Medicare?

Man, that really sucks. As to Medicare, in all likelihood it will be significantly less expensive than COBRA. If you go the "traditional" Medicare route and buy a supplement to your Medicare Part B premium, you should be able to go to any doctor that takes Medicare. Picking the right prescription drug plan is probably more difficult since they all have different formularies and you'll want to make sure all of your current medications are covered.

Hopefully you can find a good health insurance broker that specializes in Medicare that can walk you through your options.

JNF should comment soon on this and he lives near you I think.

You can signup for Medicare when you reached 65, even if you are employed. You only signup for Part A at that time which is no cost and just acts as backup coverage. You can do it online as I recall.

My strong opinion for anyone with a major medical issue like cancer is to get the original Medicare plus a Medicare Supplement and Part D drug plan. Skip the Part C Medicare Advantage plans unless you are healthy or don’t have the money. The simplest difference is you can go to Mayo, MD Anderson, Cleveland Clinc, etc. with Medicare and a Supplement plan as the network is pretty much everyone in the US that accepts Medicare.

I pay $144/mo to Medicare which they can increase if your last reported tax return was too high. I got nailed for a short time at almost 2X this amount as the company was sold before my retirement and I received some extra taxable income that killed me for one year in my life. Took me 6 mos to get it reduced.

I pay Blue Cross $230/mo for their Supplement with all the riders (unique to MN and a couple of other states) and I have no out-of-pocket costs or co-pays and get some other benefits. I pay $40/mo for their BlueRX drug plan which is pretty typical with a deductible and copay percentage for some drugs and all the donut hole stuff you hear about. The drug plans run between almost free to $90/Mo with the main difference being in how the deductible and donut hole issues are handled and where you can get your drugs from.

The total of all of the above is $414/Mo which I also pay for my wife now and we both have a cancer history. You will not pay this much in Georgia for a supplement and would probably be looking at a Medicare G plan for best benefits. The drug plan is a separate deal that stands on its own merits and there are no super plans that are going to make chemo drugs free. We also have a dental plan through my wife’s former employer at around $100/mo for the two of us. My wife gets glasses and hearing aids at Costco to keep that expense down.

As Michael said, find a local agent that handles the major Medicare providers and get some advice on what’s best in the Atlanta area that meets your needs. I studied the heck out of it and went to a couple of local meetings put on by agents. In our area, all the supplement providers were within a few dollars of each other so cost was not a factor. The drug plans are different as there are more options and expense levels

Sky - I think employers over 20 employees are the primary coverage and the employee cannot choose Medicare even if over 65 if coverage is available to them from company.

I'm sorry you're caught in this situation. I'm not someone who knows the best solution, but you've got a month to make good choices based on your own situation, which includes Medicare insurance, a supplemental plan and a drug plan. Do your research on your options ( it's not easy navigating the myriad of choices). Making the wrong decision can have bad consequences for you. Hang in there, Randy!

Randy, sorry to hear of the job loss. You have received excellent information. Once you are eligible for Medicare you do not have to rely on your COBRA. You can go straight to Medicare. With a job loss you have a special enrollment period and can now sign up. If you are on A, but have deferred B due to employment sponsored health insurance, you may need to sign up for B by using a paper form and getting it to your social security office. If you have not yet signed up for A, you can sign up for A&B on line. Website is www.ssa.gov. It will take you to the Medicare sign up. If you need the form for Part B enrollment it is online as a fillable PDF that you can print and submit to SS.

Please understand that Part B becomes effective and premiums charged on the first day of the month that you enroll. So wait to enroll until the month you actually need the coverage. Don’t enroll today for coverage for April as you will actually be buying coverage for all of March, needlessly, and have to pay the premium. If you are on social security, the premium will be deducted from it. If not yet on social security you will be billed quarterly. Medicare has several convenient ways to pay including online by credit card or bank. Website is www.mymedicare.gov. Here you can also track claims.

I suggest using traditional Medicare A&B, a Medicare Supplement, and prescription drug plan. This will be more comprehensive coverage and probably lower costs overall than Medicare C Advantage. Personally, in Georgia, I have Mutual of Omaha Supplement Plan G and the cost is $138.00 per month. I pay the Part B deductible each year of $198.00. I use Silverscript drug plan at a cost of $23.30 per month. They have two plans and you can use their website to project your best choice based on the drugs you are on. My experience with both companies has been excellent. All the major companies have excellent websites that will help with comparisons. I have found that the company information on the Medicare website is usually somewhat stale.

You can shop for rates at www.ehealthinsurance.com for most companies. And there are other online brokerage operations, I have always found this one reliable and easy to use. Whether you buy direct or use a personal agent, the cost is the same. Finding a good agent is very helpful, just make sure they are independent and can provide a full range of companies. With supplement plans, coverage is the same, but premiums will vary by company. With Advantage plans coverages and costs will vary among companies and the region. The Florida plans are much better than the Georgia plans, I have found. The other advantage of using traditional Medicare is that you are not limited to a network. So long as the provider participates in Medicare you can use them. Nor do you need referrals to specialists. Part C Advantage plans generally use restrictive networks that may cause you problems and certainly limited choices.

You are entering a window that will allow you to enroll in a Medicare Supplement Plan without any restrictions on coverage or additional charges due to your pre-existing condition. If you go outside the window it is doubtful you will qualify. If you decide to try an Advantage Plan and then determine traditional Medicare with a supplement would be better, you can get the supplement so long as you make the change within 12 months of starting the Advantage Plan. If you go outside the 12 months, then the only way you can enter into a Supplement plan without restriction is when you make a permanent move to a different Medicare Administrative Region.

Another great resource in Georgia is the State Health Insurance Assistance Plan, SHIP. It can help you through the process including discussions with trained certified experts. Website is www.georgiacares.org. Hope all this helps. Take care and best wishes.

I'd like to thank all pf you who replied. Ths is such a great, caring community that has been so helpful to me since I was diagnosed. I deeply appreciate all the help.

I should have mentioned in my first post that I am 67 and already have part A with my company insurance to cover everything else. My wife will be 62 in September but since she is on full disability, would she be eligible for coverage now?

Randy - My memory is a bit foggy on this now but it was important to have a letter from your employer stating when your last day of work is/was and when your insurance coverage ends. There was also something about proof of "creditable" drug coverage that I had for the drug plans. I think it was the insurance companies that asked for these things, not Medicare. I had to ask for the letter as the HR department seemed to do little for me when I retired. Maybe yours will be better since it is a major layoff and there are rules for that.

Everything JNF has said is 100% accurate. Keep in mind, since your wife is on SSDI, her monthly premium for a Medicare Supplement plan will be much higher than yours. Those on SSDI get two Medigap open Enrollment Periods. The first one is 24 months after collecting SSDI, the second is when you turn 65. When your wife turns 65, the premium for a Medigap plan for her will be much less. So don't be discouraged if the quotes you see for her are higher than yours.

I don’t mean to highjack this thread but am in dire need of advice by jnf regarding a social security issue, nobody I talk to can answer this, you have helped me about 2 years ago regarding my wife with Medicaid. If jnf sees this post please let me know how I could contact you directly, thanks so much...

Mspt98,

I am happy to connect with you. Please send me an email as listed on my profile.