I did some research on Medishare and it is really designed for "healthy" people in that they have something like a 2 year waiting period for any pre-existing conditions. The key being that anything you have been treated for in the last X years as a pre-existing condition will be excluded from sharing for that waiting period. That was trouble right off the bat, but even worse is that they can decide whether to share or not share your medical expenses for various reasons. They come on the radio making it sound so great because in their example, they "shared' a 150K bill of the guy on the commercial, but what they don't tell you is that they don't technically have to do that for various reasons. One of them as I recall was that they had real touchy out of network or away from your usual doctor restrictions. If you go on a vacation and rack up a huge medical bill, they may not cover it. In the end, I felt that as they can't be relied upon in various situations, it doesn't matter that you are saving over traditional insurance plans because at least those plans cover you under a wide variety of conditions.
Since we travel a lot, that was one of our concerns.
Not in the same "category," but the same applies with parts of Medicare, for those old enough for that. When we were in Colorado, I signed up for a Medicare Advantage plan. However, when we moved to Oregon, I had absolutely no coverage from it. Medicare would only work for me if I went to an emergency room of the hospital. Wellness visits were not covered in any way. Advantage plans don't "travel" if you are out of your home state, I guess.
Incidentally, for any preparing to sign up for Medicare, be sure that you sign up for both Part B (doctors) and Part D (prescriptions.) Failure to sign up for either of those will get you penalized for every month that you don't have that coverage. AND, that penalty is applied each and every month for the rest of your life.
When I signed up, the folks at Social Security didn't tell me about penalties on prescription coverage, so I'm paying penalties for 14 months every month.
Incidentally, for any preparing to sign up for Medicare, be sure that you sign up for both Part B (doctors) and Part D (prescriptions.) Failure to sign up for either of those will get you penalized for every month that you don't have that coverage. AND, that penalty is applied each and every month for the rest of your life.
When I signed up, the folks at Social Security didn't tell me about penalties on prescription coverage, so I'm paying penalties for 14 months every month.
What a joke. I get 100% of my meds from the VA but I still have to pay for part D prescription. No penalties though.
If I start treatment through the VA for something, Medicare will not cover any treatments for that ailment.
If I start treatment through Medicare, the VA will not cover any treatment for that particular ailment.
Welcome to screwed up socialized medicine.
It's a long 30 min rant but most seniors need to stay. away from Medicare Advantage. It's not medicare, you sign your medicare benefits away to an insurance carrier and they administrate your benefits as they see fit. Even worse is that to get back to original medicare you will be underwritten which in a lot of cases will cause seniors to be declined. By the time they figure out that Medicare Advantage sucks, they are sick. Highly recommend sticking with medicare part a and b with a good supplemental. Which should follow you anywhere medicare is accepted.
Unfortunately, like you said, they don't tell you to sign up for part D or you will be penalized. To keep your costs down, go to the medicare website every year before renewal and put in your drug formulary (if you take a decent amount of meds) and it will give you the best/cheapest options, as these coverages can change every year. The website will break down your total estimated cost under each respective plan.
Also, failure to sign up for part B doesn't always mean you will be penalized. For instance, if you can show you were under an employer's coverage or some ancillary coverage, it is waived. Generally it doesn't make sense to stay on traditional coverage vs medicare but some people do it.
We have "re-enrolled" with Medicare and have a supplement now. Got all that done through USAA. And you are right. I forgot to mention that one "signs over" their benefits.
Thanks for bring that up.
Thanks for bring that up.
Agree 100% ^^^^^^ I just saw a TV ad about Medicare Advantage and wondered what that was all about. Thanks for the heads up.
I've also found to visit your pharmacy every enrollment season to see what is the best Part D plan for you. They look up all the plans to see if they are dropping any meds in your current plan and to see if another might work out better. We changed this year and went with a company that is just getting into the market and saved $$ with better drug coverage, although I get all mine from the VA.
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