Humana may or may not be the best. It all depends. We used them one year for Part D and they did okay but then raised their rates so have not had them since. Part D was a good idea but now it is terrible as it ends up costing more to have it than to not have it. However, if you ever needed some of the big dollar drugs and then tried getting part D, you would be screwed because of the penalty of not having it; like about 1% for every month you didn't have it. Screwed! Medicare really is not so bad as most people tell. We've checked almost every year on the advantage plans and never could see that they would save us a dollar. I know many folks who are on those and they like to brag about not paying for drugs, etc, etc. But the annual amount they pay for the insurance adds up to more than if you just went with medicare. Medicare for us has been great, for the most part.
I'm thinking of just doing A & B. I don't take any meds (knock wood), and the cost for a pair of glasses out of pocket is minimal anymore. The % will be higher for my wife when she hits 65 (4 years after me), since her SS benefit will be less ....fewer years working......, unless that works to her advantage. So, if I don't sign on for D for another year, I take a 12% hit? Two years is 24%? I knew about the penalty, but the literature doesn't explain it well. Thanks for the input Dennis. As always......helpful.
any way you look at it it is the take-a- mint in your wallet. ACA cost me a mint (Forced into it) and then they come back and tax you some more on it besides. now on medicare taken directly out of SS. I quote " SS will never be taxed" ya well that went in one ear and out the bottom exit. payed taxes on what I paid in and now paying taxes on what I get back. Double taxation. In my experience ACA did not shell out for ER care- so it was a useless expense. I have not used medicare at this point even though I get charged that 135/mo. Be real careful about Medicare and billings from various sources - double billing reigns supreme as Medicare is so slow to pay that everything goes into overdue which is immediately placed on your credit reports.
Thanks chris. More good info. If one of us (usually my wife) goes in for something, we don't see our share of the bill for a good couple months. Has to go to the ins. co, they pay whatever, then back to the provider, who sends out another amended bill with what we owe. Slow as heck. Trying to correlate the bill with the procedure from a couple months prior is tedious.
Thamks Dennis, sounds like I should just stick with what they have me signed up for already . From what I understand The bill goes to Medicare and they pay whatever they are going to pay and then my Blue Cross Pays the rest , I will have to do some more learnin on what Blue Cross pays Thanks chris. for the info.
Yeah that too I tried getting on the Blue cross website I need a pin I didn't write it down so now they have to send me a new one in the mail
I have to admit that we have never had problems with medicare and I've been on it for over 30 years now. In addition, even though sometimes we have to pay part of the bill for services, it is a very small part. A lot cheaper than paying for another insurance for sure. For example, we just had a bill for well over $1,000 but our total payment for that bill was around $14, so it is difficult to complain about that.
