Under 65, on disability, medicare has kicked in...

[hutchibk]

and I did a bit of research looking for a medicare supplement. I think each state has different requirements for ins. companies, but in Texas, they are only required to offer Plan A supplements if you are under 65. So that is all that most of them do. Many ins co's don't want the under 65 supplement business, so they overprice their plans to discourage us. My ins co wanted $700 a month for a Plan A supplement. Yikes. I knew they didn't want the business, so I had to look elsewhere. I eventually found a company that had a Plan A for $160 a month. Yippee. Then, I found the website of a company of ins brokers (called Medigap360 - who I think may only be licensed for Texas) who help find supplements. They carry many different ones. They ended up helping me find a company called Sierra Health that offers an under 65 Plan F supplement in Texas... WOW. And it is only about $150 a month. If any of you have found yourself in the same situation... look up Sierra and see if they are still offering the product. I just got my policy in the mail and plan to take it to my social worker at the clinic this week to have her help me go over it just to be sure that it is what it says it is. Looks like I will be able to cancel my traditional ins. on Oct. 1, and start using Medicare, my Plan F supplement, and my new Rx plan... I am a bit leery of the change-over, but I hope it goes smoothly.

[tousled1]

Brenda,

I went on disabilty retirement and in March of this year I had to go on Medicare. I got Part A and B. I did not have to take the Part D for prescription drug plan as my traditional health insurance is a better plan. I did not take out any supplemental plan. I'm fortunate that the health care insurance I had from my employer (United Health Care) just became my secondary insurance and they usually pick up the 20% that Medicare does not pay. Can't you just keep your traditional health insurance since it would automatically become your secondary? Or is it too expensive to keep.

[hutchibk]

Believe me, I loved my ins for the most part and I considered just keeping it forever and blowing off Medicare all together...but it is too expensive to keep as a secondary with Medicare ($380 mo) and the prescription benefit of my ins is not a better plan than Part D... it maxes out each year at $1500 (a bit of a quagmire being on Tykerb/Xeloda). I couldn't take the chance that: 1. I would lose the chance to get a supplement (which happens at 90 days I think) if my ins. turned out not to be the best solution, 2. my primary ins premium would keep going up up up every year, getting really expensive as a secondary, and 3. being in the T/X access programs through Roche and GSK might have become a confusing jeopardized quagmire with me on Medicare without an RX plan... So, I chose Medicare ($90 mo) a Plan F supplement ($150 mo) and a 'Cadillac' of an RX plan ($60 mo). I sweated over all of this for about 4 months before I settled in on the best solution. I talked to alot of folks who approached it many different ways, and this was the most logical solution.

[Mary Anne in TX]

this information is so helpful. I have worried what would happen if I couldn't work and pay the bills!!!! It takes some pressure off to know that there are some solutions. Thank you Brenda and Kate for sharing the information. mary anne