Medicare Advantage Plans

[pawngal]

How much, ballpark figures, are the the premiums for a supplement.

Medicare Supplement Plan A $118–$891
Medicare Supplement Plan B $176–$445
Medicare Supplement Plan C $187–$548
Medicare Supplement Plan D $149–$354
Medicare Supplement Plan F $142-606
Medicare Supplement High-Deductible Plan F $44-81
Medicare Supplement Plan G $118–$573
Medicare Supplement High-Deductible Plan G $37–$84
Medicare Supplement Plan K $73–$184
Medicare Supplement Plan L $120–$271
Medicare Supplement Plan M $85–$231
Medicare Supplement Plan N $90–$500

Cost varies by age, location, and when you get the policy.

 

[Ματθιας]

Thanks for the info.

 

[GypsmJim]

My Medicare Advantage plan IS In Network Only, but its not a problem for us since everyone and their brother in our neighborhood accepts it.

OTOH, if we are out of town and an emergency happens, our insurance covers it no matter what.

A PPO plan may be what you might want if, for example, you spend half the year in FL, and half in the North, and thus half of your doctors are not in network.

 

[hemiram]

I was paying about $400 a month for insurance through work, and ended up going to see an agent who several people had recommended. I had been told by State Farm they had nothing for me, so I expected the worst, where it would be even more than my insuance through work was. I sat down with him and talked a few minutes, he got my meds and conditions and says "If you go with this one, through the same company you have now, it's going to be $68 a month for almost the same coverage, AND you get $52 a month on a debit card. Meds will be zero, and the only real change is your specialist co-pay goes from $20 to $30".
I jumped on that deal! That was about 9 months ago, and have zero complaints. Same docs, same meds, same pharmacy, and the $52 a month is nice. Oh, and the extra money in my paycheck every two weeks is very nice, too. I'm tossing that extra money every two weeks into my savings account. Unlike a lot of my friends, I have zero debt, and finally after years of grinding away, my cash is starting to pile up. At this point, I could retire without any struggling, but I'm gonna go to 70 at least.

 

[dm1215]

I just found out last week that our policy changed and we were never informed. It just rolls over into the next year if you do nothing. My wife went to the dentist and needs some crowns, which were always covered at about 50%. The dentist told her she only had preventive coverage. When she got home we looked and the damn policy had changed from last year. I looked at a claim from last year and it had covered some of the crowns..

 

[djohns6]

We changed last year from a BC/BS supplement plan that wasn't paying squat to an Advantage plan . My wife recently had a knee replacement with an overnight hospital stay , two weeks of Home Health visits , and Physical therapy 3-4 times a week . So far our out of pocket is less than 400 bucks . Every Doctor and Hospital in this area that we could possibly need is " In Network " .

 

[Lee in Quartzsite]

Treated first locally, then to Mayo Clinic in Rochester. 8+ years later, about $1.2 million in charges, I paid I think $20.

My wife and I have been going to Mayo Clinic in Phoenix for the past 4 years. We have Medicare and BCBS as a supplement. Mayo takes Medicare but NOT Medicare Advantage.

 

[stonebuster]

My wife & I went to a senior center that had a volunteer who was part of "Choices". They are trained by Medicare but receive no compensation from whoever he signs you up with. He/she finds the best plans for your particular needs and offers several options for you to choose from. Then signs you up. We've been very pleased with our choices. If you need help finding the right options I would suggest for you to do the same.

 

[Huskerguy]

I am 71 and checked out both options with two different brokers. I went with staying with Medicare and a Aetna supplemental plan. Here is what I have learned, was told and as usual, things change quickly these days.

1. Making the choice to go Advantage is opting out of Medicare. Advantage is nothing more than an insurance just like most of us had at our place of work. I didn't like the idea of "opting out" and the government being happy about it.

2. I live in Kansas and as I understand it, each state can have some variable options for Medicare Supplementals. We selected one that we have a co-py of up to $20 for each visit. We find that many providers do not even charge the co-pay. So comparing supplementals across the country is difficult.

3. Our city of roughly 45K got out of the Advantage business a few years ago. This meant that those who had Advantage plans were out of luck and had to travel to use them. As stated there are high deductibles and co-pays I didn't want to plan for. The Advantage plans are more prevalent in bigger cities and on both coasts. Out there in the boonies, Medicare and our Aetna supplemental are gold. Absolutely no surprises.

4. There is a reason the commercials advertise the free stuff like groceries, dental, eye care, and hearing aids. It is a come on. Does anyone really think these companies can supply all of that for less than Medicare and your Supplemental can? There are hidden costs and you need to find them.

5. I would question the ability to move back and forth between Advantage and Medicare Supplemental plans. I have not personally done it but have been told by multiple persons/brokers that switching back and forth is extremely difficult. If the commented I was told about Advantage is opting out of Medicare, then that makes sense.

Welcome to our confusing world of insurance.

 

[ladder13]

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/14/unitedhealth-under-criminal-probe-for-possible-medicare-fraud-report-says.html

It must be lucrative for insurers to pay to get people enrolled.

“The new investigation follows broader scrutiny into the Medicare Advantage program.

The DOJ earlier this month filed a lawsuit accusing three of the largest U.S. health insurers of paying hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks to brokers in exchange for steering patients into the insurers’ Medicare Advantage plans.

Nearly half of the 65 million people covered by Medicare, the U.S. program for people aged 65 and older or with disabilities, are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans run by private insurers.

The insurers are paid a set rate for each patient, but can be paid more if patients have multiple health conditions.”

 

[Onomea]

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), a government agency, provides annual evaluations of medicare advantage providers and plans. Worth keeping an eye on, and incorporating into the medicare advantage olan selection process, if ine goes that route:

2025 Medicare Advantage and Part D Star Ratings | CMS

Note: The information included in this Fact Sheet is based on the 2025 Star Ratings published on the Medicare Plan Finder on October 10, 2024. For details on the Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Star Ratings, please refer to the 2025 Part C & D Star Ratings Technical Notes available at...

www.cms.gov

I think, if money were not a consideration, original medicare is the best choice. On the other hand, medicare advantage plans, while riskier in the sense that they must be researched carefully as coverage differs, and they are more likely to deny care than is original medicare, they can also save you several hundred bucks a month.

I think that many would agree that original Medicare is an example of a government run program that most people who have it feel does a pretty good job for them, and that, when compared to the private sector (medicare advantage) users have less complaints about.

 

[LostintheOzone]

6+ years,ago I handed this football off to Ruthie. She did all the leg work and told me to go with Aetna Advantage.

Color me satisfied.

Looks like you may need to check this out.

Nearly 1 million Americans face losing health insurance as Aetna exits ACA marketplace - UPI.com

Nearly a million people in 17 states face losing healthcare coverage after Aetna's parent company announced it would leave the federal insurance marketplace, created under the Affordable Care Act.

www.upi.com

 

[LostintheOzone]

My wife and I have been retired for 11 years. I did the research when we retired and haven't been looking for any other coverage since. We have Medigap plus drug insurance. Dental and vision is out-of-pocket. I'm not going to mention any companies because everyone needs to do their own research. The reason is not everyone has the same financial resources in retirement and some people don't travel. We used to spend our winters in the SW and live in the PNW. We still travel some but not much.

My general feeling about this is Medigaps are expensive but the older one gets the more you use your insurance. We're probably about even with the premiums v. the payouts but that's taken 11 years. I've had one major surgery and my wife has had one and two knee replacements. From here on we're probably going to hit the insurance with a hammer.

Advantage plans are like any other insurance companies. They need to make money to stay in business. If you like to read legal jargon and contracts that change every year those would be cheaper but not necessarily better. Just depends on your health conditions and where you live. Some states regulate advantage plans fairly well and others don't. It's insurance so buyer beware.

Medigap contracts are all standard and heavily regulated as I understand it. Hospitals like them because they know exactly what's covered and what isn't. They can tell you in a few minutes. No surprises when you get the hospital bill and no copays if Medicare (85%) covers the procedure. We rarely get a bill and when we do it's usually less than 100 bucks. Medicare has to cover it though so be aware of that.

Good luck. You'll need it.

 

[LostintheOzone]

Now I'm cornfused. When you said "Medicare Supplement", I thought you were referring to a "Medicare Advantage" plan. Are there 2 different versions?

My best friend underwent stage 4 cancer treatment, and then a quadruple bypass. Roswell Park is our local cancer hospital and it is up there with the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo. We call him the Million Dollar Man, and his Supplement saved his life (and his bank account).

A supplemental can be either. Medigap or advantage plan. They are not the same. Medigap is one standard contract that all insurers have to go by. Advantage plan is a contract that the insurer writes that you and the hospital have to dig through to figure out the cost after Medicare. And they still don't know because they aren't attorneys.

 

[GSP Fan]

I have recently retired from this field of insurance sales. As mentioned previously the adds on TV for free this and free that don't really add up. Dental coverage is two cleanings per year by an in network dentist which may not be the dentist you use. The same for hearing, I have hearing aids and thankfully they are covered by the VA. If you think the advantage plan will pay thousands of dollars for hearing aids for a $0 premium your kidding yourself. The max out of pocket expense is never revealed neither is the fact that your provider can decide not to accept the plan whenever they wish. Advantage plans can only be changed during open enrollment therefore if your provider decides not to accept your plan in June your going to either pay out of pocket or find another provider. If you go out of network your out of pocket expenses just about double.
They also don't tell you that your Medicare Benefits that you pay for aren't applicable with the advantage plan but your still paying the part B premium that you will never use. Have a health hiccup such as a heart condition, cancer, diabetes requiring more than 50 units of insulin ect and when you recover financially from the out of pocket expense you are not going to be able to go to a Medicare supplement due to insurability issues.
If anyone has a question I will gladly do my best to help. In 50 years in this business I find very little advantage to these plans

 

[Borderboss]

I'm in process of doing this as I'm retiring at the end of June. My current company plan is with BCBS Illinois and I'm generally happy with it, so I'm going with their MA plan. I worked with a broker and reviewed the plan documents for the options I wanted, which was generally to get as close as possible to the network setup that I currently have. The BCBS MA plan does this. They don't charge an extra premium for the extra stuff they offer because generally, commercial carriers are much better at managing the premium spent than the government ever can be. Plus I don't need a separate supplemental plan, a separate drug plan, or a separate dental plan.

I'm also comfortable with the BCBS MA plan because of the Blue Card program. This is the program, managed by the Blues Association and required to be used by all Blues plans, that lets us access Blues network providers when you're travelling. If I'm in Georgia and need a doc, if I go to a doc in the Georgia Blue network, my utilization is processed as "in network" because of the Blue Card program.

 

[delcrossv]

6+ years,ago I handed this football off to Ruthie. She did all the leg work and told me to go with Aetna Advantage.

Color me satisfied.

MIL had a small stroke recently and had a hell of a time getting Aetna to approve post hospitalization rehab. We're switching to supplemental insurance. A case of you get what you pay for IMO.

 

[Rustyt1953]

MIL had a small stroke recently and had a hell of a time getting Aetna to approve post hospitalization rehab. We're switching to supplemental insurance. A case of you get what you pay for IMO.

My medical bills have eclipsed seven figures. AETNA has yet to deny a claim or fail to cover it.

This is all about personal choice.

I made mine.

 

[javbike]

We are with Kaiser plan it works well dental is covered some hearing aids it’s a pretty good company for the price

 

[Onomea]

Keep in mind, when you read that a poster likes his particular medicare advantage provider, that coverage differs by county, and that there are 3,143 counties in the US.