Any other soon-to-be 65ers who are stressing about what Medicare plan to buy?

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16. I Went Through This Same Process Just Last Year As I Was Turning 65......

as I wanted to make sure I understood all my options I paid a consultant $200 to help me through the process. It was the best $200 I've ever spent.

He urged me to stay away from Advantage Plans - because he said the pressure on the insurance companies from ACA will cause them to raise premiums and lower coverage in their Advantage Plans for Medicare aged people.

He advised me to enroll in Medicare - Parts A & B, Purchase a supplemental plan that covers the remaining 20% not covered by Medicare. And purchase a Part D drug plan. As I am only on two drug products now for hypertension and cholesterol - which are generic medications and not too costly - I chose the cheapest Part D plan from a premium perspective.

My supplemental plan is with Humana. It is a Plan F - which is the most extensive supplemental plan out there from a coverage perspective. Note all Supplemental Plan F's are the same from every insurance company. They basically differ only from a premium perspective. I did a lot of due diligence and called up most every insurance company and asked them a series of the same questions. I did this because I wanted to assess their ability to serve me as a customer.

Some of the companies phone representatives weren't very helpful in answering my questions and clearly saw me as a bother. Others - in particular - Humana - was extremely helpful and offered even additional information which ultimately helped me make my decision to go with Humana.

My hypothesis was if a company wasn't able to provide me with good customer service when I was making a purchase decision in choosing a plan - they might not be too helpful or be able to provide me with good customer service after I was a customer of theirs and needed their assistance in any future claims. I made the decision to maybe pay a little higher premium for better customer service.

Note that the Humana Customer Service Representative pointed me to a Plan F Supplemental that they offered that had a bit of an increased premium - but it actually offered a Vision and Dental component. That is the plan I went with. [Note: Before I called each insurance company I visited their websites; reviewed their plans and also visited the medicare.gov website. I encourage you to do the same - as premiums vary from state to state and zipcode to zipcode)

You see I am self employed and was expected to pay (with the latest premium increase at that time if I didn't reach 65 and enroll in Medicare) $3733.00 every two months - just for myself. Note this was through Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Which since I chose them back in 1997 - raised my premiums like clockwork every year. This would have cost me $22,398/year this year.

Enrolling in Medicare with the Plan F supplemental with Humana with Vision/Dental and my Part D - costs me now around $400.00 per month or $4800/per year - which as you can see is a considerable savings over what I would have paid if I didn't turn 65.

So I urge you to do your own due diligence and make your decisions based on what you can afford, your current health status and think about the customer service aspect as well.

I know that some people will say they don't have a supplemental plan. Caution here - if you are relatively healthy - maybe now you don't need a supplemental. The problem is that rainy day - if you wind up with some problems and you don't have a supplemental - you'll wind up having to pay that extra 20% out of your pocket. I looked at it from this perspective - this is insurance. As such I'm willing to pay up front now and not take the risk. If you ultimately have to get a supplemental plan if you develop other health problems - you will have difficulty being able to get a plan then and if you are able to get a plan - the premiums will be excessive.

Another tip for you is to check out the Social Security & Medicare forum here on DU under the Health topic. I think I asked a similar question back when I was going through this process I described above.

It seems like you have enough time to make your decisions. Take your time. Do your due diligence. Take good notes. Develop your own series of questions. Check out the websites of the insurance companies that provide coverage in your area. Visit medicare.gov. Call the companies - ask questions. Think about customer service. Then make an informed decision.

It appears that you are approaching this the right way - just by your asking the question in your Original Post.

Good Luck!!!!!!