Keep Employer Coverage or Enroll in Part B and/or Advantage Plan

[f635200b]

I turned 65 in August and I signed up for Medicare Part A and have my card. I'm still working and plan to keep working a few more years, so I still have my employer health coverage. But now we'll be doing open enrollment soon and will likely have a premium increase again and I want to know if there is an advantage to cancelling my employer coverage and simply buying a medicare plan that would cover basically the same thing, and wonder if I could possibly save money doing so. 

[somarco]

@f635200b that is a good question, and one that is fairly common.

There are no "pat" answers. What is good for you may not be for another.

In evaluating which way to go, continue employer coverage or switch to "full" Medicare coverage consider the following.

• Monthly group health insurance premium
• Medicare premiums including Part B, Medigap, Part D and Medicare Advantage
• Your MAXIMUM OOP (out of pocket) exposure for a large claim
• Consider how your max OOP could be impacted by out of network (non-par) claims
• Also look at access to care. Managed care plans have networks, original Medicare does not have these impediments.
• Non-par group health providers may balance bill the difference in what your plan pays vs their bill.
• Some specialty hospitals such as Mayo, Sloan-Kettering, Cleveland Clinic, etc may not accept a Medicare Advantage plan but they DO take original Medicare

Often "healthy" people fail to consider how quickly their health can change. Just because you have not experienced a major claim in the past does not mean you can discount that possibility going forward.

[cw4461920]

Hi - I could use some help with this as well, but I cannot send you a private message.

Have some calls out, but in case anyone here can help
1. HSA - everything says 'penalties' but can I just claim extra income at the end of the year and simply pay tax on HSA contributions I made before switching to medicare from company plan?

2. Is getting medicare considered a 'special event' for purpose of dropping my company health plan?

3. Retroactive by 6 months - means this bill I just got for $850 could be covered?

4. Medicare Advantage vs regular - hi-level pros/cons

Any help appreciated, company plan is terrible and as you said health can change. Never went to doctors and kinda believe going to doc causes more going to doc, lol. But it seems to be happening...

[GlennS645692]

@somarco

New to this forum. Turning 65 in April 2021. Started getting info on Medicare, and I'm quickly finding out I'm out of my realm of expertise. I see you have impeccable credentials with Insurance needs especially Medicare. So where do I start? May I respectfully pick your brain and ask for some serious advice?

[somarco]

@GlennS645692 thanks for the compliments. PM me if you want

[GlennS645692]

@somarco would love to...is there a trick turning on PM? Preference?

[GailL1]

GlennS645692 

To PM somarco, just click on his name and it will take you to his profile page.  On the right side of the page, there is a section called QUICK LINKS - right under the heading, there is a selection for Send Private Message.

For you,  If there is a little envelop at the top of this page - you have PM turned on - here is a screen shot  🔽

IF the little envelop is not there:

go to your "MY SETTINGS" (top of this page has the link to your selection as long as you are signed in).

Then go to PREFERENCES

Then in the Preferences Options, go across to Private Messenger and just make sure the PM is turned on.

[GlennS645692]

@GailL1 

Thanks for all your help. I took a screenshot of MY SETTING (I am signed in); PREFERENCES. I don't see the PM on switch as you indicated. Am I doing this correctly? Here is a screenshot of what I see:

[GailL1]

WOW -

Yours looks completely different than mine (screen shot below).  Although you are seemingly signed in, I tried to send you a PM and it did not take because it said your PM is not turned on. 

Do you see your little envelop at the top?  I see it when I am looking at your profile.  See this screen shot:

Little envelop here ⤵️

Try clicking on the little envelop to see what it says or if it opens it up to you.

However, this whole forum is going thru some rather drastic tech changes and I do not know what else to tell you.

If you need more info, I am gonna refer you to the tech board to ask about what is going on there with your Profile and PM.  Just make a New Post - you are probably not the only one this is happening to -

https://community.aarp.org/t5/About-Our-Community/bd-p/AboutOurCommunity 

This is what MY PROFILE - Perference Options looks like - yours just leaves out the Private Messenger altogether.

[GlennS645692]

@GailL1

Nope, I don't see envelope icon on my screen. When I click on the quick links (My Private Messages) I get: "Access Denied: You do not have sufficient privileges for this resource or its parent to perform this action. Click your browser's Back button to continue". Could it be that I'm on a iMAC platform or do I need to be vetted before they grant me access/privileges? 

[GailL1]

no you do not need access/privileges - you seem to be registered because you are posting.

Yes, the iMAC platform may have something technical to do with it -

Go ahead and post what is happening on the "About Our Community" forum and see if one of those tech geeks can direct you.

So sorry this has happened - these tech changes are never easy and as I get older they are even tougher.