Which Medicare Advantage Plan will you NOT be choosing for 2025 & Why?

Vanessa2U

Vanessa2U

New Member
Humana. Simply because their CenterWell mail order pharmacy doesn't know their right hand from their left.
The agents are very kind and try to be as helpful as they can. The company itself tried to make me pay for something I did not order.
If anyone wants to know the specifics I can send you the documents to read for yourself. Just send me a PM telling me what you wanting.
My doctor ordered me FreeStyle lite diabetes test strips because I had the meter to use with them. Humana didn't want me to have that brand so they denied it. I had to pay for a different test strip meter.
Humana kept sending me denials in emails and also sent me denials in snail mail.
It's been one problem after another.
 

Just about all of them. 😉

I’ve had good results with Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield but they have their critics in this area.

Do your homework, read through the annual Medicare manual and the documentation from your Advantage Plan including the plan’s drug formulary.

I’ve found that the plan coverage, approved by Medicare, is pretty standard and that the main difference is the quality of customer service.

Good luck with your new choice!
 
Aunt Bea said:
Just about all of them. 😉

I’ve had good results with Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield but they have their critics in this area.

Do your homework, read through the annual Medicare manual and the documentation from your Advantage Plan including the plan’s drug formulary.

I’ve found that the plan coverage, approved by Medicare, is pretty standard and that the main difference is the quality of customer service.

Good luck with your new choice!
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This post is part of my homework.
 

Aunt Bea said:
Just about all of them. 😉

I’ve had good results with Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield but they have their critics in this area.

Do your homework, read through the annual Medicare manual and the documentation from your Advantage Plan including the plan’s drug formulary.

I’ve found that the plan coverage, approved by Medicare, is pretty standard and that the main difference is the quality of customer service.

Good luck with your new choice!
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My question is which one will you NOT
be using? Not which one you had good results with. Thank you
 
The sales commissions must be big for so much mail in my mailbox, free meals with seminars etc.

Can someone recommend groups or individuals that will actually give unbiased advice on plan and provider choices?
 
Lawrence00 said:
The sales commissions must be big for so much mail in my mailbox, free meals with seminars etc.

Can someone recommend groups or individuals that will actually give unbiased advice on plan and provider choices?
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As there are literally hundreds of plans available, we went to a local medicare insurance broker. He listened to us and recommended three plans that would meet our needs. We chose one and have been extremely happy.
 
We also have a medicare insurance agent/broker, who can help with any plans from any company. I really recommend finding an agent that you trust and letting them help you find the best plan for your specific needs.
Our agent gets the information in early fall and has time to familiarize himself with the different new plans for the year, so when open enrollment happens, he can talk with his clients and help them find the best plan for their individual needs.

It is not so much that one company is not good, it might be that the worst company plan for me might be the very best one for someone else, and vice versa.
This is where having a broker than can sell any plan is especially helpful. It does not cost anything to have a medicare agent, or any more to have them find the best plan for you, and they have so much more knowledge about all the plans available.
 
Lawrence00 said:
I have just been lied to so many times. Maybe the word broker might mean independent of any one plan.
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Exactly ! Our man, Jassen, is independent, and his loyalty is to his clients and not to any company. We can sit down with him, go over what is important to us (mainly which extra benefits are best, since they all do what basic medicare does), and then he finds which company has the best plans that work for us.
We checked with him this year and said we are really happy with our Devoted Health Advantage plan, and unless he had something that he thought was better for us, we would just stay with Devoted.
He said that for our needs, it is still the best plan. I can always feel comfortable that I know someone who understands everything has reviewed the options for us.
We have had the same person for about the last 10 years, ever since we were medicare age.
 
I won't be dissing any, just sticking with the one l started with:
In 1990, HMSA joined the Blue Cross Association and became the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association plan of Hawaii.
 
Good grief...is it so hard to answer a simple question? It looks like very few of you read,
StarSong said:
Same here.

@Vanessa2U, isn't it at least as informative to learn the plans seniors choose (and why) as a list of those we decided against?
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Not at this time in this post. I specifically want to know which ones to definitely stay away from. My question sets this thread apart from others only is people follow directions. I don't mean to be a butt but I asked a specific question because I want specific answers. 💙
 
Here is my specific answer, but it might not mean a thing to your choice of Advantage plans.
I would definitely NOT choose United Health Care for any of its plans. We have had UHC before, and it was fine, but they are now having some kind of an issue that involves our local hospital, all of its facilities, as well as the doctors that are in the Huntsville Hospital System.
By January, none of them will be accepting any person who has UHC insurance.

So, even though this is a company I would not consider, the problem might be specific to this area, and not be something that affects their plans anywhere else.
Or, they might be having this same problem in other areas, I do not know.
In any case, all I can see from this is that telling you which company I would not use, might mean nothing to you , or to anyone else who does not live here where I live.
 
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Buckeye said:
I won't be choosing any advantage plan, because I think they all suck. I'll keep my traditional Medicare, thank you. (At one time I was a licensed agent, and studied the plans thoroughly.)

YMMV

Sorry, OP, but that's about as specific as I can be.
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So you will pay $174.70 monthly without an advantage plan? Is that traditional Medicare? I'm not understanding. Why wouldn't you choose an advantage plan since there are alot of them with $0 premiums? Thank you
 
Vanessa2U said:
Good grief...is it so hard to answer a simple question? It looks like very few of you read,

Not at this time in this post. I specifically want to know which ones to definitely stay away from. My question sets this thread apart from others only is people follow directions. I don't mean to be a butt but I asked a specific question because I want specific answers. 💙
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I read your question and answered the best way I could. Based on how others responded, they did the same.

This is a very loose forum, in that people reply to posts in ways they find and believe are meaningful. OP's don't control the narratives despite having started the conversation.
 
Vanessa2U said:
So you will pay $174.70 monthly without an advantage plan? Is that traditional Medicare? I'm not understanding. Why wouldn't you choose an advantage plan since there are alot of them with $0 premiums? Thank you
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lol - all the problems you are having with Humana and you don't understand why I wish to avoid them?
 

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