Originally Posted by
Earl McLain
Some Advantage plans are probably very misleading, but there are good ones. When my wife became Medicare eligible due to disability last November at age 60, our choices were Supplement A (at a crazy premium) or one of the available Advantage plans. We opted for UHC's Advantage at $24/month--and the service and benefits have been exceptional, and she has access to UHC's national network which is very broad. When she turns 65 we'll have the door open to move back to traditional Medicare and supplement, one of the few cases one can go back to Medicare after opting for an Advantage plan. In the meantime...we'll use this as an opportunity to experiment in the Part C world, and my prejudices against Advantage plans will soften.
All that said--wisely choose what fits best for you and your own situation.
No question it can get complicated. I believe, and I may be wrong about this, so be careful - Once you reach 65, if you choose an Advantage plan and later decide to go off it onto regular Medicare Parts A and B, you can no longer get a supplement plan to pay the remaining 20%. You become ineligible. You can get a Part D for prescription meds, but not a supplement plan. That was the case for my wife. So for her, the Medicare Advantage plan that first year became a long-term mistake.
Oh, and I use a call screening app I pay for that eliminates many of those calls, but some still ring that I have to ignore. You can then report these calls to that service. Hopefully they then block those calls.
I always look at the caller ID. I've gotten a call that said Mexico this week, and one that said China. Yeah, right. Good luck answering those. Years ago, I used to answer those calls and sound real interested for a few minutes. Then I would say, "Oh, hang on. Someone's at the door." Then I would put them on hold and never come back. It was sometimes amazing how long they would sometimes stay on hold. So I was wasting their time. One guy actually called back, and I did the same thing again a few minutes later. Amazing. But I stopped doing that a while ago. Worried that I would get on a list to prompt more calls.
Last edited by Alan Lightstone; 02-07-2024 at 8:35 AM.
- After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
- It's above my pay grade. Mongo only pawn in game of life.