Medicare for all and military healthcare (Tricare)

[Desert grandma]

52. It is very confusing..

Last edited Sun Nov 10, 2019, 03:04 PM - Edit history (1)

I spent a lot of time researching this and making phone calls. Where we live the supplement plans are rated either 1) age attained, 2) age issued or 3) community rated. ALL 3 can increase slightly due to medical cost increases in your area. However, AGE ATTAINED will also increase every year on your birthday. AGE ISSUED remains the same cost as the age you enroll in it. COMMUNITY RATED bases its cost on the average of the entire community. My understanding is that only AARP supplement is community rated. Almost all supplementary plans are "age attained". I enrolled in an Age Issued plan at 66. In the 5 years I have had it, it has increased less than $9 a month. The dirty little secret of the medicare supplement plans is that in order to enroll in them you must go through underwriting unless you choose this path when you originally enroll in Medicare at 65. They can and do consider pre-existing conditions before letting you enroll. Many require medical records. There are ways around this. We are on TransAmerica supplemental plan. If you and/or spouse are a member of one of their "preferred groups" you only need answer 3 medical questions that most people would easily answer "no" to. The preferred groups are American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, JC Penny credit card holders, Good Sam Club (RV and Camping membership). and perhaps a few others. My friend joined the Good Sam Club at $25 annually so she could enroll in this plan without going through extensive underwriting. She was prone to DVT clots and had been hospitalized for that in the past. We are very happy with plan G. Good luck!!