kind of view it as paying for the supplemental insurance, not the Medicare. I won’t be using Medicare much at all.

[Anonymous]

Well, OP, this could be easily fixed by switching providers. The overwhelming majority of providers accept Medicare (unlike Medicaid). So I don't give a shit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The vast majority of providers take Medicare. You have to work to put together a collection of providers who don’t.
Also, Part B is voluntary. You can always choose not to sign up. Only Part A is automatic and sort of mandatory, and also has no premium.

OP here. My internist, gynecologist, and physiatrist all opt out of Medicare. So I won’t be tapping into that coverage for the most part. I have to enroll in Medicare to take advantage of the free supplemental coverage from the previous employer. I kind of view it as paying for the supplemental insurance, not the Medicare. I won’t be using Medicare much at all.

Not sure how you managed to find the 1% of providers who don’t take it, but you can easily fix this problem by switching to one of the 99% who do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, OP, this could be easily fixed by switching providers. The overwhelming majority of providers accept Medicare (unlike Medicaid). So I don't give a shit.

Clearly you don't understand. Because my supplemental insurance is so robust (full coverage for out of network providers), I prefer providers who opt out. This enables me to submit my claim directly to my supplemental insurance and cutting Medicare out of the who process. It is a much simpler system and much better care as these providers are that good. Paying the Medicare premiums, to me, is just gaining access to my free supplemental coverage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The vast majority of providers take Medicare. You have to work to put together a collection of providers who don’t.
Also, Part B is voluntary. You can always choose not to sign up. Only Part A is automatic and sort of mandatory, and also has no premium.

OP here. My internist, gynecologist, and physiatrist all opt out of Medicare. So I won’t be tapping into that coverage for the most part. I have to enroll in Medicare to take advantage of the free supplemental coverage from the previous employer. I kind of view it as paying for the supplemental insurance, not the Medicare. I won’t be using Medicare much at all.

Not sure how you managed to find the 1% of providers who don’t take it, but you can easily fix this problem by switching to one of the 99% who do.

Perhaps I am not making myself clear. I prefer these providers because they give me the time and attention that typical providers just don't have time for. My internist and gynecologist both cap the number of patients they will accept. When I have my yearly exam, my internist spends at least an hour with me and is extremely thorough. And not going through medicare simplifies the whole process and enables me to not even deal with them.

[Anonymous]

What a spoiled brat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The vast majority of providers take Medicare. You have to work to put together a collection of providers who don’t.
Also, Part B is voluntary. You can always choose not to sign up. Only Part A is automatic and sort of mandatory, and also has no premium.

OP here. My internist, gynecologist, and physiatrist all opt out of Medicare. So I won’t be tapping into that coverage for the most part. I have to enroll in Medicare to take advantage of the free supplemental coverage from the previous employer. I kind of view it as paying for the supplemental insurance, not the Medicare. I won’t be using Medicare much at all.

Not sure how you managed to find the 1% of providers who don’t take it, but you can easily fix this problem by switching to one of the 99% who do.

Perhaps I am not making myself clear. I prefer these providers because they give me the time and attention that typical providers just don't have time for. My internist and gynecologist both cap the number of patients they will accept. When I have my yearly exam, my internist spends at least an hour with me and is extremely thorough. And not going through medicare simplifies the whole process and enables me to not even deal with them.

So you specifically sought out providers who don’t take Medicare and are now complaining they don’t take it? Wow.

[Anonymous]

Rich, privileged and complaining. Classic. They've spent the years not having insurance premiums and copays and can't see what an ABSOLUTE gift and rarity that is for the vast majority of Americans. Do you know how much money my family would have saved and opportunities we could have had to grow wealth if we didn't have premiums and co-pays for several decades?! It's a lot.

No one has ANY sympathy for you OP. You are indeed, tone deaf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The vast majority of providers take Medicare. You have to work to put together a collection of providers who don’t.
Also, Part B is voluntary. You can always choose not to sign up. Only Part A is automatic and sort of mandatory, and also has no premium.

OP here. My internist, gynecologist, and physiatrist all opt out of Medicare. So I won’t be tapping into that coverage for the most part. I have to enroll in Medicare to take advantage of the free supplemental coverage from the previous employer. I kind of view it as paying for the supplemental insurance, not the Medicare. I won’t be using Medicare much at all.

Not sure how you managed to find the 1% of providers who don’t take it, but you can easily fix this problem by switching to one of the 99% who do.

Perhaps I am not making myself clear. I prefer these providers because they give me the time and attention that typical providers just don't have time for. My internist and gynecologist both cap the number of patients they will accept. When I have my yearly exam, my internist spends at least an hour with me and is extremely thorough. And not going through medicare simplifies the whole process and enables me to not even deal with them.

So you specifically sought out providers who don’t take Medicare and are now complaining they don’t take it? Wow.

Nope. Just complaining that I have to pay for Medicare, considering I will rarely use it. You really are dense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rich, privileged and complaining. Classic. They've spent the years not having insurance premiums and copays and can't see what an ABSOLUTE gift and rarity that is for the vast majority of Americans. Do you know how much money my family would have saved and opportunities we could have had to grow wealth if we didn't have premiums and co-pays for several decades?! It's a lot.

No one has ANY sympathy for you OP. You are indeed, tone deaf

And you really thought that you would get the same coverage in retirement that your DH was getting from his company while employed? And do you even know how much you would be paying for insurance if you didn’t have Medicare?