Medicare 2023

Hi,

We have been very happy with the AARP Unitedhealthcare Medicare Plan C.  All our docs at Summit Health are in network.

Heard a presentation by Braven a similar plan via Barnabas health system that among a number of other pluses adds $840 each for the two of us per year for Over The Counter things like Vitamins and even more for fitness equipment and yoga classes....

Anyone in Braven want to comment?

Ron Carter

rcarter31 said:

Hi,

We have been very happy with the AARP Unitedhealthcare Medicare Plan C.  All our docs at Summit Health are in network.

Heard a presentation by Braven a similar plan via Barnabas health system that among a number of other pluses adds $840 each for the two of us per year for Over The Counter things like Vitamins and even more for fitness equipment and yoga classes....

Anyone in Braven want to comment?

Ron Carter

it’s a Medicare advantage plan - so you may need to be medically cleared. Be sure you know the difference between medigap vs med advantage 

Say more...

I have regular Medicare with a supplement plan G and a part D prescription plan.   When I was ready to start on Medicare after retirement, I asked my doctor what his recommendation was.  He was very against Medicare plans C.   So, I would be interested in hearing from people as to whether regular Medicare is best or are the plan C plans best.  We have been happy with the regular Medicare plan.  

I have been happy with the advantage plan I have through my retirement system.  However, each person’s needs are different.  If in doubt, you might want to meet with one of the SHIP navigators.

SAGE in Summit us offering free counseling by trained SHIP folks during open enrollment. Not sure if you have to be a Union County resident, but if so, I’m sure they could recommend an Essex County alternative. 

RobertRoe said:

I have regular Medicare with a supplement plan G and a part D prescription plan.   When I was ready to start on Medicare after retirement, I asked my doctor what his recommendation was.  He was very against Medicare plans C.   So, I would be interested in hearing from people as to whether regular Medicare is best or are the plan C plans best.  We have been happy with the regular Medicare plan.  

Consumer Reports just did an article on this that charts the various options.  There's no absolute on which is better, but there are certainly some "buyer beware" caveats for the Advantage (Part C) plans, which are basically a privatized version of Medicare whereby (as I understanding it) the carrier for the Advantage plan is provided with a flat rate per member.  So there is an incentive to those carriers to restrict care in some cases.  The bottom line to CR seemed to be that Advantage Plans are likely cost saving and with more benefits for healthy people, but people with serious illnesses or accidents may end up paying more or having to go "out of network" to get the care they need in some cases.  Here's a link to the CR article, but it may have a paywall - https://www.consumerreports.org/medicare/pros-and-cons-of-medicare-advantage-a6834167849/

There seems to me to be a lot of confusion and maybe even misinformation re the C Plans.

We've had excellent care and very low bills via the AARP united health care HMO 2 plan for several years.

i had a severe broken ankle, extended hospital stay and some time in a rehab facility plus home rehab care.

my out of pocket was under 3K.  Hospital, rehab, Home rehab and several months of rehab at an 0ut patient facility.  All for less than $3K.  This plan also covers all the Summit Health docs and facilities which are excellent

I’d like to point out that Ron’s out of pocket for the ankle would have been, at most, $226, if he had the coverage RobertRoe has. Of course, his monthly premium costs are less than RR’s. Two sequential, identical ankle incidents the same year would have doubled Ron’s OOP (to “less than $6000”) for the year, while OOP for the year would have remained at $226 with RR’s coverage. 

@rcarter - There are certainly many people who have had excellent results from C (Medicare Advantage) plans but there are also quite a few "horror stories".  So it pays to do the research.  

dickf3 said:

I’d like to point out that Ron’s out of pocket for the ankle would have been, at most, $226, if he had the coverage RobertRoe has. Of course, his monthly premium costs are less than RR’s. Two sequential, identical ankle incidents the same year would have doubled Ron’s OOP (to “less than $6000”) for the year, while OOP for the year would have remained at $226 with RR’s coverage. 

Dickf, I don't understand how you could be so certain of this.  Don't Medigap plans also vary as to what they cover?

RR has Medicare supplement plan G.

Different plan Gs may offer different bells and whistles (like gym membership), but all plan Gs offer the same basic benefits. Same goes for any other letter (supplement) plan.

A New York Times article on this topic:  https://tinyurl.com/ycxv9z75

I believe that this link bypasses their paywall as I created it via their "gift link". But if it doesn't work, message me and I can send a PDF of it.