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Heart & Blood Health | Last Active: Sep 3 9:58pm | Replies (41)
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Replies to "Agreed. I had advice from a friend in California who insisted i need medicare advantage because..."
I am not knowledgeable about OTC benefits in your insurance. Medicare has an online tool to compare plans and people do well to check it every year. The differences in cost can be shocking.
I chose Traditional Medicare with a Medigap policy that I could take with me when I moved. I never see a bill from them. I then picked a low-cost Part D drug plan.
I have freedom to go whenever I want to any doctor that takes Medicare even out of State. Some 14 months ago I had an abnormal chest x-ray in Urgent Care. I went to local Pulmonologist skipping my primary care doctor and got immediate CT scan and PET scan, no waiting for approval, and then I self-referred to Mayo Clinic. I went from abnormal x-ray to lung cancer surgery in 7 weeks with Thanksgiving and Christmas in-between. That must be a record. Three months later I self-referred for a Consult and then an immediate cardiac stent at Mayo (I knew I had a blockage).
While Medicare Advantage plans are cheaper and include dental and vision benefits, one gives up choice of doctor and must obtain referrals from assigned primary care doctor thereby losing time. The Advantage plan's doctors can lack expertise in one's area of illness. My local Pulmonologist - even though not a small outfit - did not offer video assisted thoracic surgery and would have offered me more painful option. Advertising on TV does not explain all that.
Consumer Reports recently had an article with conclusion that Advantage Plans work for people with no serious health concerns who do not see a doctor often.