Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage.

[Ms. Toad]

52. That's roughly what I"m paying.

On top of that, I've paid $233 for medical/hospital care (the anual deductible).

I've been hospitalized twice, had follow-up care for 2 cancers, two or three MRIs, a couple of X-rays, a HIDA scan (nuclear medicine test), 2 CT scans, an ultrasound, an ambulance ride, 2 ER visits (both resulting in hospitlaizations), costly blood tests, and my routine care. The total cost for that has been the $233 deductible. My father's plan is the same, except he has to pay $20 per doctor's visit. My mother's plan is more expensive, but includes paying for the deductible - so her costs are just the monthly premiums (her plan is not availalbe unless you are ~68).

I chose not to purchase AARP's Wellness plans which include dental/vision/hearing/silver sneakers. Those plans cost a bit more per month ($5 - $30/month with a slightly different pricing structure.) When we looked at it, the lifetime costs were enough higher that we rejected that option. But if you are looking for the more comprehensive and flexible coverage of a supplement plan and still want some of the "freebies" which MA often throws in, I'd go that route rather than a MA plan.

I also have a Part D (drug) plan. That is a separate part of Medicare. Some MA plans include drug coverage, some don't. When drug coverage is included in a Medicare Advantage plan, the coverage is subject to the Medicare rules (so you still get the donut hole, and after you emerge from the donut hole, coverage is at 95% - with no cap on your expenses for the rest of the year).

If I had decided to go with a MA plan, I probably would have chosen one without Part D bundled in. The formularies in Part D plans vary tremendously from year to year. Your costs for a particular medicine one year might be $108 the year you choose the plan, and jump to $1407 the next year (the actual difference we found for a single drug when shopping plans). Insurance companies count on you not shopping plans. If you buy drug coverage separately you can keep the MA plan you like (they tend to be more stable) and just switch your drug insurance plan for the best drug pricing. (Not recommending a MA plan - they keep the worst of how insurance plans operate, and are so heavily marketed people don't recognize until too late what they are giving up.)

Here's info on the donut hole, if you haven't encountered it before:

https://www.medicare.gov/drug-coverage-part-d/costs-for-medicare-drug-coverage/costs-in-the-coverage-gap

My drug plan costs $12.90/month; my spouse's costs $7.10, so you can get a Part D plan relatively cheaply. We shop drugs and buy less than half through our plans. The rest we buy through Costco mailorder - which is significantly cheaper for many drugs. My anticipated total out-of-pocket drug costs for this year (including premiums) is $342.46, plus any new medications my doctor adds (which I couldn't predict at the time I priced things out)

Great job starting early! I hadn't planned on retiring until I hit 72 - so I hadn't even started exploring Medicare when I was unexpectedly retired in October, and had 2 months to research and make a lifetime decision. (Once you choose original Medicare, you are generally stuck with the carrier and Plan you choose for the rest of your life. The rules on switching plans (they don't have to issue you a plan; they can charge what they feel like) apply to changing companies, and sometimes to changing plans. on the AARP Wellness plans, you can switch to less comprehensive coverage but not to more comprehensive coverage for example. If you want more coverage, they price it based on your health at the time of the switch.

That was quite a crash course - I spent about 200 hours researching to sort all of this out and then choose a plan.