Free transport with medicare advantage

jpstrap

jpstrap

Member
I learned recently that some medicare advantage plans offer free non-emergency transportation (up to a certain limit) that will cover most transport providers including Lyft and Uber. (Lyft and Uber are not covered by my NY state medicaid). I prefer to use Uber over my local taxi companies which do business with medicaid. Do any of you have a medicare advantage policy which offers this free transport feature? And, if so, which plan do you have (name of insurance company)? I have Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO which does not offer this feature. I know I can ask my medicare advocate but I thought I could get a faster response to ask this question here because my advocate is hard to reach. Thanks.
 

You can look this benefit up online after you choose which plan you prefer.

I don't think it's very safe for all of us to start posting which insurance plan we have. Not very secure, IMO. I understand your question and why you are asking, I'm just saying that perhaps looking for that info online yourself would be safer for all of us.

These sites can assist you:
Medicare Advantage & other health plans
Compare Medicare plans | AARP Medicare Plans

If your advocate is hard to reach, maybe find a new one?
 
Somehow posting about our plans online seems perfectly safe to me. Solicitations come anyway. Lots and lots of them. I do not have medicare advantage. I also want to pick my own doctors. I know with straight medicare b I do not get any extras…but I did get to choose the best surgeon possible for my new shoulder replacement.
 
You will need to know about the Advantage plans in your zip code, so the agent you have can best find such a plan. As they say in the commercials, “Check my zip code!”

Myself I have a Medicare “Medigap” supplement plan which offers none of that, but allows me to choose my own doctors.
 
Use caution if considering a medicare advantage plan. County employees here are fighting for the right to keep Medicare and not be forced into taking MA plan.
 
I have Medicare A & B. My supplemental coverage has as yet to pay anything out. I attended a Medicare seminar months ago and when the presenter found out I had traditional Medicare and the supplemental was Empire BC/BS, she said, "Stay with that and don't change. Once you opt out, you can't go back."
 
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Basically, with MA you are trading in your Medicare, that you have paid for since you've been working for a number privatized medical supplement insurance company that has limited coverage a selected physicians you can go to.
 
In my location I get the best doctors and surgeons even though I am on an HMO. Also straight medicare does not provide for non-emergency transport. So why should I give up medicare advantage? anybody?
 
Could be location/region/state specific concerning what benefits MA provides. I have no complaints with my MA coverage. Recent surgery $0.00 cost to me & transportation home $0.00. When I signed up since we moved to where we wanted to live in retirement we didn't have a PCP we knew. So making a choice was up to us from a list. We lucked out our PCP is fantastic.
 
Knight said:
Could be location/region/state specific concerning what benefits MA provides. I have no complaints with my MA coverage. Recent surgery $0.00 cost to me & transportation home $0.00. When I signed up since we moved to where we wanted to live in retirement we didn't have a PCP we knew. So making a choice was up to us from a list. We lucked out our PCP is fantastic.
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Exactly. I just came out of a major surgery with a top notch surgeon, then 7 days in sub-acute rehab. My bill? ZERO and ZERO copays. I did need to buy my sister lunch for giving me a ride home from rehab. Cost for her lunch $22.50
 
I have a Medicare Advantage plan, and I choose all of my own doctors. Before, I had Humana, and they included a transport service, which I never had to use.
We changed over to the Devoted Health Advantage plan because they offer better benefits, but the transportation benefit is not one of their benefits at this time.
My medicare advantage covers my primary care doctor, my cardiologist, my electrophysiologist, my chiropractor, plus dental and vision benefits each year.

I have an OTC allowance plus a food benefit, as well as Silver Sneakers, which pays for my fitness membership. It also has an annual allowance for benefits like an Apple Watch, or other emergency alert device, as well as for in-home exercise equipment, like an exercise bike or treadmill.

My heart medications are covered, and sent out through the mail, so I do not have to go anywhere to pick up prescriptions. There are reward cards for things like having a bone density scan, or an annual wellness visit.
Over all, I am really happy with my Medicare Advantage plan, and it has covered any procedures that I needed for my heart, and I have really good doctors.
 
jpstrap said:
In my location I get the best doctors and surgeons even though I am on an HMO. Also straight medicare does not provide for non-emergency transport. So why should I give up medicare advantage? anybody?
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It's just a personal choice. Some people prefer not to be locked into an HMO choice of doctors and specialists, but if they want that they can also choose a MA PPO plan.

You get the most freedom of choice if you stay with straight Medicare, but you also have higher co-pays and deductibles and lose out on perks like medical transportation.

Personally, I think Medicare for All is the best way to overhaul our HC system for younger folks. As a certain aged politician has described his plan, the nation could offer it as a choice starting with those closest to 65, like 60 and up, then keep adding more, younger people over time. It could be a choice.

But again, back to your situation, lots of choices in MAs.
 
You couldn’t pay me to take an advantage plan. 60 minutes did a special on why it’s causing seniors deaths. If you need an expensive drug they use the step system. By the time you get to the step you need it’s probably too late to help or your dead.

If you need to see a specialist out of network because of a serious illness good luck getting it. I know a few people only alive because they could seek treatment with the best specialists out of state.

They give free perks to hook people. Good luck when you really need expensive top notch medical care.
 
But the MAs exists because some people cannot afford straight Medicare with its 20% share of costs.

Example: I think a quadruple bypass in 'Murica costs about $100,000 to $200,000. If someone has to pay 20% of that, that's $20,000 for the lower cost state.

Sure - some Seniors have $20,000 laying around, ready to spend on a life-saving surgery, but many more do not. Or, if they have that much, they'd like to hold onto it to pay their living expenses.

With many MA plans the yearly maximum, no matter how many surgeries you need, is between $2,500 and $8,000. That is often why so many Seniors choose an MA.

Once again, as with so many of us our whole lives, the math wins. Say the system is completely unfair and yup, I'll agree with you. But then I also say, welcome to America. Unfairness is our middle name.
 
VintageBetter said:
But the MAs exists because some people cannot afford straight Medicare with its 20% share of costs.

Example: I think a quadruple bypass in 'Murica costs about $100,000 to $200,000. If someone has to pay 20% of that, that's $20,000 for the lower cost state.

Sure - some Seniors have $20,000 laying around, ready to spend on a life-saving surgery, but many more do not. Or, if they have that much, they'd like to hold onto it to pay their living expenses.

With many MA plans the yearly maximum, no matter how many surgeries you need, is between $2,500 and $8,000. That is often why so many Seniors choose an MA.

Once again, as with so many of us our whole lives, the math wins. Say the system is completely unfair and yup, I'll agree with you. But then I also say, welcome to America. Unfairness is our middle name.
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Spot on. Very positive analysis. I'll stick with my MA. It definitely is a matter of pros and cons, math, and priorities.
 
Teacher Terry said:
oYou couldn’t pay me to take an advantage plan. 60 minutes did a special on why it’s causing seniors deaths. If you need an expensive drug they use the step system. By the time you get to the step you need it’s probably too late to help or your dead.

If you need to see a specialist out of network because of a serious illness good luck getting it. I know a few people only alive because they could seek treatment with the best specialists out of state.

They give free perks to hook people. Good luck when you really need expensive top notch medical care.
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Any plan that limits who you choose as your doctor, or what hospital you go to, is a plan I don't want. That's my personal choice. When my mom had her stroke, I knew exactly which hospital to take her to. That choice could have saved her life. It's a very personal decision.
 
It might depend on where you live as to what options were available with the different medicare plans, and what doctors. Here, pretty much all of the doctors, hospitals and emergency clinics have what they call the “umbrella” that adds them to all insurance plans, so it does not matter which company or which plan you have.
I have never had any problem getting a medication, and never heard of the step program, @Teacher Terry . Here, whatever the doctors recommend is what you receive.
I have two of the best heart doctors in the city, and probably would not get any better treatment if I were a millionaire.

I have always had a medicare advantage plan, and the different companies offer all of the same basic medicare coverage. It is the extras where it makes the difference. If you need a plan with good vision or dental coverage, then you shop to see which company offers the best coverage for that.
If you live in a large city and will need a ride to get to your doctor appointment each time, then you look for a plan that has that benefit.

I now get almost all my vitamins and supplements through the OTC program, which covers all non-prescription meds, medical equipment, fitness trackers, and much, much more. Since I am low-income, having the Healthy Benefits food card helps me to be able to afford more real, whole fresh foods i ordinarily could not afford.
Silver Sneakers covers fitness membership and exercise classes, and there are other benefits, too. You just have to see which company offers the benefit package that best meets your needs.
 
I guess it depends where one lives. In NYC, there are so many excellent doctors and hospitals I would want to be free to choose where.

In places where there are not as many choices, I can understand using MA much more.
 
I have no idea how that would work in a really large city, @Pepper . Huntsville is about 250,000 (I think), so it is not huge; but not small either, plus there are the usual outlying towns that make up the whole Huntsville complex.
All of those places have doctors and clinic, too. They are in my list of doctors, so if my preferred doctor was on one of the outlying towns, I could go there and still be covered.

One way to find out what is available is to go to the company (say Humana, for example) website, and they will have all of the available plans, what is offered in each plan, and a list of doctors who accept the Humana insurance. That way, before a person even changes to a different company, you know exactly what is in the plan, and how much things would cost, and if your preferred doctors are in the plan.

Another (easier) way is to have a health insurance agent, and they will look at all the new plans as they come out and then go over the benefits with you.
This is the main reason we knew about Devoted Health, because they are new to Alabama this year; but our broker knew them from other states and said both the patients and the doctors liked Devoted because they had great benefits and paid claims right away.
 
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VintageBetter said:
But the MAs exists because some people cannot afford straight Medicare with its 20% share of costs.

Example: I think a quadruple bypass in 'Murica costs about $100,000 to $200,000. If someone has to pay 20% of that, that's $20,000 for the lower cost state.

Sure - some Seniors have $20,000 laying around, ready to spend on a life-saving surgery, but many more do not. Or, if they have that much, they'd like to hold onto it to pay their living expenses.

With many MA plans the yearly maximum, no matter how many surgeries you need, is between $2,500 and $8,000. That is often why so many Seniors choose an MA.

Once again, as with so many of us our whole lives, the math wins. Say the system is completely unfair and yup, I'll agree with you. But then I also say, welcome to America. Unfairness is our middle name.
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That’s why you have a Medicare supplement plan because most people can’t afford the 20%. You can get a high deductible supplement plan that’s cheap and the most you will be out of pocket is 2700/year. Most people never hit 2700 because the deductible doesn’t start until Medicare greatly reduces the covered charges.

A friend of mine had a free advantage plan that cost them a fortune because her husband was hospitalized 3 years in a row and they had to pay 8k each year.
 
Happyflowerlady said:
It might depend on where you live as to what options were available with the different medicare plans, and what doctors. Here, pretty much all of the doctors, hospitals and emergency clinics have what they call the “umbrella” that adds them to all insurance plans, so it does not matter which company or which plan you have.
I have never had any problem getting a medication, and never heard of the step program, @Teacher Terry . Here, whatever the doctors recommend is what you receive.
I have two of the best heart doctors in the city, and probably would not get any better treatment if I were a millionaire.

I have always had a medicare advantage plan, and the different companies offer all of the same basic medicare coverage. It is the extras where it makes the difference. If you need a plan with good vision or dental coverage, then you shop to see which company offers the best coverage for that.
If you live in a large city and will need a ride to get to your doctor appointment each time, then you look for a plan that has that benefit.

I now get almost all my vitamins and supplements through the OTC program, which covers all non-prescription meds, medical equipment, fitness trackers, and much, much more. Since I am low-income, having the Healthy Benefits food card helps me to be able to afford more real, whole fresh foods i ordinarily could not afford.
Silver Sneakers covers fitness membership and exercise classes, and there are other benefits, too. You just have to see which company offers the benefit package that best meets your needs.
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I know 3 people that are only alive because after being told locally there was nothing that could be done they went to big cancer centers such as MD Anderson in Houston which is halfway across the country.

One person had a baseball sized brain tumor on her brain stem which very few neurosurgeons can remove without severely damaging you. It was done successfully by UCSF in California.

If you ever need a very expensive drug or treatment you will find out what step therapy is. Just because you don’t know what it is doesn’t mean it’s not used by advantage plans.

They are paid 13k per person by the government for your healthcare. To make money they need to spend less than that yearly. Some people will need costly treatments so they make up for it by providing treatment as cheap as they can and not allowing out of network coverage.
 
Happyflowerlady said:
It might depend on where you live as to what options were available with the different medicare plans, and what doctors. Here, pretty much all of the doctors, hospitals and emergency clinics have what they call the “umbrella” that adds them to all insurance plans, so it does not matter which company or which plan you have.
I have never had any problem getting a medication, and never heard of the step program, @Teacher Terry . Here, whatever the doctors recommend is what you receive.
I have two of the best heart doctors in the city, and probably would not get any better treatment if I were a millionaire.

I have always had a medicare advantage plan, and the different companies offer all of the same basic medicare coverage. It is the extras where it makes the difference. If you need a plan with good vision or dental coverage, then you shop to see which company offers the best coverage for that.
If you live in a large city and will need a ride to get to your doctor appointment each time, then you look for a plan that has that benefit.

I now get almost all my vitamins and supplements through the OTC program, which covers all non-prescription meds, medical equipment, fitness trackers, and much, much more. Since I am low-income, having the Healthy Benefits food card helps me to be able to afford more real, whole fresh foods i ordinarily could not afford.
Silver Sneakers covers fitness membership and exercise classes, and there are other benefits, too. You just have to see which company offers the benefit package that best meets your needs.
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excellent post. thank you.
 

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