Renewable Revolution

Agelbert NOTE: I am reposting this here so we can discuss Medicare Supplemental Health Care plans in this thread as time goes by.

AG, this is a brilliant letter and quite specific in answering the question they posed. Of course, as you already know, they have no interest in the answer. Only in being able to say they asked the question, in best bureaucratese passive voice. ("To the question, 'How Can We Improve This site,' we received 416 response which are tabulated in Exhibit A by subject, then ranked in order of usefulness...")

This is right on time as I just signed up for Part B and am trying to assess which way to go for Supplemental. My wife is 10 years younger and doesn't qualify yet. Any wisdom you can impart from. your searches is appreciated.

Thank you.

My wife is also ten years younger, so we are in the same health insurance boat, so to speak. I'll pass along to you any supplemental plan info I find that can help keep your premiums down as much as possible. I know you are in Virginia and not a retired Federal aparatchik like me , but the info on the plans I have access to may be of use to you.

In regard to that, as soon as I got on Medicare, my Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) plan became supplemental for me, and continued to be primary for my wife.

I saved some money a couple of years ago when the Federal Government forced them to start the "Self Plus One" plans with the same coverage as "Self and Family", but a lower monthly premium. Always look for the "Self Plus One" 🧐 plan option in your favored supplemental plan, if it is available.

BCBS FEHB (Federal Employees Health Benefits) have had the "Standard" and the "Basic" plans for decades. The "Standard" costs more but allows you to go outside of "Preferred Providers" (PPO) for care and still be covered. If you are in an area where most of the doctors are PPO, like here, the "Basic" plan is a better deal.

I was on the "Standard" for a many years, but switched to the less costly "Basic" plan five or six years ago.

BCBS FEHB initiated a new health insurance plan last year called "Blue Focus". The "Blue Focus" plan is $140 cheaper than "Basic" (monthly premiums for 2020) BUT, it has $1000 deductible (Self Plus One - $500 per person) up front. And that ain't all. It gets worse. It also gets rather ugly as to out-of-pocket expenses if a hospitalization beyond Medicare coverage limits is required (YOU PAY 30% of "whatever BCBS allows the 😈 hospital to say the cost of this or that is".).

Yeah, the old 30% trick happens in the "Basic" plan too, but not on hospitalization. I have no plans to be hospitalized, but having the 30% of hellspital 😈 hospital costs Sword of Damocles hanging over one's head is unwise for anyone, not just the penny pinching frugal poor folks like me.   

BCBS in Virginia apparently calls themselves ANTHEM. I don't know a thing about them except what I found on a brief search today using the Ashburn, Virginia (Loudon County) 20147 zip code: Anthem Health Plans of Virginia, Inc.. I don't know if that is where you reside but it is probably close enough to give you a good idea of what is available from them in your area.

They ask a bunch of questions to allegedly help you find the "best" plan for you. Their job is, of course, to suck you in. You are an old hand at dealing with people trying to game you, so I'm sure you will know what to do to get all the information you need from them without giving them information about you that they have no business knowing.

Rather than a short brochure with a plan summary, I prefer to view a detailed brochure/document, on each health insurance plan I am considering contracting for, so I can wade through it to learn about what is and what is not covered, in addition to copays, deductibles, doctor access and so on. In my cursory search I did not see anything but short summaries of the supplemental plans. I'm sure you can get the detailed versions, but I guess it takes some digging.

Here's the rassle dazzle quicky BCBS FEHB 2020 "BENEFITS AT A GLANCE" comparison.

This is the 2019 "Blue Cross® and Blue Shield® Service Benefit Plan" document covering the "Standard" and "Basic" plans (They won't publish the detailed 2020 info until around the 10th of November when "Open Season" starts). That kind of detail is what I want to know about to make sure I know the dollars and cents score, even if I admittedly suffer from glazed over eyes when wading though this behemoth.

Here's a more general list of Medicare supplemental plans from various Health Insurance providers for the same zip code.

By the way, there is an excellent brief video by Thom Hartmann explaining how Shrub got the "supplemental Medicare" gravy train for Health Insurance greedballs going. Trump is, as expected, following in Shrub's Republican 'squeeze the poor and middle class to further enrich the thieving rich' footsteps.

Congresswoman Anna Eshoo 👍 is trying to get a law passed forcing the Medicare Supplemental Plan Providers to clearly state what is NOT covered (which unfortunately will be DOA under Moscow Mitch  ). You can see why, when I did my cursory search, I did not find what is NOT covered. It's all part of the SCAM that Shrub started.   

Oct 15, 2019


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