I have BlueShield Medical insurance. My copay is $15. My company takes care of it. I also have hospitalization for me and my spouse..
Total Comments: 95
Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 10:53 am Post Subject: Disability insurance and medicare
I am 52 and on disability.i just received a letter about being eligible for medicare..I have insurance under my husbands wk. I don't understand why they sent me this and if so should I use it. Don't want to rip off the government if I am covered..also if so what does it cover...? :?:
Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 02:33 pm Post Subject:
Persons who have been receiving Social Security Disability Income payments for 24 consecutive months get an early pass into the Medicare system. Part A is premium-free, but there is a monthly premium for Part B ($104.90 for most in 2013).
Depending on the terms of your husband's health care plan, you could be required to make Medicare your primary coverage (common in self-funded plans of health care). You should speak to someone at your husband's employer who handles employee benefits to discuss your situation.
If required to make Medicare primary, you should look into the available Medicare Advantage plans in your area. MA plans substitute HMO or PPO coverage for "Original" Medicare Parts A & B. I personally recommend such plans to my clients here in Southern California because none of them charge an additional premium, and all of them provide more benefits than Medicare at substantially reduced out-of-pocket expense.
Under Original Medicare, a single hospitalization of about five months (not common, but always possible) could result in an out of pocket expense in excess of $45,000 . . . PLUS the cost of physicians and/or surgeons . . . AND the cost of any non-medically necessary supplies or services, which Medicare does not cover (such as the cost of telephone or TV while hospitalized, if any, or the cost of a private room). Most MA plans would cap your hospitalization cost at about $3000 -- 1/15 the cost compared to Medicare Part A alone.
Beware that Obama and the Democrats want to do away with Medicare Advantage because it requires the government to send money to the insurance companies who provide the care at far less than the government can or is willing to do.
Doesn't matter that senior and others on Medicare get better benefits for less money, this administration and its supporters hate insurance companies because they are profitable businesses.
Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 04:44 pm Post Subject: disabled under 64 forced on medicare
I had excellent benefits through my husbands insurance. I recently became eligible for disability and was automatically enrolled in Part A and Part B Medicare as they approved my disability backdated two years. When this happened and I informed my husbands insurance, they dropped me from full coverage, made medicare my primary and their insurance my supplement policy. They say I have no choice. I am only 55 years old, but my husband is 65, on medicare since April this year and his coverage changed. But does mine HAVE to? Since going on Medicare, my healthcare costs have skyrocketed even with the supplement through his policy because I am now under Medicare guidlines and they are denying so much of my care and the copays are outrageous through the insurance. I cannot get the meds I was on and desperately need. My previous insurance approved. Medicare does not. I have emphysema and they refused my oxygen and forced me to go to the pulmonologist even though it had all been tested for and documented and was already being treated for some time. One nightmare after another. Our medical went from manageable to so bad that we now are losing our home, have to move to a dump, have substandard care or none at all, cant get the meds surgery or treatments I need. I wish I had NEVER applied for disability and just lived off my husbands pension and SS. Had we done that, we would have been so much better off. And I receive 1,600 per month for disabiity. I thought we would be fine,
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 01:15 pm Post Subject:
Our medical went from manageable to so bad that we now are losing our home, have to move to a dump, have substandard care or none at all, cant get the meds surgery or treatments I need. I wish I had NEVER applied for disability and just lived off my husbands pension and SS.
Welcome to reality. Anyone who believes that Medicare is a wonderful system of health care has never been a Medicare "beneficiary" or known someone who is/was.
This is what Obamacare will eventually do to health care in America. After all the insurance companies go out of business, the country will be forced to accept and pay for (with massively higher taxes) a "single payer" system "modeled after Medicare" which the Democrats were afraid of implementing when they had the chance, because it would have meant "political suicide" since this is NOT what America wants.
And now that more than 50% of Americans have finally figured out that they don't like Obamacare, it's all but too late to change or terminate it. The genie has been let out of the bottle and will remain elusive for years to come.
my husbands insurance, they dropped me from full coverage, made medicare my primary and their insurance my supplement policy. They say I have no choice.
You were not "dropped" from "full coverage", your coverage was made secondary to Medicare. But you should not be experiencing the challenges you state. If things were covered by the group insurance, they should still be covered. Whatever the insurance company used to pay for that Medicare won't, should still be covered. You may have a problem with the group insurance claims department.
What's worse is that if your husband is now on Medicare, your secondary coverage through his former employer's health plan is continuing under COBRA, and you will have to pay the full cost of that . . . PLUS your Medicare Part B premium . . . PLUS all the other costs you cite.
My recommendation (not knowing more about your actual needs)? Enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan and drop the former group insurance entirely. You may not like participating in an HMO (choose a PPO plan if one is available), but you will probably get better coverage than "Original Medicare" is willing to pay for, and with lower out-of-pocket cost.
In the meantime, write to Obama and ask him what he intends to do for you?
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 11:59 am Post Subject: Paying medicare part B
My wife has been paying Medicare part b for many years. I have been employed by a few companies during this time frame and she has always been covered under my plan.
Is there a way to get a refund for the money that has been taking out of her social security.
Thanks for the help
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 02:07 pm Post Subject:
Is there a way to get a refund for the money that has been taking out of her social security.
NO.
You can talk with the folks at Social Security about the advisability of terminating Medicare Part B.
It may not be what you want to do. It might be better to enroll in Medicare Advantage in October for coverage effective Jan 1, 2015. (Under certain circumstances, it may be possible to drop your employer coverage and enroll your wife in Medicare Advantage now, with an effective date of July 1, 2014.)
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 05:29 am Post Subject:
As an employee, you do not need to apply for Medicare Part B. You are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A on reaching age 65. If and when you leave your employment, you have a period of 63 days to enroll in Medicare B under a Special Election Period (SEP). This is very important since failure to do so would subject you to a permanent 10% penalty for each year in which you were eligible but not enrolled.
If you have any comments, questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact me at 900-964-3326 or visit my website at isis-financial.com.
Stanley W. Dean, CLU
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 05:29 am Post Subject:
As an employee, you do not need to apply for Medicare Part B. You are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A on reaching age 65. If and when you leave your employment, you have a period of 63 days to enroll in Medicare B under a Special Election Period (SEP). This is very important since failure to do so would subject you to a permanent 10% penalty for each year in which you were eligible but not enrolled.
If you have any comments, questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact me at 900-964-3326 or visit my website at isis-financial.com.
Stanley W. Dean, CLU
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 05:29 am Post Subject:
As an employee, you do not need to apply for Medicare Part B. You are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A on reaching age 65. If and when you leave your employment, you have a period of 63 days to enroll in Medicare B under a Special Election Period (SEP). This is very important since failure to do so would subject you to a permanent 10% penalty for each year in which you were eligible but not enrolled.
If you have any comments, questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact me at 900-964-3326 or visit my website at isis-financial.com.
Stanley W. Dean, CLU
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 05:29 am Post Subject:
As an employee, you do not need to apply for Medicare Part B. You are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A on reaching age 65. If and when you leave your employment, you have a period of 63 days to enroll in Medicare B under a Special Election Period (SEP). This is very important since failure to do so would subject you to a permanent 10% penalty for each year in which you were eligible but not enrolled.
If you have any comments, questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact me at 900-964-3326 or visit my website at isis-financial.com.
Stanley W. Dean, CLU
Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 10:53 am Post Subject: Disability insurance and medicare
I am 52 and on disability.i just received a letter about being eligible for medicare..I have insurance under my husbands wk. I don't understand why they sent me this and if so should I use it. Don't want to rip off the government if I am covered..also if so what does it cover...? :?:
Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 02:33 pm Post Subject:
Persons who have been receiving Social Security Disability Income payments for 24 consecutive months get an early pass into the Medicare system. Part A is premium-free, but there is a monthly premium for Part B ($104.90 for most in 2013).
Depending on the terms of your husband's health care plan, you could be required to make Medicare your primary coverage (common in self-funded plans of health care). You should speak to someone at your husband's employer who handles employee benefits to discuss your situation.
If required to make Medicare primary, you should look into the available Medicare Advantage plans in your area. MA plans substitute HMO or PPO coverage for "Original" Medicare Parts A & B. I personally recommend such plans to my clients here in Southern California because none of them charge an additional premium, and all of them provide more benefits than Medicare at substantially reduced out-of-pocket expense.
Under Original Medicare, a single hospitalization of about five months (not common, but always possible) could result in an out of pocket expense in excess of $45,000 . . . PLUS the cost of physicians and/or surgeons . . . AND the cost of any non-medically necessary supplies or services, which Medicare does not cover (such as the cost of telephone or TV while hospitalized, if any, or the cost of a private room). Most MA plans would cap your hospitalization cost at about $3000 -- 1/15 the cost compared to Medicare Part A alone.
Beware that Obama and the Democrats want to do away with Medicare Advantage because it requires the government to send money to the insurance companies who provide the care at far less than the government can or is willing to do.
Doesn't matter that senior and others on Medicare get better benefits for less money, this administration and its supporters hate insurance companies because they are profitable businesses.
Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 04:44 pm Post Subject: disabled under 64 forced on medicare
I had excellent benefits through my husbands insurance. I recently became eligible for disability and was automatically enrolled in Part A and Part B Medicare as they approved my disability backdated two years. When this happened and I informed my husbands insurance, they dropped me from full coverage, made medicare my primary and their insurance my supplement policy. They say I have no choice. I am only 55 years old, but my husband is 65, on medicare since April this year and his coverage changed. But does mine HAVE to? Since going on Medicare, my healthcare costs have skyrocketed even with the supplement through his policy because I am now under Medicare guidlines and they are denying so much of my care and the copays are outrageous through the insurance. I cannot get the meds I was on and desperately need. My previous insurance approved. Medicare does not. I have emphysema and they refused my oxygen and forced me to go to the pulmonologist even though it had all been tested for and documented and was already being treated for some time. One nightmare after another. Our medical went from manageable to so bad that we now are losing our home, have to move to a dump, have substandard care or none at all, cant get the meds surgery or treatments I need. I wish I had NEVER applied for disability and just lived off my husbands pension and SS. Had we done that, we would have been so much better off. And I receive 1,600 per month for disabiity. I thought we would be fine,
Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2013 01:15 pm Post Subject:
Our medical went from manageable to so bad that we now are losing our home, have to move to a dump, have substandard care or none at all, cant get the meds surgery or treatments I need. I wish I had NEVER applied for disability and just lived off my husbands pension and SS.
Welcome to reality. Anyone who believes that Medicare is a wonderful system of health care has never been a Medicare "beneficiary" or known someone who is/was.
This is what Obamacare will eventually do to health care in America. After all the insurance companies go out of business, the country will be forced to accept and pay for (with massively higher taxes) a "single payer" system "modeled after Medicare" which the Democrats were afraid of implementing when they had the chance, because it would have meant "political suicide" since this is NOT what America wants.
And now that more than 50% of Americans have finally figured out that they don't like Obamacare, it's all but too late to change or terminate it. The genie has been let out of the bottle and will remain elusive for years to come.
my husbands insurance, they dropped me from full coverage, made medicare my primary and their insurance my supplement policy. They say I have no choice.
You were not "dropped" from "full coverage", your coverage was made secondary to Medicare. But you should not be experiencing the challenges you state. If things were covered by the group insurance, they should still be covered. Whatever the insurance company used to pay for that Medicare won't, should still be covered. You may have a problem with the group insurance claims department.
What's worse is that if your husband is now on Medicare, your secondary coverage through his former employer's health plan is continuing under COBRA, and you will have to pay the full cost of that . . . PLUS your Medicare Part B premium . . . PLUS all the other costs you cite.
My recommendation (not knowing more about your actual needs)? Enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan and drop the former group insurance entirely. You may not like participating in an HMO (choose a PPO plan if one is available), but you will probably get better coverage than "Original Medicare" is willing to pay for, and with lower out-of-pocket cost.
In the meantime, write to Obama and ask him what he intends to do for you?
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 11:59 am Post Subject: Paying medicare part B
My wife has been paying Medicare part b for many years. I have been employed by a few companies during this time frame and she has always been covered under my plan.
Is there a way to get a refund for the money that has been taking out of her social security.
Thanks for the help
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 02:07 pm Post Subject:
Is there a way to get a refund for the money that has been taking out of her social security.
NO.You can talk with the folks at Social Security about the advisability of terminating Medicare Part B.
It may not be what you want to do. It might be better to enroll in Medicare Advantage in October for coverage effective Jan 1, 2015. (Under certain circumstances, it may be possible to drop your employer coverage and enroll your wife in Medicare Advantage now, with an effective date of July 1, 2014.)
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 05:29 am Post Subject:
As an employee, you do not need to apply for Medicare Part B. You are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A on reaching age 65. If and when you leave your employment, you have a period of 63 days to enroll in Medicare B under a Special Election Period (SEP). This is very important since failure to do so would subject you to a permanent 10% penalty for each year in which you were eligible but not enrolled.
If you have any comments, questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact me at 900-964-3326 or visit my website at isis-financial.com.
Stanley W. Dean, CLU
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 05:29 am Post Subject:
As an employee, you do not need to apply for Medicare Part B. You are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A on reaching age 65. If and when you leave your employment, you have a period of 63 days to enroll in Medicare B under a Special Election Period (SEP). This is very important since failure to do so would subject you to a permanent 10% penalty for each year in which you were eligible but not enrolled.
If you have any comments, questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact me at 900-964-3326 or visit my website at isis-financial.com.
Stanley W. Dean, CLU
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 05:29 am Post Subject:
As an employee, you do not need to apply for Medicare Part B. You are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A on reaching age 65. If and when you leave your employment, you have a period of 63 days to enroll in Medicare B under a Special Election Period (SEP). This is very important since failure to do so would subject you to a permanent 10% penalty for each year in which you were eligible but not enrolled.
If you have any comments, questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact me at 900-964-3326 or visit my website at isis-financial.com.
Stanley W. Dean, CLU
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 05:29 am Post Subject:
As an employee, you do not need to apply for Medicare Part B. You are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A on reaching age 65. If and when you leave your employment, you have a period of 63 days to enroll in Medicare B under a Special Election Period (SEP). This is very important since failure to do so would subject you to a permanent 10% penalty for each year in which you were eligible but not enrolled.
If you have any comments, questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact me at 900-964-3326 or visit my website at isis-financial.com.
Stanley W. Dean, CLU
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