Question about Medicare, Medigap or Medicare Select

[Guest guest]

Hey guys once again I seek your advise. I have Medicare A,B & D. I

have BCBS (from risk pool insurance) as my secondary. I pay around

$500 a month for BCBS. My question is should I shop around and look

under Medigap and this Medi Select??? My father set this up for me

when I was almost dead some time ago (not even close to dead anymore)

and have just got around to looking at all of this. Is this like

shopping for the drug pard D???

Thanks for your help

lily

[Guest guest]

Lily,Every person's situation is different. Ideally, you should get counseling from the Medicare/health insurance counseling agency in your state that's listed in the back of your Medicare and You book. Or you can find it online at www.medicare.gov. I think the agencies are called SHIPs.Generally, MediGap policies aren't available (due to medical underwriting) to people who get on Medicare due to disability who are under 65, although I believe some states may have an open enrollment requriement. BCBS may also be willing to switch you to one of their MediGap plans, which would surely be more affordable and better than paying $500/month for a policy that's secondary to Medicare. You should consider some of the Medicare Advantage plans and/or Medicare HMOs. I'm not sure if Medicare Select is the same thing. They keep changing the terminology.

The Medciare and You book is a good place to start to understand the range of optionsPersonally, I dropped a policy that I was paying for secondary to Medicare when Part D started. But there were a lot of factors that went into my decision, including the quality of California's ADAP plan and my ability to enroll in my partner's employer plan at annual open enrollment. It's best to discuss all of that with someone who will ask you about your particular circumstances and who knows the range of plans in your area.

[Guest guest]

Lily,Every person's situation is different. Ideally, you should get counseling from the Medicare/health insurance counseling agency in your state that's listed in the back of your Medicare and You book. Or you can find it online at www.medicare.gov. I think the agencies are called SHIPs.Generally, MediGap policies aren't available (due to medical underwriting) to people who get on Medicare due to disability who are under 65, although I believe some states may have an open enrollment requriement. BCBS may also be willing to switch you to one of their MediGap plans, which would surely be more affordable and better than paying $500/month for a policy that's secondary to Medicare. You should consider some of the Medicare Advantage plans and/or Medicare HMOs. I'm not sure if Medicare Select is the same thing. They keep changing the terminology.

The Medciare and You book is a good place to start to understand the range of optionsPersonally, I dropped a policy that I was paying for secondary to Medicare when Part D started. But there were a lot of factors that went into my decision, including the quality of California's ADAP plan and my ability to enroll in my partner's employer plan at annual open enrollment. It's best to discuss all of that with someone who will ask you about your particular circumstances and who knows the range of plans in your area.