Medicare Advantage plans

Seniors beware! Medicare Advantage plans take away choice of doctor. Mayo Clinic does not accept them, and many places are dropping Advantage Plans. When you first enroll in Medicare all insurance companies have to accept you for Medigap (with traditional Medicare) regardless of preexisting conditions. If you go with a Medicare Advantage plan and then discover how limiting it is and you want to go back to traditional Medicare (you can self-refer to any doctor in US that takes Medicare), you may be able to sign up for traditional Medicare BUT finding a Medigap plan to pay the 20% Medicare does not cover BECOMES extremely difficult. They are not obligated to accept you.

@naturegirl5 So if I understand this correctly, the Allina Aetna Medicare Advantage Elite option is NOT accepted at Mayo, IF I would ever choose to get an appointment there, correct?? Thank you.

@vic83 - Mayo Rochester does take my UHC Advantage plan through my retirement with IBM and I think they also take a few other employer sponsored advantage plans but not the over the counter advantage plans that a lot folks have.

@tsch AND what is inaccurate??? 1) At initial enrollment if you select Traditional Medicare, ALL Medigap insurance companies must accept you regardless of preexisting conditions. If you select Advantage and then want to change back, those Medigap companies can decide if they want to take you or not, and if you have serious issues, you are not profitable for them so what do you think they are going to do? 2) Traditional Medicare allows you to SELF REFER to any doctor in the United States who takes Medicare. Advantage plans require you to go to their network of doctors, with preapprovals, referrals and copays likely. People on Connect have described some of the difficulties they have had with Advantage plans 3) Maybe in CT, the State imposes some restrictions on Advantage plans, but Seniors are always giving up choice of doctor with an Advantage plan, and if they develop serious issues, they will have a lot more stress getting treatment! 4) Mayo no longer takes Advantage plans. I am a patient at Mayo and every year they send me a letter telling me that. I am so grateful I have traditional Medicare. I went from a local provider's abnormal chest x-ray to Lung cancer surgery at Mayo Clinic for stage 1 lung cancer in seven weeks with Thanksgiving and Christmas in-between. I self-referred to Mayo and got an appointment for the next day. I never had time to worry. Can't do that with Advantage Plans!!! AND......... I have read that Advantage plans actually cost government more money, also the news often reports how clinics are dropping Advantage plans, and the issue of pre-approval has been discussed on the news. MY VIEW: We need coverage not choice. Let Medicare offer a plan for the 20% not covered, Insurance companies only add cost not benefits. They need to go out and negotiate with providers every year. Providers have to hire extra people to administer plans. Just look at their financial documents and their sales and marketing costs! Healthcare is not a "free market" because we all need it. It is not served well by companies that are profit driven. And I am positive that private businesses would be very happy to be free of providing health care insurance to employees! it is just an expense for them.

Seniors beware! Medicare Advantage plans take away choice of doctor. Mayo Clinic does not accept them, and many places are dropping Advantage Plans. When you first enroll in Medicare all insurance companies have to accept you for Medigap (with traditional Medicare) regardless of preexisting conditions. If you go with a Medicare Advantage plan and then discover how limiting it is and you want to go back to traditional Medicare (you can self-refer to any doctor in US that takes Medicare), you may be able to sign up for traditional Medicare BUT finding a Medigap plan to pay the 20% Medicare does not cover BECOMES extremely difficult. They are not obligated to accept you.

@vic83
Sorry, but I disagree with your comments. I am a certified Medicare counselor (not a broker) and my husband and I have had advantage plans for a total of about 35 years and we have never had a problem. Also, in CT and a few other states a person can get a Medigap plan even after they first join Medicare. Your beware is unwarranted—we have never had a doctor leave our networks (currently Aetna.) For Mayo Clinic, having traditional medicare is better, apparently.

@tsch 23 years actually . 1997

@tsch AND what is inaccurate??? 1) At initial enrollment if you select Traditional Medicare, ALL Medigap insurance companies must accept you regardless of preexisting conditions. If you select Advantage and then want to change back, those Medigap companies can decide if they want to take you or not, and if you have serious issues, you are not profitable for them so what do you think they are going to do? 2) Traditional Medicare allows you to SELF REFER to any doctor in the United States who takes Medicare. Advantage plans require you to go to their network of doctors, with preapprovals, referrals and copays likely. People on Connect have described some of the difficulties they have had with Advantage plans 3) Maybe in CT, the State imposes some restrictions on Advantage plans, but Seniors are always giving up choice of doctor with an Advantage plan, and if they develop serious issues, they will have a lot more stress getting treatment! 4) Mayo no longer takes Advantage plans. I am a patient at Mayo and every year they send me a letter telling me that. I am so grateful I have traditional Medicare. I went from a local provider's abnormal chest x-ray to Lung cancer surgery at Mayo Clinic for stage 1 lung cancer in seven weeks with Thanksgiving and Christmas in-between. I self-referred to Mayo and got an appointment for the next day. I never had time to worry. Can't do that with Advantage Plans!!! AND......... I have read that Advantage plans actually cost government more money, also the news often reports how clinics are dropping Advantage plans, and the issue of pre-approval has been discussed on the news. MY VIEW: We need coverage not choice. Let Medicare offer a plan for the 20% not covered, Insurance companies only add cost not benefits. They need to go out and negotiate with providers every year. Providers have to hire extra people to administer plans. Just look at their financial documents and their sales and marketing costs! Healthcare is not a "free market" because we all need it. It is not served well by companies that are profit driven. And I am positive that private businesses would be very happy to be free of providing health care insurance to employees! it is just an expense for them.