Best Medicare supplemental insurance to be Dr. Zha’s patient

Thank you so much for this information, Sarah. I won’t be able to switch from Kaiser until January 1st, so don’t know if I can be accepted now, though a client of mine is a fellow professor at UCSF and can potentially expedite after January 1st since my condition it quite dire. What kind of Cigna policy did you get? Have you undergone treatment for MAC? Whatever I opt for would have to cover that panoply of drugs, I imagine. I am working with a local Medicare broker.

My friends may have to do a GoFundMe for me so that I can get in by paying for a full work up sooner than that. I still have to work to make a living and it is challenging. I feel like I am fighting for my life after my Kaiser pulmo let this disease run rampant since 2019–no, 2012, without even telling me I had it.

Now I am extremely susceptible to hemoptysis and can barely tolerate any food without creating a ton of mucus that if unattended by copious amounts of water, throws me into significant hemoptysis. My lungs are too fragile to tolerate nebulizing right now. Please keep me in your prayers/good thoughts. My spiritual sense of surrender to Divine Providence is very strong, but I can use all the help I can get. Thank you. 🙏🏼

Thank you so much for this information, Sarah. I won’t be able to switch from Kaiser until January 1st, so don’t know if I can be accepted now, though a client of mine is a fellow professor at UCSF and can potentially expedite after January 1st since my condition it quite dire. What kind of Cigna policy did you get? Have you undergone treatment for MAC? Whatever I opt for would have to cover that panoply of drugs, I imagine. I am working with a local Medicare broker.

My friends may have to do a GoFundMe for me so that I can get in by paying for a full work up sooner than that. I still have to work to make a living and it is challenging. I feel like I am fighting for my life after my Kaiser pulmo let this disease run rampant since 2019–no, 2012, without even telling me I had it.

Now I am extremely susceptible to hemoptysis and can barely tolerate any food without creating a ton of mucus that if unattended by copious amounts of water, throws me into significant hemoptysis. My lungs are too fragile to tolerate nebulizing right now. Please keep me in your prayers/good thoughts. My spiritual sense of surrender to Divine Providence is very strong, but I can use all the help I can get. Thank you. 🙏🏼

@paxmundi
I urge you to apply to UCSF soon, given the delay between getting in and first appointment. It helps, I think, to have a doctor recommend you. You could call the clinic (4153532961) and ask them. Everyone at the clinic has been good! I wish I had applied when I was first diagnosed before I lost time with local pulmonologists. I feel terribly for your situation.
As for Part D insurance, I reevaluate every year. The policies change prices and which drugs they cover. The Medicare website has (at least in the past) had an excellent page that lets you list your drugs and compare coverage for different policies and prices at different pharmacies. I am taking the typical meds for MAC - azithromycin, ethamputol, rifampin and Aricayce; I'll want to be sure my 2026 policy covers those. Aricayce is very expensive and put me over the $2,000 annual limit ($2,100 for 2026) in the second month. But if your policy doesn't cover a drug, the annual cost limit does not apply.
Wishing you all the best! Please let us know how things go.
BTW, I had mild hemoptysis which cleared after about 2 months on the meds.
Sarah

@paxmundi Hopefully you can get approved this October for the Supplement to start in January. I would imagine if you decide and become a part of, approved in a Supplement Plan with a D plan, and the acceptance into it is given before the January date,.......meaning the Supplement does not go into affect until January but you have been approved, with knowing it was approved, you might be able to make the appointment as soon as approved for the official entry date of the Supplement????? You may have that in mind already.
Wanting and wishing for the process going forward to be seamless for you and puts a happy smile on your face.
Barbara

@yardsend Thanks again, Sarah. Still not clear on what the Blue Shield policy you have is that is working. Just Medigap? Not a PPO? The reason I am belaboring the point is that on UCSF site where they list accepted insurances, they only have HMO and PPO listed under Blue Shield, and then there are UC plans for retirees of UC system. The billing department said that even if UCSF accepted a plan the individual provider might not accept it, so I called the pulmonary department, which said billing was wrong and no one seemed to be able to say for certainly what was accepted, though THEY said providers don’t accept it r fail to accept plans. So I’m in a conundrum.

Can you tell me more specifically what your Blue Shield insurance is that works for Zha’s practice? Was it part of a retirement package? What is it called? That is what I need, and so far the hospital has sent me on a wild goose chase. I have always worked for myself so never had medical benefits from a workplace. Thank you, Sarah! I know the part D is different and I will need something that covers all the MAC treatment drugs like you do. Whatever makes those costs less prohibitive. Kaiser has helped destroy my health and there is no way that I will stay on.

@paxmundi,
I have Blue Shield Medicare Supplement Plan Hi F, the high deductible ppo. The plan leaves me free of "preferred provider" limitations - I see doctors in Providence, Sutter and UCSF with no problem. Annual deductible is $2,870. The last year that I had a job I was 65, and my employer paid for the plan that covers everything with no deductible, but that got to be too expensive after I'd retired ($508 vs $110 monthly fee now that I'm 77).
If you want more info, just ask. You also can message me directly and we could arrange a phone call.
Sarah

@yardsend Thanks again, Sarah. Still not clear on what the Blue Shield policy you have is that is working. Just Medigap? Not a PPO? The reason I am belaboring the point is that on UCSF site where they list accepted insurances, they only have HMO and PPO listed under Blue Shield, and then there are UC plans for retirees of UC system. The billing department said that even if UCSF accepted a plan the individual provider might not accept it, so I called the pulmonary department, which said billing was wrong and no one seemed to be able to say for certainly what was accepted, though THEY said providers don’t accept it r fail to accept plans. So I’m in a conundrum.

Can you tell me more specifically what your Blue Shield insurance is that works for Zha’s practice? Was it part of a retirement package? What is it called? That is what I need, and so far the hospital has sent me on a wild goose chase. I have always worked for myself so never had medical benefits from a workplace. Thank you, Sarah! I know the part D is different and I will need something that covers all the MAC treatment drugs like you do. Whatever makes those costs less prohibitive. Kaiser has helped destroy my health and there is no way that I will stay on.