Does anyone not have the part D supplement?

nvtribefan said:
With expected high expenses, not worth the risk of excess part B charges.
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96% of all physicians accept assignment meaning the risk of excess charges are very minimal. I have yet to have a client with a Plan N tell me they had to pay an excess charge. And I have hundreds of clients with Plan N.

Expected high expenses have nothing to do with any "risk". Many agents sell Plan F (and now G) because it takes too long to explain why excess charges are not an issue. Once you really understand the issue then it's easier to make a decision. And I have no problem with Plan G. I only have a question about how much information someone has when they fear excess charges.

Briefly, here's why excess charges don't come into play.

If a doctor wants to charge more than the allowable (excess charge) they he/she must still do all the billing. Neither Medicare nor the supplement will pay the provider (since they are not accepting assignment of your claim) but will only pay the patient. The doctor then gets to hire an additional person to send out a bill and make sure the patient pays. For a net of 9.25% (yes, it's not 15% to the doctor) it's not worth the trouble. When a typical office visit is about $100 it's not worth it to try to collect an extra $9.25.

If there is an "expected high expense" how many doctors want to call the grieving widow and ask for payment after her spouse dies on the table? If the allowable for a surgery is $5,000, the doctor can pocket an extra $412.50 IF and I really do me if, they can actually collect it.

Hope that clarifies the issue but if not, please contact me. I love to discuss insurance.

Rick
 

Butterfly said:
What is Plan N? I never heard of it.
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Sorry, we got off topic.

Plan N is one of the 10 standardized Medicare supplement (Medigap) plans available in most states. Generally it is is the best value of the plans.

Rick
 

GreenSky said:
You might look at Plan N. Generally it's the best value. (At least it has been for about 75% of my clients).Rick
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I looked at the various Medigap Plan N options offered by my old companies retiree supplementals, managed by Towers Watson. These Plan N options vary in price from $187 to $217 per month, per person, and Don't include prescription drug coverage. These plans are offered by Humana, Anthem and Cigna. We opted for a Medicare Advantage plan with Humana which Does cover prescriptions, with a small co-pay, and costs us $76 each, per month.
 
Don M. said:
I looked at the various Medigap Plan N options offered by my old companies retiree supplementals, managed by Towers Watson. These Plan N options vary in price from $187 to $217 per month, per person, and Don't include prescription drug coverage. These plans are offered by Humana, Anthem and Cigna. We opted for a Medicare Advantage plan with Humana which Does cover prescriptions, with a small co-pay, and costs us $76 each, per month.
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I took a quick look at a 70 year old in St. Louis for Plan N. Depending on gender the cost is between $130-150 monthly. The plans through your retirement are obviously much more expensive.

Medicare Advantage can be a great choice especially when you look at premium and benefits. The drawback is the restrictions on who you can see for care and at what cost.

Like all insurance it's a balance between cost and benefits. I like to see all the options and then (as you have) make an educated decision.

Rick
 
Can you just wait till you get an illness that has expensive drugs and then pay the penalty each month? I'm 99% sure the answer is no, using common sense, but thought I'd ask. I don't have Part D...nor do I have supplemental (partB?). I'm 66, soon to be 67 (I know, my avatar is 4 yrs old. I need to update it)

Are you all saying that once you have Part D and paying a penalty, that the penalty goes up every month OR are you saying your basic Medicare goes up?
 
Lara said:
Can you just wait till you get an illness that has expensive drugs and then pay the penalty each month? I'm 99% sure the answer is no, using common sense, but thought I'd ask. I don't have Part D...nor do I have supplemental (partB?). I'm 66, soon to be 67 (I know, my avatar is 4 yrs old. I need to update it)

Are you all saying that once you have Part D and paying a penalty, that the penalty goes up every month OR are you saying your basic Medicare goes up?
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I wouldn't be without a supplement of some kind (or an advantage plan, which I have). With the high cost of medical care nowdays, a serious health incident could really throw your retirement savings for a loop. It just isn't something I'd be willing to risk.

Not sure how the part D works, except to know that there's a penalty. You could go to the Medicare website to get the true scoop.
 
Lara said:
Can you just wait till you get an illness that has expensive drugs and then pay the penalty each month? I'm 99% sure the answer is no, using common sense, but thought I'd ask. I don't have Part D...nor do I have supplemental (partB?). I'm 66, soon to be 67 (I know, my avatar is 4 yrs old. I need to update it)

Are you all saying that once you have Part D and paying a penalty, that the penalty goes up every month OR are you saying your basic Medicare goes up?
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I've got a couple of years on you and I didn't start out with Part D because I don't like to take prescription drugs and didn't figure it would be worth it. I was surprised when I needed a couple of prescriptions filled, one for some eye medicine I had never had before and one for BPH that I tried years ago and wasn't all impressed with but thought I would give another try as my symptoms had gotten worse. The eye medicine was over $100 and the BPH medicine that I had gotten a few years earlier at about $20 without insurance was over $100 as well. When I wanted a refill on the BPH medicine I checked with another pharmacy and it was $60 something dollars. What I think is happening is the drug stores are increasing the price by 3x to 5x as much for customers who don't have insurance or some type of discount plan. (I didn't know about GoodRX then and might not have gotten Part D the next year if it had of kept the price within reason.) After that experience I got Part D and I pay a $3+ dollar a month penalty forever, I guess, because I didn't get it when I turned 65. I believe the amount of the lifetime penalty increases the longer you delay getting Part D. It is kind of a rigged system such that it is pretty hard to beat it because somewhere along the way you will need some script filled but GoodRX (or some other free(?) discounting service) might even that playing field.
 
dpwspringer said:
I've got a couple of years on you and I didn't start out with Part D because I don't like to take prescription drugs and didn't figure it would be worth it. I was surprised when I needed a couple of prescriptions filled, one for some eye medicine I had never had before and one for BPH that I tried years ago and wasn't all impressed with but thought I would give another try as my symptoms had gotten worse. The eye medicine was over $100 and the BPH medicine that I had gotten a few years earlier at about $20 without insurance was over $100 as well. When I wanted a refill on the BPH medicine I checked with another pharmacy and it was $60 something dollars. What I think is happening is the drug stores are increasing the price by 3x to 5x as much for customers who don't have insurance or some type of discount plan. (I didn't know about GoodRX then and might not have gotten Part D the next year if it had of kept the price within reason.) After that experience I got Part D and I pay a $3+ dollar a month penalty forever, I guess, because I didn't get it when I turned 65. I believe the amount of the lifetime penalty increases the longer you delay getting Part D. It is kind of a rigged system such that it is pretty hard to beat it because somewhere along the way you will need some script filled but GoodRX (or some other free(?) discounting service) might even that playing field.
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I think those deals might even the playing field now if you're not needing much medication, but what happens in the future if you need some super expensive medication? I don't want to take the chance of having to decide between filling my rx and eating, and the older we get the better the chance of needing one or more of those super-priced meds.

To me it's kinda like the whole medical insurance thing -- back when I as 25, I didn't worry much if I was without insurance for a while. Now, it would scare me to death. You just don't know from one day to the next.
 
Thank you Butterfly and dpwspringer...you were helpful and I went to the medicare website too. They said there's a 10% penalty which I think would be a lot more than $3. Then they said by the end of March (because my birthday is in April) that it would be another 10%. They add on another 10% for every 2 full years you don't have it. Now, I can't remember if that was for Supplemental or Prescriptions..I have neither. I do have medicare. I'll have to go back and review it again.

It's a hard decision for me because I have healthy genes and I have found the simple and natural secret, for me anyway, to cure the few aches and pains that were coming on and for the secret to longevity. So right now I feel I could go on into my nineties never needing prescription drugs...except, like you say, butterfly, some health issue of uncontrollable proportions like cancer. And that's the caveat..do I really want to fight for a longer life when I'm, say, 80's or 90's by taking prescription drugs? Or do I? I know I'm going to a better place and my girls will be fine without me (although they tell me they wouldn't. They're my secret admiration society lol). Like you dpwspringer, I despise the idea of putting drugs into my body.

I'll probably get it because I can afford it, but not because I think I'll ever use it. I must decide before March 31st. This is a hard one.
 
Lara said:
Thank you Butterfly and dpwspringer...you were helpful and I went to the medicare website too. They said there's a 10% penalty which I think would be a lot more than $3. Then they said by the end of March (because my birthday is in April) that it would be another 10%. They add on another 10% for every 2 full years you don't have it. Now, I can't remember if that was for Supplemental or Prescriptions..I have neither. I do have medicare. I'll have to go back and review it again.

It's a hard decision for me because I have healthy genes and I have found the simple and natural secret, for me anyway, to cure the few aches and pains that were coming on and for the secret to longevity. So right now I feel I could go on into my nineties never needing prescription drugs...except, like you say, butterfly, some health issue of uncontrollable proportions like cancer. And that's the caveat..do I really want to fight for a longer life when I'm, say, 80's or 90's by taking prescription drugs? Or do I? I know I'm going to a better place and my girls will be fine without me (although they tell me they wouldn't. They're my secret admiration society lol). Like you dpwspringer, I despise the idea of putting drugs into my body.

I'll probably get it because I can afford it, but not because I think I'll ever use it. I must decide before March 31st. This is a hard one.
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I simply would not take the risk. My niece, for instance, a very healthy and active 38-year-old, with long-lived parents, NEVER sick, out of the blue received a diagnosis of colon cancer. She died at barely 40. You just don't know, and if we think it can't happen to us, we are fooling ourselves. It can.
 
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