OT Medicare Part B Federal Retirees HELP

Decisions decisions,,,,,Okay I have federal civil service retirees Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Insurance, had it for years, pays well (NOT all of course) and now I am eligible for FREE part A Medicare which I will enroll in HOWEVER PART B RAISES THE DILEMNA (to take or not to take) right now its $99 per month but will raise under Socialized medicine Government run O Bama Care Im confident (guess a body could always drop it later) butttttttt it in combination with my current Blue Cross (it would then become the supplemental) would pay like 100% of most care I might need in the immediate future. I can take part B later but then they tack on a 10% penalty grrrrrrr

I cant decide to take part B or not ($99 now but will raise) since I already have good Anthem Blue Cros Blue Shield. I already looked at the web sites and called the assistince folks but they say they cant make the decision or help with it really

Any federal retirees out there who have Blue Cross Blue Shield already and made the decision to take part B or not????????????

I guess the decision is to study all the benefit plan I have with and without Part B and see if its worth the extar $99, I sort of did that already but it gets too long winded and complicated to figure if its worth it or not grrrrrr

A gettin older every day John T

John T The way I understand it. You pay the 100.00 a month and hope you can find a plan that is free and covers where you live. For me that would mean 100.00 to Medicare and 350.00 a month for a plan. That covers my county.Very few plans cover the county I am in.

I could be wrong.

For got to add. I don't have Part B. Can't afford it.

John T

take a look at your current policy and see what the benefits are after Medicare eligibilty. I can't remember specifics as I've been out of the insurance sales for a few years but normally plans will decrease benefits. This should be in your plan outline under- Medicare Eligibility-.

Another stop is the Social Security office, they should be able to tell you what your rights are if you decide to keep what you have. I hope this little bit of info helps as laws and regs have changed in the last few years.

Good luck

Ken

My mom has the retired Blue Cross & Blue Shield and part A&B maybe because she has been for 30 years but she has no out of pocket expences at all well worth the small amout she has to pay out of her retirement.

I also am retired Federal Emp with BCBS. Take the part "B". You will not need the sup part "D" because the BCBS is equal to it according to BCBS and the Feds. Yes it will be going up. Do not believe the scare e-mails on the hugh jump. Check out the increase on one of the true/false webs. Also my wife did not take the "B" and BCBS told us they are required to pay the part "B" authorized $$ for the procedure.

Gene

I have A and B with no supplemental. My part of the left over I have to pay would no way be what my supplemental would be if I had it. Only in a major expense, and I do mean major, would I be out more than the supplemental. YMMV

JOHN,
I have been retired Fed. worker for 11 years, also have Fed BC&BS. Since retirement, I have had bypass surgery and wife has had both knees total replacement. I paid $0 for these proceedures. I have $0 co-pay for Doctor visits and most of our prescriptions are either $0 co-pay or a dollar or two. Believe me , Medicare coupled with Fed BC&BS is the Cadillac of medical insurance!! Don't believe the scare propaganda going around about health care!

look at medicare advantage programs. I had to learn about them quickly when i became disabled.
they have worked well for me and the price has been real affordable.

Hello John T,
Go to the Social Security Office, take a # and sit and wait for your turn.
Have all your info ready, they will get you the right plan for your particular case.
Guido

Its a lot easier for us poor suckers who always worked for ourselves, just paid taxes and supported you guys, and don't have any guvment bennies. Baseline is zero, pretty easy to go from there.

As you're fond of saying, Grrrrr. . .

I am not a fed retiree,but you cant afford not to have medicare b.i spent 3 days in the hosp.because of a dumba$$ doctor.the hosp. wanted $43,000 medicare okayed 8300 and my bcbs paid 500. nothing out of my pocket

You can't afford not to have it.

I agree with Larry, can't afford not to have it. One trip to the hospital will break the average person. Think about taking chemo treatments at $10000a pop. Wouldn't take long for what Blue Cross won't pay to be a huge bill.
I'm a federal retiree and I enrolled. Being 100% covered provides a great peace of mind.

For those who "Can't afford to have part B"
How could you afford not to?
November 2011, I went to emergency with Chest
pain, I've had previous heart attacks, so I knew
what was happening. Cost to fix a "Partial Blockage", and 4 days in hospital was $120,000,
100% covered by Medicare, Part B, and medicare
supplament plan. Who would pay your percentage if
you're "Not Covered" ?
Can you declare bankruptcy on hospital bills?
and thus "Weasel out" of them?

When I became eligible for Medicare, the FEP BCBS automatically became a supplemental plan. I found it very worth while to have part B since it pays the lion's share of medical expenses and BCBS pays all my co-pays. Plus the prescription coverage helps greatly. If I did not subscribe to part B, BCBS would only pay the calculated co-pay amount. So I cannot afford to skip part B coverage.

Since I am entitled to a small social security payment, I had part B premium taken out of it because the part B premium increase will not exceed the social security COLA. The net social security payment will not decrease. Consequently, my wife's part B premium exceeds mine.

I don't anticipate making any changes under external_linkcare unless legislation forces it. Off and on, I have been a member of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees. I have been guided by the annual article in the NARFE magazine where the experts recommend what is best for federal annuitants.