@tntwo99

I was confused. I thought we were only looking at the cost of medications, not of all contact with the medical world. Yes, I only pay a maximum of $2K for meds per year. I do have to pay $35 for an appt with a specialist but no co-pay to see my PCP.

I see two specialists four times a year, three more once a year (most years) and the occasional specialist a couple times a year which would be under $500 a year.

I had had bilateral total hip replacement last year with complications that turned my outpatient surgeries (!) into inpatient. (I passed out the first time the nurse got me out of bed. You should have seen the crowd in my room when I came to about two minutes later. I had triggered the emergency response team.) My total cost for the two surgeries was about $1000. I can't easily find the bills, just the payments, but suspect it was a bargain. My husband's triple bypass heart surgery three years ago (for a congenital defect) with a four day hospitalization was about the same. We were shocked, pleasantly surprised, (and had been prepared to pay much more.) I think it cost me more to put our son up in a nearby hotel (because I had covid for 22 days around this time) and taxi transportation from the airport (45 min away) because no family member was isolating from covid. There is no public transportation to our small town/now suburb which is 7 min from where my husband worked.

We have BCBS of MN Medicare Advantage Choice Plans, mid-range plans. We have also benefitted from the large in-network list which includes Mayo in Rochester as well as access to clinics in Duluth and Hudson, WI (the closest clinic to our home.) My husband chose an in network eye surgeon outside the HMO we usually use who is part of a small eye doctor only group. His cataract surgery was at least 5 years after mine and was only minimally more expensive but surprisingly inexpensive.