Health Costs After 65: Ouch, Even With Medicare

WHY NOT A CHOICE??

I just turned 65 and finding an honest answer to supplemental insurance and its cost is near to impossible. I am still working and have asked over and over why, if a person wants to pay for their own medical coverage--NOT MEDICARE---why is this not possible? I am being told everywhere I must take Medicare and then can make my choice on supplemental coverages. I have read everything about them all. I do not want MEDICARE--what options do I have???

Roaring toward 65

I am beginning to believe that the best thing to do as I near 65 is hope for a shorter life!!! This is so depressing. We are in the level that would make more and hoped to leave more to our children. Instead it seems it will be depleted. A carefree retirement? Forget it in America. As more seniors have to hold onto their jobs, it means less opportunities for the young. I feel sorry for everyone, at every age. The greed - and I mean greed - of the super rich has killed the American dream.

why are the insurance company not wanting to cover people over the age of 65 with medicare

I am 67 am i have medicare with a humana advantage plan its ok. but you have to stay in network with doctors, and don't let them fool you and tell you different. I pay rhe out of pocket expenses for a doctor i have been with since before medicare and humana. I am looking for a supplemental insurance that will cover me after medicare everyone i talk to tells me it is impossible. Ant suggestion will be helpful.

Misinformation and not the answer

I have been in the position before there was any mental health coverage and we paid about $400,000 for my care. This came totally out of our pocket. I have not been able to work full time sense and my medications are about $3000 every quarter. Yes we have put away money, but the current market has cut that amount in half. My husband works for a company with 20 or fewer workers so again we will be paying while people in larger businesses get better coverage. We are about seven years away from retirement and are saving as much as we can. My family and my husbands family have longevity so we are going to run out of money for my health care cost. So all of you people who think it is easy for people just remember my story. We had a senior citizen in her 80's who was sold one of the plans that replaced medicare A and B and her supplement, and it was a total disaster because she could not go where she wanted and have her same doctor. When she bought the plan she thought she was just buying coverage for perscriptions so the person who sold her the plan lied to her. This happen to another senior who needed surgery and the plan did not want to pay the specialist who was the only one in the area who could do the surgery it took a month to get it approved. All the time the cancer was growing in him so please be careful.

Broken System, Broke System

I work in the healthcare industry, and I understand business well enough to say that any system that does not force users to pay services will eventually be bankrupt. My heart goes out to the elderly who have worked all their lives, and have contributed to the tax base. Unfortunately, with people living longer after retirement, medical costs for MDC recipients will continue to escalate. People receiving Medicaid benefits must pay more than their $2 co-pays. Here in Illinois we get all sorts of public aid recipients with their $75 sports jerseys and cell phones expressing disbelief that we actually want our $2 co-pay from them. They get free meds, free surgery, free office visits. If you do not pay anything for your care, there is no incentive to save, or even think twice about whether you are making positive life choices that may keep your healthcare costs down. I know my solutions may be unpopular, but as long as there are consumers with no "skin in the game" so to speak, we will have a broken system, and a system that is broke. And no Mr. Obama, having a paperless recordkeeping system will not fund the healthcare industry.

How about addressing the no insurance now

Let us see what is going to happen to all the people working for the airline industry as one company falls after another!!! Worry about heath insurance for the 25 to 55 year olds and their families.

Greater Drug Savings Abroad

For the past few years, I've found the best way to save on my prescription drugs is by ordering from licensed foreign pharmacies. And my doctor agrees. I'm saving 60 to 80 percent off U.S. costs at foreign pharmacies including International Drug Mart and Isrameds. I doubt I'll ever buy prescription meds from a U.S. pharmacy again.

Poor research and misinformaton to frighten and manipulate the elderly

This article does not account for two developments designed to limit medical costs for Seniors. Those changes are Part D of Medicare and the Medicare Advantage Plans offered by private insurance companies. Part D provides a cap to drug costs so when the cap's theshold is reached, the consumer pays a small fraction of the cost of their medications. The cost of enrolling in Part D is minimal usually in the area of $20 to $30 per month and the plan is available throughout all the states. Medicare Advantage is a tremendous boon to the senior population in that it too limits the expenditures for medical services on a yearly basis. Depending on the plan, the out-of-pocket costs per year can vary from $1k to $5k. This is significant in the event a person has a serious illness as it saves them from runaway medical costs. Enrollment in these plans maybe desirous as many offer a ZERO premium (yes a ZERO premium) so as not to stress those on limited budgets. I would advise those aging into Medicare to visit their website www.medicare.gov and research the benefits of these two plans. When structured in place these programs give peace of mind to older citizens since the process of aging is one of ever increasing fraility.

HSAand Medicare.

Once you reach 65 you are not allowed to contribute to an HSA and also enjoy Medicare. HSA's have not been around long enough for those of us on the cusp of 65 to have accumulated a great amount of money. My HSA Golden Rule are enticeing me to stay, without luck. they say if I take out medicare part A and B I only have to pay 1,441.50 per quarter. I now pay about $500.00 per month plus a $3000 deductable.

Bird-brained, she says?

We should all be saving all we can. Of course. But the reality is that most Americans do not have this kind of money and they will not have it no matter what they do. What they DO HAVE is voting power to enact health care policy that does not allow med-care and insurance corporations to vacuum up every cent from all families excepting those that already have multiple millions of dollars.

If the above-stated dollar predictions are true in the status quo, then I can assure you that universal care WILL be enacted in America. The only question is whether that is done sooner by a middle class while we still have one, or whether it is done later by a lower class that then includes most of the citizens.