Today, went to SSA, was told I start MediCare November 1, 2014!

Would like some information on what to expect when I go on Medicare. Currently, my wife still works and I'm on her insurance. From what I remember a few months ago someone tell me, we'll keep my wife's insurance as a backup. Now that we know for sure the date I start, my wife plans on retiring 1-1-2015!


Any help would be appreciated very much.

Thanks for your input.

Dave in Bartlett, TN

DH began Medicare coverage May 1, 2013 and was diagnosed with PCa about two weeks later. He has had no problems with finding doctors who accepted Medicare or having any procedures covered--multiple scans, surgery, radiation, now HT and upcoming AUS surgery. (It has been quite a year medically!) We have good back up insurance for which we are thankful. Hope your experience will be as positive.

Expect good coverage. My wife is over 65 and we're about to take her off my work coverage and get the "senior advantage" medigap policy for her. Looks like that will give her better coverage at lower price than I get through my employer.

My brother, who's on Medicare, never has trouble finding good (sometime outstanding) doctors willing to take him as a patient.

Sometimes the rules are a bit weird but if the doc's office does the paperwork right, you'll be fine.

Andrew

One difference is that Medicare limits what it will pay to doctors more than insurance might. Since there are so many people on Medicare, all major hospitals take it.
It pays the first 80% of the bill after the annual deductible ($140?).
You or secondary insurance pay the 20%. (That's how it works for me anyway.)
It also covers office treatments including HT injections.

Medicare coverage begins on the first day of the month in which you turn 65 and other insurance coverage will probably automatically terminate at the same time provided you are eligible for Medicare. A problem you may have is that some people don't know that Medicare coverage begins on the first day of the month in which you turn 65 and not on the day you turn 65. My birthday is on the 30th of June and my Medicare coverage began on the 1st of June so I did have a go-round with a hospital about some lab work and whether or not I had insurance coverage. At the check-in about the middle of June, their system showed that my coverage by the state high risk pool ended on the last day of May but apparently didn't show that Medicare coverage began the first of June. I had my valid Medicare card showing that my coverage began on June 1 but technically I was still 64 and the clerk at the check-in insisted my coverage wouldn't begin until either June 30 or July 1 when I turned 65. I finally convinced her to check with the hospital's financial office about when an individual's Medicare coverage begins and fortunately somebody in their financial office had the correct information and understood that for a short time people under 65 are covered by Medicare depending on when their birthday is during the month.

I was still working when my wife turned 65. She remained covered with my employer's health insurance and used my employers Aetna insurance plan as her primary medical insurance. Medicare became her secondary insurance. When I turned 65 my employer's insurance was also considered my primary plan and Medicare my secondary plan.

When I retired at 65 1/2 both my wife and I went on a Medicare Advantage plan after looking at all available plans in our area. We chose this plan because it was less expensive than available "medigap" plans in our area and we didn't want to risk going uninsured on the 20% that isn't covered by Medicare. Our Medicare Advantage plan covers everything that was covered by my former employer's plan, includes prescription drug coverage (subject to the "doughnut hole" which is now gradually going away under the ACA), two dental cleanings per year for each of us, and is accepted by all of the doctors we were already using at our university medical center / teaching hospital.

If you haven't already done so, I suggest you go to the government's medicare site where you can compare all of the Medigap, medicare prescription, and Medicare Advantage plans offered in your area. When comparing plans (especially some of the "free" or low cost ones, be sure to check to see if your doctors accept those plans and also carefully compare your potential maximum out-of-pocket expenses.

We opted for a plan that costs about $125 per month for each of us because it has minimal out-of-pocket expenses for both local and out-of-network providers. One of the "free" plans we looked at wasn't accepted by our local doctors and could have exposed us to annual maximum out-of-pocket expenses of over $8,000 each. We travel quite a bit, so on a plan like that, we could end up on the hook for more than $16,000 if, say, we had a traffic accident that put us both in the hospital for a couple of days.

Here's a link to the government medicare comparison site

/www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan/questions/home.aspx?AspxAutoDetectcookieSupport=1

I suggest you contact your state's SHIP (Senior Health Information Program) program. (I am a volunteer in NC.) SHIP is a free service for seniors where we will guide you through the medicare decision process, help you enroll in a plan, help you find and enroll in a prescription drug plan (if needed), and answer any questions you have. It is important to get the "right" medicare plan the first time because if you want to make a change in the future you will be subject to a health questionnaire and approval is not automatic.