Medicare Premiums

[Anonymous]

The OP sounds like her doctors are in a concierge practice. It is baffling to me that you did not know Medicare coverage cost money. In the event you are unaware, do not forget to sign up for prescription coverage. Failure to do so will result in a lifetime penalty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Who knows OP. Maybe you will have an opportunity to use it extensively. You know, get your money's worth?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The OP sounds like her doctors are in a concierge practice. It is baffling to me that you did not know Medicare coverage cost money. In the event you are unaware, do not forget to sign up for prescription coverage. Failure to do so will result in a lifetime penalty.

OP here. I have full coverage for prescriptions from free private insurance from previous employer. But thanks for the tip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The OP sounds like her doctors are in a concierge practice. It is baffling to me that you did not know Medicare coverage cost money. In the event you are unaware, do not forget to sign up for prescription coverage. Failure to do so will result in a lifetime penalty.

OP here. I have full coverage for prescriptions from free private insurance from previous employer. But thanks for the tip.

that will come to an end.

[Anonymous]

I have never heard of people having completely free sky is the limit health care and RX coverage from their employer. Wow.

[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.

What is this employer-paid supplemental plan that requires you to be in Medicare, but that is accepted by physicians that are not in Medicare?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The OP sounds like her doctors are in a concierge practice. It is baffling to me that you did not know Medicare coverage cost money. In the event you are unaware, do not forget to sign up for prescription coverage. Failure to do so will result in a lifetime penalty.

OP here. I have full coverage for prescriptions from free private insurance from previous employer. But thanks for the tip.

that will come to an end.

Um it's part of the retirement package. I know you hate that we have such robust coverage. Oh and our dependents will continue to enjoy the same coverage they had while DH was employed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What is this employer-paid supplemental plan that requires you to be in Medicare, but that is accepted by physicians that are not in Medicare?

It's an Aetna plan. The employer requires that the retiree enroll in Medicare and use that is primary coverage. The Aetna plan kicks in the remaining outstanding balance of what Medicare doesn't cover, including all non Medicare providers and all out of network providers for the Aetna plan. Is this unusual?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never heard of people having completely free sky is the limit health care and RX coverage from their employer. Wow.

OP here. Yes it is an unusually robust plan for high level executives. I guess I shouldn't mention the coverage we had non medically necessary things like botox injections. There was a $ limit on that. Sadly that goes away with retirement. Sigh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What is this employer-paid supplemental plan that requires you to be in Medicare, but that is accepted by physicians that are not in Medicare?

It's an Aetna plan. The employer requires that the retiree enroll in Medicare and use that is primary coverage. The Aetna plan kicks in the remaining outstanding balance of what Medicare doesn't cover, including all non Medicare providers and all out of network providers for the Aetna plan. Is this unusual?

It sounds like your “free” medical insurance requires you to pay for Medicare because the employer/Aetna wants you to have that coverage before their coverage kicks in. Not sure why you’re complaining about Medicare instead of the private plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What is this employer-paid supplemental plan that requires you to be in Medicare, but that is accepted by physicians that are not in Medicare?

It's an Aetna plan. The employer requires that the retiree enroll in Medicare and use that is primary coverage. The Aetna plan kicks in the remaining outstanding balance of what Medicare doesn't cover, including all non Medicare providers and all out of network providers for the Aetna plan. Is this unusual?

Sounds like a retiree group plan. So you are benefiting from Medicare then, just indirectly. The premiums that Aetna charges your employer for the retiree group plan reflect that Medicare is the primary payer for most services. The employer might not offer the plan, or offer it under different terms, if Aetna charged full freight.

Also, you must have retiree MAGI of over $750k to have a Part B premium of $629. I think you can afford it.

[Anonymous]

OP must be a troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What is this employer-paid supplemental plan that requires you to be in Medicare, but that is accepted by physicians that are not in Medicare?

It's an Aetna plan. The employer requires that the retiree enroll in Medicare and use that is primary coverage. The Aetna plan kicks in the remaining outstanding balance of what Medicare doesn't cover, including all non Medicare providers and all out of network providers for the Aetna plan. Is this unusual?

Sounds like a retiree group plan. So you are benefiting from Medicare then, just indirectly. The premiums that Aetna charges your employer for the retiree group plan reflect that Medicare is the primary payer for most services. The employer might not offer the plan, or offer it under different terms, if Aetna charged full freight.

Also, you must have retiree MAGI of over $750k to have a Part B premium of $629. I think you can afford it.

OP here. Yes this is the best explanation of the situation. The high income last year was due to exercising a large number of stock options. The income will go down next year once all options exercised, but deferred comp will kick in. So we will still be at a high level...but not that high. But honestly, I had no clue that the premium would be so high. I've adjusted to the idea and of course appreciate that we will continue to have very good coverage at a relatively low price.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

What is this employer-paid supplemental plan that requires you to be in Medicare, but that is accepted by physicians that are not in Medicare?

It's an Aetna plan. The employer requires that the retiree enroll in Medicare and use that is primary coverage. The Aetna plan kicks in the remaining outstanding balance of what Medicare doesn't cover, including all non Medicare providers and all out of network providers for the Aetna plan. Is this unusual?

Highly, HIGHLY unusual. Retiree coverage is becoming unusual at all, but certainly coverage that pays for care from non- Medicare providers? I have worked in Medicare policy for 30 years and never known someone to have such coverage. I can only guess it is tied to a very senior role, like having been a CEO or close to it.

[Anonymous]

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

I'm sure that will be a surprise to OP, just like IRMAA.