We would like to hear your experiences with Medicare Advantage, if you would care to share.
Thanks in advance,
Dave and Louise Jenkins
I had really good health insurance through my employment, but when we reached Medicare Age i looked at Part B and the late sign up penalty. So I signed me and the wife up for Part B when we turned 65 and started looking at health insurance. What a quagmire.
I am a full timer who travels extensively in the US. My research, including several hours on the telephone with different insurance salespeople, boiled the Advantage plans down to 2 that would work for me. Aetna Medicare Premier Plus (PPO) and AARP® Medicare Advantage Choice. Both have clauses about leaving your service area. I am domiciled through St. Brendans Isle service in Green Cove Springs, FL; Clay county. The PPO's allow me to use in network services anywhere in the US. They will also pay for out of network to a lesser degree. You are not bound to a physician in your domicile location.
It was rare for me to talk with a salesperson who could comprehend a full timers RV lifestyle, they just don't get it. They deal almost exclusively with fixed address sticks and bricks people. I was fed a lot of bushwa, I finally got on the insurance companies web sites and downloaded the "Evidence of Coverage" booklets. After reading them and comparing the coverages I used their web sites to look for in network medical care in the areas that I planned on traveling over the next year, some are really strong in certain areas and almost non-existant in others, thats what ruled Humana out for me.
Then, with all that information I called the insurance companies directly. Easier said than done, lots of times I was redirected to a contract sales person who was not well trained. Eventually I got to talk to a claims specialist who did understand the "service area" issue. In both of the aforementioned companies they explained to me that the HMO's where definetly area driven, while the PPO's service area was anywhere medicare is accepted, with the in network out of network qualifier. I then looked up several physicians on the insurance companies specific web site, I found that the doctors I saw in Washington, Texas, Utah, South Dakota and Florida all accepted the insurance plans above.
I finally went with AARP® Medicare Advantage Choice through United Health Care insurance company. Partly because I own some of their stock, but mostly because they have facilities in the area I planned on traveling to.
This took me nearly 6 months to wade through. We have only been on the plan since last July when my wife turned 65. I went to the ER once when I took a fall rock climbing in South Dakota, and we have class 1 (i think that's the right term) prescriptions. Insurance paid. Health wellness is a big thing for them, lots of perks like gym membership, getting paid $50 so they will give us a home health check, that should be interesting. We get $40 a quarter to spend on over the counter products like vitamins, blood pressure checkers, lots of other stuff. Good enough dental I cancelled my other dental plan. A little bit on hearing aids.
Only time will tell if I made a good decision or not. But we have pretty good health insurance for our $170 each Part B payment.