Medicare ads are gettin outta hand

[S'cuder]

I turn 65 next month and have been receiving tons of mail for Medicare. I can get totally confusing if you were to actually read it, which I don't.
We have an insurance broker and I make a phone call to him and he gets me signed up and will search the private insurers for the best plan for me.
Everybody is different and requires different plans and it depends where you live Lots of variables.

Brokers get paid on what they sell to you. To trust only one to do what is best for you could be a big mistake.
Yes, it's confusing, but refusing to educate yourself is the wrong way to go. Find someone to help who doesn't have a financial or any other interest in what you choose. There are Medicare advocates who can help. Just don't work with one who calls themselves that when they are really an insurance agent.

 

[pishta]

Yes those commercials are annoying, but nowhere near as annoying as the
“Cathin’ Cowboy” commercials that seemed to run 24/7!! Yeah, a big burly rugged cowboy can slide this here tube up his Johnson no problem!! And you can too!! Hell they’re nearly painless!! Nearly My ***!! God I hated that commercial!!! .....Just about drop to the floor in the fetal position hearing that guys voice!!

You shove anything up your wang and you'll be hurtin' for certain. Ask any veteran that spent time overseas and had to have his "bore punched" for the drip. BTDT 2x...to make it worse its always a semi attractive female nurse doing the hurtin'....and I think she enjoyed it!

 

[RedFish]

I have aetna medicare advantage plan. My wife has aetna group insurance though here employer. So the family doctor she has seen forever retired July 30th. I suggested she come to the doctor I see, "Stop by there and pick up a new patient package". They looked at her insurance card and said "We only accept people on medicare". I already knew aetna was one of only 4 advantage plans they do accept. I think the issue is all those people who dont play their doctor and/or hospital bills, along with those insurance companies who try to deny claims for whatever reason they can come up with or take forever to pay claims.
Regardless how much they bill for a service, medicare regulates what they will pay. The remainder is written off. I recently had a simple little outpatient surgery on my middle finger. In my mind it didn't amount to more than getting a tooth pulled. Total bill was right at 6000.00. One line showed to lay in recovery room for 2 hours was 640.00 . Medicare approved about 1200.00 of the bill. Aetna paid the 1200.00 right away. I paid my 350.00 deductible, and a 30 dollar copay at first visit to the hand surgeon. Where would we be without insurance?

 

[bobscuda67]

Brokers get paid on what they sell to you. To trust only one to do what is best for you could be a big mistake.
Yes, it's confusing, but refusing to educate yourself is the wrong way to go. Find someone to help who doesn't have a financial or any other interest in what you choose. There are Medicare advocates who can help. Just don't work with one who calls themselves that when they are really an insurance agent.

Yea, to trust someone blindly is probably is not a good thing and he does get compensated for his work.
I did ask some other reps about my situation and he did have good recommendations from two other people. Just didn't come out in my post.
But I do trust him and we haven't had a face to face yet to see his proposal.

 

[Bigdummy]

I shut down my direct tv cause I'm not paying to see this crap, the fruity pill,Lawyer adds,and ect... Now I see that crap for free

 

[RustyRatRod]

I turn 65 next month and have been receiving tons of mail for Medicare. I can get totally confusing if you were to actually read it, which I don't.
We have an insurance broker and I make a phone call to him and he gets me signed up and will search the private insurers for the best plan for me.
Everybody is different and requires different plans and it depends where you live Lots of variables.

That's what we did. I have a friend whose a disability advocate and also an insurance broker. He gave me a list of what he considered good plans and even made some recommendations. In the end, we didn't choose what he recommended, we did choose one from his list, but we chose what was the best fit for us. So far, even he's been surprised at how good the plan turned out.

 

[RustyRatRod]

And from what I understand if you have an Advantage plan then all procedures you have done will have to be approved by the Plan. With Medicare you don't need preapproval.
And if you live in Florida your Advantage plan is invalid in any other state.
Someone that knows more than me about it can tell me if that's true or not.

We've had to get approval for everything Medicare "pays" for in the past. We still do with the advantage plan. That's just how it works. At least in Georgia.

 

[RustyRatRod]

I have aetna medicare advantage plan. My wife has aetna group insurance though here employer. So the family doctor she has seen forever retired July 30th. I suggested she come to the doctor I see, "Stop by there and pick up a new patient package". They looked at her insurance card and said "We only accept people on medicare". I already knew aetna was one of only 4 advantage plans they do accept. I think the issue is all those people who dont play their doctor and/or hospital bills, along with those insurance companies who try to deny claims for whatever reason they can come up with or take forever to pay claims.
Regardless how much they bill for a service, medicare regulates what they will pay. The remainder is written off. I recently had a simple little outpatient surgery on my middle finger. In my mind it didn't amount to more than getting a tooth pulled. Total bill was right at 6000.00. One line showed to lay in recovery room for 2 hours was 640.00 . Medicare approved about 1200.00 of the bill. Aetna paid the 1200.00 right away. I paid my 350.00 deductible, and a 30 dollar copay at first visit to the hand surgeon. Where would we be without insurance?

We had Aetna Advantage before we got Humana. It was good, but the Humana offers some things Humana didn't and is a better fit for us.

 

[SGBARRACUDA]

We've had to get approval for everything Medicare "pays" for in the past. We still do with the advantage plan. That's just how it works. At least in Georgia.

I’ve used my PPO in Ga. at walk in clinics and didn’t have to get it approved. Just had to make sure they accepted my ins.

 

[RustyRatRod]

I’ve used my PPO in Ga. at walk in clinics and didn’t have to get it approved. Just had to make sure they accepted my ins.

Yup. We've actually done that a time or three. Most times, they want to jump through the hoops.

 

[RedFish]

We've had to get approval for everything Medicare "pays" for in the past. We still do with the advantage plan. That's just how it works. At least in Georgia.

I had some difficulty getting MRI of my lower back approved. They wanted me to try steroids and physical therapy first. I can't take oral steroids due to history of bleeding stomach ulcers and covid closed physical therapy. They covered the MRI and a cortisone injection which kept me out from under that knife for now. Getting the chipped bone out of my middle finger was approved right away without question.
Back on topic... I've seen the new commercial with JJ Walker a few times. We watch Netflix most of the time. Only 14 dollars per month. No commercials of any kind.

 

[RustyRatRod]

I had some difficulty getting MRI of my lower back approved. They wanted me to try steroids and physical therapy first. I can't take oral steroids due to history of bleeding stomach ulcers and covid closed physical therapy. They covered the MRI and a cortisone injection which kept me out from under that knife for now. Getting the chipped bone out of my middle finger was approved right away without question.
Back on topic... I've seen the new commercial with JJ Walker a few times. We watch Netflix most of the time. Only 14 dollars per month. No commercials of any kind.

The best part is having a doctor that will actually work with YOU and not the insurance companies. We have that and I am very thankful.

and as for netflix.......we have over 2500 DVDs, so when TSHTF, we'll be ready. LMAO