Medicare Part D

[gggg...@gmail.com]

All the plans have a monthly premium?

[John Weiss]

On 12/21/2018 19:58, gggg...@gmail.com wrote:
> All the plans have a monthly premium?

Dunno. What have you found in your research?

[gggg...@gmail.com]

On Friday, December 21, 2018 at 5:58:38 PM UTC-10, gggg...@gmail.com wrote:
> All the plans have a monthly premium?

After enrolling, how long does it take to kick in?

[The Real Bev]

Maybe a month. You can apply a couple of months before you hit 65. You
have to also have Medicare. I mistakenly chose the standard Blue
Cross/Shield Part D plan which was $84/month last year. Much more this
year. We don't use many prescriptions at all, so I signed up with the
cheapest Express Scripts plan ($24/month) for 2019. We should save
enough to more than make up for the increased cost of the meds.

--
Cheers, Bev
"You won't like me when I'm angry because I always back up my rage
with facts and documented sources." - The Credible Hulk

[gggg...@gmail.com]

On Friday, December 21, 2018 at 8:34:11 PM UTC-10, The Real Bev wrote:

Considering that $24/mo. = $288/yr., if the annual cost of prescriptions is less than $288, then doesn't that mean that one is better off not signing up?

[The Real Bev]

On 12/22/2018 08:33 AM, gggg...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Friday, December 21, 2018 at 8:34:11 PM UTC-10, The Real Bev wrote:
>> On 12/21/2018 08:18 PM, wrote:
>> > On Friday, December 21, 2018 at 5:58:38 PM UTC-10, gggg...@gmail.com wrote:
>> >> All the plans have a monthly premium?
>> >
>> > After enrolling, how long does it take to kick in?
>>
>> Maybe a month. You can apply a couple of months before you hit 65. You
>> have to also have Medicare. I mistakenly chose the standard Blue
>> Cross/Shield Part D plan which was $84/month last year. Much more this
>> year. We don't use many prescriptions at all, so I signed up with the
>> cheapest Express Scripts plan ($24/month) for 2019. We should save
>> enough to more than make up for the increased cost of the meds.
>

> Considering that $24/mo. = $288/yr., if the annual cost of prescriptions is less than $288, then doesn't that mean that one is better off not signing up?

If you don't sign up it costs you more later on. Besides, it's
insurance against the unknown; you never can tell when you're going to
come down with cancer or some other nasty thing and need a lot of
expensive drugs. Eliquis, the much-safer alternative to Coumadin, costs
$10/day. Probably not going to happen, but if premiums + investments
didn't earn more than payouts + expenses, insurance companies wouldn't
be in business very long.

It's a gamble. You pays yer money and makes yer choice.


--
Cheers, Bev
Guns kill people like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.

[gggg...@gmail.com]

On Saturday, December 22, 2018 at 7:51:05 AM UTC-10, The Real Bev wrote:

What about MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLANS that have no monthly premium?:

https://www.ehealthmedicareplans.com/?allid=Med41423&zip=90048#quote-plans/MA/90048/05200/LOS%20ANGELES/1/p1

[The Real Bev]

HMOs make money by NOT serving you. If I need treatment I don't need to
wait weeks to see the GP who then refers me to the specialist I can see
in a few weeks MAYBE. If I need the ER I want the GOOD one, not the one
I'm allowed to go to. If I can see that a doctor is a total turkey
(yeah, we've been nearly killed by one) I want to be able to choose
another -- the guy who went to Johns Hopkins, not the guy who went to
Joe's Law/Medical School and Taxidermy Shop.

The only decent HMO I've ever heard about is Kaiser, and my experience
with taking someone's semi-alzheimer's relative to the Kaiser ER sucked.
All the chairs in the small waiting room were taken; if the guy
didn't have his own wheelchair he would have had to depend on the
kindness of strangers. One guy came in bleeding from his leg ON THE
FLOOR and it was perhaps 10 minutes before the receptionist/nurse
actually attended to him although his companion yelled HE'S BLEEDING as
soon as they got in the door. The blood was on the floor for at least
15 minutes before somebody came and cleaned it up. While the
receptionist/nurse was actually doing medical stuff to somebody there
was nobody signing in patients.

No way would I ever choose a system like this.


--
Cheers, Bev
"The primary purpose of any government entity
is to employ the unemployable."

[Bob F]

On 12/21/2018 10:34 PM, The Real Bev wrote:
> On 12/21/2018 08:18 PM, gggg...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Friday, December 21, 2018 at 5:58:38 PM UTC-10, gggg...@gmail.com
>> wrote:
>>> All the plans have a monthly premium?
>>
>> After enrolling, how long does it take to kick in?
>
> Maybe a month.  You can apply a couple of months before you hit 65.  You
> have to also have Medicare.   I mistakenly chose the standard Blue
> Cross/Shield Part D plan which was $84/month last year.  Much more this
> year.  We don't use many prescriptions at all, so I signed up with the
> cheapest Express Scripts plan ($24/month) for 2019.  We should save
> enough to more than make up for the increased cost of the meds.
>

That $24 is twice what I'm paying for Envision. Probably location
related though.

[The Real Bev]

SoCal. Everything is more expensive here.

--
Cheers, Bev
When you wish upon a falling star your dreams can come true. Unless
it's really a meteorite hurtling to the earth which will destroy all
life. Then you're pretty much hosed no matter what you wish for.
Unless it's death by meteor. --Demotivators

[gggg...@gmail.com]

On Friday, December 21, 2018 at 5:58:38 PM UTC-10, gggg...@gmail.com wrote:

> All the plans have a monthly premium?

Thanks to all for your quick and informative replies.

Merry Christmas