Lonewolf
New Member
I worked for ten years with a program in North Carolina called SHIIP (Senior Health Insurance Information Program). I learned the best coverage was a Supplement hands down. However the premiums of Supplements were higher than the usually zero premiums with Advantage Plans. Because I worked for a nonprofit which didn't provide a retirement plan, I opted for an Advantage Plan instead a higher premium Supplement.
Because of the knowledge I gained, my strategy was to get a multi-county Advantage Plan with a low maximum out of pocket, the maximum amount I would have to pay for medical costs. I also made sure it had a large network of nearly every doctor and hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina where I reside. MY MOOP was $3,400 which was manageable, and I had that covered in the bank (ideally you should have the MOOP and more in savings).
In my experience, all the Advantage Plan benefits mean nothing if you have a plan loaded with benefits but have a high MOOP. Sadly, many people with Advantage Plans have no idea what the MOOP is or how high it is. They often just look at the benefits and miss the forest, the MOOP, for the trees, the benefits, that mean nothing if to your consternation you are unexpectedly diagnosed with an expensive cancer or some other malady with massive medical bills. This I learned first hand when I had a cancer despite no cancer in my family, and the fact I rarely ate red meat, didn't consume alcohol, smoke, or take recreational drugs, and worked out for decades.
Mercifully after about a year and a half of expensive treatment, I think $500,000 or more, the cancer went into remission (for nearly 2 years now), and I paid a pittance for the treatments thanks to my low MOOP.
When I worked for SHIIP my primary mission was to increase awareness of the importance of a low MOOP with Advantage Plan. More so because as you age, medically things that only happen to other people can happen to you. And those things can have exorbitant costs.
Here's an irony. You can do all the right things, or what you believe are the right things, and still be stricken by a deadly medical condition. You can do all the wrong things and never get stricken by a deadly medical condition. This I was told by a doctor when I as in a hospital when I was diagnosed with a cancer hellbent on ending me. In other words, these deadly medical conditions can be like the luck of the draw.
Because of the knowledge I gained, my strategy was to get a multi-county Advantage Plan with a low maximum out of pocket, the maximum amount I would have to pay for medical costs. I also made sure it had a large network of nearly every doctor and hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina where I reside. MY MOOP was $3,400 which was manageable, and I had that covered in the bank (ideally you should have the MOOP and more in savings).
In my experience, all the Advantage Plan benefits mean nothing if you have a plan loaded with benefits but have a high MOOP. Sadly, many people with Advantage Plans have no idea what the MOOP is or how high it is. They often just look at the benefits and miss the forest, the MOOP, for the trees, the benefits, that mean nothing if to your consternation you are unexpectedly diagnosed with an expensive cancer or some other malady with massive medical bills. This I learned first hand when I had a cancer despite no cancer in my family, and the fact I rarely ate red meat, didn't consume alcohol, smoke, or take recreational drugs, and worked out for decades.
Mercifully after about a year and a half of expensive treatment, I think $500,000 or more, the cancer went into remission (for nearly 2 years now), and I paid a pittance for the treatments thanks to my low MOOP.
When I worked for SHIIP my primary mission was to increase awareness of the importance of a low MOOP with Advantage Plan. More so because as you age, medically things that only happen to other people can happen to you. And those things can have exorbitant costs.
Here's an irony. You can do all the right things, or what you believe are the right things, and still be stricken by a deadly medical condition. You can do all the wrong things and never get stricken by a deadly medical condition. This I was told by a doctor when I as in a hospital when I was diagnosed with a cancer hellbent on ending me. In other words, these deadly medical conditions can be like the luck of the draw.
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