Reply to Is anybody happy with a Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C)?

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Reply to "Is anybody happy with a Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C)?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have been on Medicare for three years and chose original Medicare plus a supplement plan offered by my former employer which doesn't include Rx coverage so I also pay for a Part D policy.  All this costs me about $300 a month and even though I'm on a tight budget I concluded that I would be better off going this route and not Medicare Advantage even though that appears to cost less and offer more benefits.  So far it has worked well for me, I have only had to pay the Medicare deductible each year (about $220) and then after that Medicare and my supplement plan literally covers everything, no copays, no surprise costs that insurance didn't cover.

I see thousands of versions of Medicare Advantage commercials on TV and really wonder if people who go that route are happy they did.  I know one person who did and regretted it when he had to pay over $8000 out of pocket due to an unforeseen medical issue that wasn't covered very well by his Advantage plan.  He switched to original Medicare as soon as he had the opportunity.

I'd like to know if anybody here is someone, or knows someone, who got a Medicare Advantage plan and it's working out well.  The commercials are hard to comprehend.  For instance, what does this mean?  "Call to check if the benefit that adds money back into your social security check is available in your zip code!"  What benefit?  Why would they add money back?  What does the zip code have to do with it?  They also advertise plans with zero monthly premiums.  Huh?  How does that work?  So much of it seems like some kind of a scam or something but I think lots of people must be signing up.[/quote]

Medicare Advantage plans are probably better for relatively healthy, low-income older people who aren't yet seeing any specialists and may not even be all that attached to a primary care doctor.

The plan might manage your care, but it has various incentives to try to keep you healthy. Maybe you'll feel as if the plan isn't managing a condition you develop all that well, but, in general, it might save you from getting low-value, unnecessary care that would be more likely to hurt you than to help you. With a little luck, maybe you'll get a care manager who'll get you care from low-cost but high-quality doctors. If you ask here about how to get help when you have complaints about access to care, chances are you can raise a ruckus and get all sorts of high-level state officials terrorizing your Medicare Advantage plan. For all you know, maybe some CMS undersecretary for terrorizing Medicare Advantage plans is reading this forum everyday, and will pounce the instant you complain about your plan. The people who get really screwed are gentle, low-tech people who don't know how to use social media to stir up trouble.

But Medicare supplement insurance policies are usually better for people who already seeing specialists and going to the hospital to take care of an existing problem. If you already have doctors and hospitals that you like, chances are that you'll still be able to use those doctors and hospitals. Your doctors will be happy to see you.

If you're broke and already have specialists treating you for chronic conditions, then you really need to break down and find a local, in-person, respectable, experienced insurance agent who sells a lot of Medicare plans and truly knows which ones people with your  conditions like, or hate.

Or, you need to go onto social media forums and look for people who have your conditions and are happy with their coverage, then buy the coverage they have.

Or, go to your favorite specialists' billing people or office managers and ask them which Medicare plans they'd like to see you have. If a plan makes your favorite doctors happy, chances are it will make you happy.

But, as long as you can afford a Medicare plan, never base the purchasing decision on things like cash back on groceries or coverage for massage therapy. Base the decision on advice from an experienced insurance agent or the preferences of your doctors. Or, if you don't even have a doctor, go onto the health care forum here and ask the doctors and nurses here which Medicare plans they like to see patients come in with.

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