This is the year I'm supposed to sign up for Medicare, TIPS?

I'm on Medicaire and it works fine. But I was with the Kaiser HMO system, so there is no hassle about various providers accepting medicaire.

I signed up for the (part B?) drug thing, for something like $50 a month, which is worth it.

I had a head crash a while back that cost something like $70K, and cost me basically nothing. An separate eye surgery cost $25.

You might contact whoever are your usual medical providers and ask them about it.

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John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 

lunatic fringe electronics

+1 on Kaiser They have everything they need in one place. They do the paperwork. Sure beats juggling multiple providers. The drug thing is part D. You also pay medicare for part B and D.

Read the fine print on what it costs. There's a SIGNIFICANT premium increase if you make any money (AGI). And that increase is calculated on a previous year. Don't remember whether it's last year or the year before that. So, If you retire at 65, your premium is based on your income before that. So even if you're not making any money this year, you might be dinged from high income in previous years.

Suggest you go visit the local office in person. They discourage it by limiting access, so you have to schedule it months in advance.

I wouldn't worry about it. Say at some stage you need a heart bypass operation or whatever, just hop on a plane to Britain and get it done for free through the wonderful NHS! Everyone in the world is welcome and we don't charge a penny! We've helped, among others, expectant Nigerian mothers with complications due to multiple births, Islamic terrorists fresh off the battlefield with gunshot wounds, Albanians needing liver transplants, illegal immigrants with hypothermia from getting capsized 2 miles off the coast; you name it, *no one* is turned away.

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I turn 65 this summer and so also have to apply for Medicare A at least.

I have insurance through work and they pay for it. I hear that insurance companies raise the rates on insurance when you turn 65.

Now, IF I keep my insurance throught work, (United Healthcare), then since my company has more than 20 employees, UHC pays first and Medicare pays second.

If this same happened and my company had less than 20 employees, then it would be the other way around. That is one thing I have learned.

IF UHC charges a buttload for insurance from now on, I may opt to get Medicare part B as well.

Not sure about the drugs part yet. I think that is part D ?

boB

Complete bullshit, of course.

Anybody that has started a course of treatment in the past few years would have personal experience that is FAKE NEWS (to emulate CD's idol).

We dropped into a small-town clinic in Ireland. The doctor said "oh, just give me ten pounds" which we figured was beer money. The drug store was expensive.

People here who can't pay just don't pay. There's some homeless druggie who runs up the equivalent of about half a million dollars a year.

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John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 
picosecond timing   precision measurement  

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com 
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

For an Rx? Sounds about right. All around W. Yurp a quick consultation with a doctor to get a prescription costs around 10euros; rarely any more than that. But the prices for the meds themselves varies *enormously* from one EU country to another if you don't have insurance.

If they ever turn him away, just tell him to come to England and score dope for free. As much as he wants.

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HMOs are fine, as long as you don't get sick. If you do, you'll be stuck with the doctors they have, rather than being able to go to the "best". It matters (a lot) in many circumstances.

I signed up for Part-A in '17 (required to) but haven't gone for the rest. Be sure you look at the supplements available in your area. There are a few different ones but every company sells from the same list. Like everything the government does, Medicare is impossibly complicated and nonsensical. There are companies out there who will help you find the right policy.

My medical care is superb. And if I don't like a doctor, I call them and they send me resumes and I pick another one. The guy who saved my retina (surgery same day, at 11 PM) has saved thousands of eyes. He works on a salary and could make megabucks on his own. He makes me tea in his office when I visit.

My GP is a wonderful Chinese lady. I picked her based on her resume.

The ACA basically made doctor-owned operations like Kaiser illegal. The insurance companies took care of that.

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John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 

lunatic fringe electronics

I'd agree if the definition of 'right policy' is the one that makes

THEM the most revenue.

nd

have

r,

This is exactly what is wrong with the current "boutique" medical system. Just like you can get the height of fashion on Rodeo Drive, but you have to be able to afford it. If you can't afford medical care and you don't have insurance (which doesn't assure you will have the money since they never c over it all) you won't get care unless it is a true emergency.

I honestly feel ashamed sometimes when I think about the way the US is run. I'm not the only person in the US who thinks universal health care is ove rdue. I'm tired of seeing the third world conditions that many in the US l ive under.

Rick C.

Part A is free, you enroll online at link below.

Part B costs most people $135.50 monthly. See the rate schedule here:

On the same page checkout Part B late enrollment penalty. The key point here is: Your monthly premium for Part B may go up 10% for each full 12-month period that you could have had Part B, but didn't sign up for it. So for each year you forgo signing up, you have a 10% increased premium for life. Sign up 5 years late, and pay 50% additional premium for life.

There is a similar, but not as severe, premium increase penalty for late enrollment in Part D, prescription drug coverage. Unlike Parts A and B, which are with the government, Part D is a Medicare approved private insurance plan.

There is a 20% deductible on Part B so most people buy a supplemental plan, covering health and prescription drugs. They have Medicare Advantage Part C for this:

The supplementals are way less than ordinary insurance because they only pay for the 20% Medicare doesn't. If your health care supplemental covers prescription drugs, then it usually satisfies your requirement to enroll in Pat D, but check to verify.

Does your employer pay deductibles and copays?

Ummm- that would be very unusual. Most private insurers consider people like you as co-insured. They only pay for what Medicare doesn't.

I should add that most Medicare Advantage Plans, Part C, either pay your Part B premium for you or refund a substantial fraction of the Part B premium.

So far. You haven't had a procedure where there are only a few top specialists in the country.

GPs are a dime a dozen.

Sure. Obamacare is an abortion all the way around (Democrats do love all sorts of abortions). The insurance companies loved it.

That would be silly.

Wrong. "boB" is exactly right. Some *companies* require you to buy part-B and some sort of supplement or advantage insurance as part of your coverage but Medicare is secondary to other insurance.

Utter bullshit, of course.

Unless you're covered by another insurance policy.