Medicare plans are all very different, esp. the various Advantage plans, which only pay part of the cost of what basic Medicare doesn't cover. Since my husband is a transplantee, we learned about what was then Plan F INSTEAD of an Advantage plan: These plans cost close to $200/mo. but cover ALL medical expenses, including copays: you never pay a doc anything, never even get a bill from the hospital, not even for the transplant, which is often a total of around a half million bucks! The downsides are that Plan F type coverage provides nothing for dental, glasses, hearing aids, prescriptions. (We have separate Rx plans, although Plan F covers his very expensive anti-rejection drugs and Dexcom diabetes control system at zero cost.) The bad news is that you must opt for this type of plan instead of an Advantage plan within a couple of months after becoming eligible for Medicare. The only way to get around that is to move to a county where some Advantage plans have no coverage: you then have 60 days to opt for Plan F. I did that when we moved to our second home on the coast, switching my Advantage plan to one not available in this county.

Before cataract surgery, I usually had to get new glasses (lenses) every year or two. Many plans offer zero coverage for glasses, but mine often cost close to $1,000. Then, there's the cost of dental care, with the most usual option of dental insurance, which often makes you wait for weeks or months to get work done. When I needed Dentures, I checked around and went to Aspen Dental, where the most expensive full set cost just over $3,000--compared to the $12,000 a friend paid just for uppers! Yes, hearing aids are expensive, but not necessarily more so than dental care or glasses, in some cases.

For aids, I go to Costco, where my tech is actually more knowledgeable than all of the audis I've seen. In addition, there's no charge for visits or hearing tests, no charge for parts like ear molds, wax guards, etc., plus a liberal return policy. Although the Costco aids don't admit that they're exactly the same as some major brands, they are: mine are Oticons, under a Costco name--$1,600 per aid, $3,200 per pair. Not only are the aids roughly half the price of the major brands, but all the aftercare being totally free is a REAL bonus! Costco sells packs of six cards of batteries for a mere $8.99--less than most drugstores charge for a single card!