Re: ? for Texans

[Guest guest]

Kathy

Are you on medicare for disability or retirement? It makes a big

difference in Texas.

First, let me address the state of Medicare Advantage Plans in Texas.

Horrid. They have nearly all switched to PFFS Plans (Pay Fee For

Service) which means no contracts with doctors and virtually no doctors

will accept them. For the few HMO or PPO's left, I did not find a single

one of my doctors or hospitals that would accept them. Now, this is

Texas only as its much different in other states. It's unfortunate the

state of Advantage Plans in Texas as they could save one considerable

money.

Second, as to supplements if you are of retirement age. A medicare

supplement is simply a matter of price as they all provide the same

service. AARP is quite popular but because of the label. You can go to

medicare.gov and look up prices for each plan and decide from there.

Aetna, BCBS, and others are very popular. Various companies do have

different pricing methods. One nice thing about AARP is its pricing is

Community Based so the rate is not dependent on your age. Some others

are based on age when signing up or age currently.

Third, as to supplements if you are disabled. The insurers are only

required to offer Plan A, which covers the least but is least expensive.

Now most companies don't even want to sell that to those of us disabled

so they use age based pricing and have huge penalties for being under

65. So those of us disabled might even pay double what retired would

pay. Again, AARP is community based. When I got it quoted for this year

it was $199 per month. Now, amazingly there was at that time one company

and one company only offering Plans A, B, C, D, and F. That is Sierra

Health and Life out of Las Vegas, Nevada. (Note they don't sell

direct...more on that). For my age at the start of the year (will be

different for you) their rates were $137 for Plan A, $170 for Plan B,

$195 for Plan C, $172 for Plan D and $196 for Plan F. I have had no

issues with them. Now I purchased mine through medigap360.com and dealt

with Abernethy there. She was extremely helpful and knowledgeable

and knew the issues on disabled coverage. They sell plans for many

companies, although not the majors like AARP, BCBS, Aetna, etc.. But I

definitely recommend talking to her.

>

> I need info on insurance. I live in Indiana and am trying to move to

> Houston. I have medicare a & b, plus medicaid. I will lose the medicaid

> when I move, so what supplement would you recomend for

there?Appreciate

> any info you can share.

> KathyS/dx/10/04

>