Medicare question: Traditional or Advantage approach better for MPNers

I have Medicare and a Medicare G plan and recommend it. I only pay the part B deductible each year. I can go to any doctor who accepts Medicare, We live in Pennsylvania and go to Florida for the winter. If I had an Advantage plan I believe I would not be covered out of state except for emergency treatment,

Choose wisely…once you take an Advantage plan it will be extremely hard for you to switch to a Supplement as you would need to undergo medical underwriting to switch. I doubt you would be able to switch with an ET diagnosis.

Good luck with your decision and .your journey.

Eileen

I suggest you contact Garrett Ball at 65Medicare.org. He is a broker licensed in I believe 44 states. He helped my husband when he made his decision, There is a wealth of information on the website. He came up with the best companies at the lowest rates, They will give you quick quotes online. They get their fee from the insurance company,
Eileen

@treeore Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect!

How timely! I just listened to a gal talk about insurance in the face of blood cancers, yesterday! She advised going to triagecancer.org, a non-profit free service that can help you. She said there are quick guides and checklists, plus state resources to look up. Also, she mentioned under healthcare.gov, you can go to localhelp.healthcare.gov for assistance. While I haven't gone to either of these sites, myself yet, I hope you will.
https://triagecancer.org/
https://www.healthcare.gov/
Will you let me know what you find out?
Ginger

Thanks so much, all. I'm looking into your suggestions. The clock is ticking away to my Dec 1 deadline!

Thank you for this information. Right now we are covered under my husband’s work insurance but as our cancer journey continues he will probably have to retire and we will be in need of the rest of the Medicare process.

We do Medicare and have a supplemental policy through Mutual of Omaha. We also have a part D medication plan CIGNA.
You have to be careful and check to make sure that your medication’s are actually covered through these part D policies. My husband has a different plan than I do because my plan did not cover some of his medications.
So far I have been happy. No big surprises.
My friend chose a Medicare Advantage plan when she retired. They sound so good! They even pay for her gym membership. But two years into it she needed a specialist and had a hard time finding one who would accept her plan. She isn’t covered for travel. She ended up paying for a lot of stuff out of pocket and couldn’t switch until open enrollment.
It’s ridiculous that sick people have to struggle to pay medical bills. It’s also ridiculous how complicated it is. And expensive.
The social worker at our treatment facility couldn’t advise as to specific policies but she definitely steered us away from Advantage plans.

I have a Medicare Advantage plan through Kaiser Permanente. They call it their Senior Advantage Plan. It is excellent and consistently rated top in its class here on the West Coast. I love it.

Only problem is, Kaiser is pretty much only in California, Oregon, and Washington State. There is a sliver of Kaiser running through Northern Virginia into Maryland, I seem to recall. They may be in Hawaii. But that's about it.

Kaiser is top-notch. You must work within their system, but they have EVERYTHING. It is truly amazing. For instance, when my physician thought I should consider nasal surgery, I had an appointment with the surgeon the following week. And then the surgery was about one week later. No paperwork to fill out. No permissions needed. No carrying X-rays back and forth. Nothing.

It is a seamless operation. Doesn't matter what I need: MRI, CT scan, ER, surgery, ..., whatever I need, I get. And I never have to fight to get what I need.

The same thing has happened to my husband and me. We live in CO/AZ and after a lot of research we opted for Original Medicare with plan G. I understand your concern about Part B coverage. Your supplemental plan G pays the 20% not covered by Part B, as well as, the $1556.00 hospital deductible. All you pay is $233 deductible.
So as long as you have a supplemental plan there is no reason to worry about high out of pocket costs for hospitalization or medical procedures, office visits and durable medical equipment. You are in your initial enrollment period, which means you can not be turned down or go through underwriting, You are guaranteed coverage for your supplemental plan.
We decided to sign up for Original this year, we wanted the flexibility to go anywhere, including Mayo as we negotiate my husband recent diagnosis. we can always switch to a Advantage plan in the future. ( when I checked with Mayo, they accept OriginalMedicare, but did not accept the Advantage Plan in our area-not sure if that will be the case in 2023)
Even though the Advantage plan sounded like it offered more stuff, when I compared costs for the services we need Advantage plan was more costly. Here is just 1 example.
Specialist Office copays were $60 per visit/compared to $0 with Original Medicare. Currently we meet with the specialist weekly. My husbands cancer diagnosis was a big surprise to us. We do not want any surprises when it comes to paying our medical bills.

Kaiser is the one Advantages plan that has it right. Unfortunately that is not the case for most of them. Especially if you live in a rural community. We have 2 choices for Advantage plans and many of our local Drs no longer accept the insurance.

My husband moves to Medicare in Dec and we can’t wait. I thought we had really good insurance, but we are paying so much out of pocket right now. With Original Medicare and our supplemental plan our medical expenses will actually drop.
Wishing you and your family the best as you go through this.