hMedicare Supplemental Insurance - I'm So Confused!

I have a lot of experience with this as a Health Insurance Agent.

My advice is to NOT drop her Plan F. Please!

Plan F picks up where Medicare leaves off and it's the plan I signed my own mother up for when she turned 65.

By law, Plan F is Plan F. The benefits are all the same. The only difference is the premiums by carrier. Trust me, if you do some research, you may find a carrier that costs less and I have changed people from carrier to carrier every year during open enrollment. The benefits stay exactly the same. By law.

AARP may not be the cheapest for your mom.

I think you should visit a local broker in your area. Quotes are free. They can give you rate sheets for the different carriers. Then, you can decide on changing which COMPANY to go with, but by all means, PLEASE don't change your mom's Plan F. If you downgrade and God forbid something happens, you can't go back up.

Compare the rates. NOT the plan. Not at your mom's age.
My mom has Plan F and she has had gall bladder surgery, arterial stints, eye surgery, pre-cancerous lesions removed from her hands....
She has paid NOTHING except for her premiums for medicare and her Plan F supplement.

I know $190 seems like a lot of money. You may be able to get the same coverage cheaper. But, even if you can't, you know that your mom will be covered for unforeseen events. I, personally, wouldn't risk losing that coverage.

I would also like to say that I am not affiliated with any brokerage or agency at this time, so I won't recommend any carriers or angencies. However, I urge you to find a knowledgeable broker close to you to run the numbers for you.

I give people the same advice I'd give my own mother.
Don't change plans right now.

Best wishes.

Definitely do not drop. There are a lot of changes coming to Medicare. Your Dad is right. Just hang on. You might want to check to see if you can get something less expensive.

If Medicare does not cover something secondary does not cover it.

One time in the hospital and it will prove useful. A broken hip, a bout of pneumonia and that will eat up that premium.

My mom died a couple years ago after battling Alzheimers. I can't tell you her supplemental insurance was worthless. First of all it covers nothing her Medicare didn't cover. So she was restricted to 30 in home visits a year that were totally covered by Medicare but since Medicare only covers 30 the supplemental didn't cover any more.

If she had been normal, like in and out of the hospital it would have come in handy but even when she went into a coma they kicked her out of the hospital in under a week and sent her to hospice.

Wow I am really selling that supplemental insurance aren't I? :( I was the only who had to work with the insurance for my dad, I wouldn't have put the money out for the supplemental.

The only policy that would be useful for you is not available to you. Long term care insurance. You can't get it once you have a long term illness like dementia or Alzheimers.

Keep it, you never know what will come up with medical expenses. I believe this policy pays the 20% that Medicare does not pay. If she has big health care costs, the 20% add up very fast. You do not really want to gamble with huge dollars.

Just wanted you to know that you are not alone in the wilderness . . . my husband is an executive and I'm a trained professional, and we spent 3 straight days trying to figure out Medicare for my MIL. And we ended up just sticking with what she had (which I'm not convinced was the best option but then again how would I know?).

Good luck!