2013 Medicare Part B premium announced

[Black Bart]

Send this to the bank

To Whom It May Concern:

This is to advise that the individual about whom you inquire, identified as JohnH, appears to be (judging from his TMI posts), but may not be, a self-employed tax preparer. He may or may not own his own business, pay his taxes in a timely manner, and/or beat his wife. While I am willing to stipulate that Mr. H indeed possesses a refreshing sense of humor, I herewith disavow any knowledge (from the dawn of time until the twelfth of never) of his financial condition. You may need to watch him closely; and with that caveat I wish you...good luck.

P.S. I think banks should take their own financial risks rather than handing them off to uninsured dopes.

[JohnH]

Looks like you pretty well covered the facts regarding my trusworthiness & financial condition (or lack thereof). I may print this off just in case the insurance company asks for character references - I'm pretty sure nobody's going to say anything more positive. And it may do double duty when I go apply for a refinance.

[John of PA]

JohnH, the increase to 240 per month medicare withheld from Soc Sec is not a hoax, thats the scheduled increase effective for 2014. Yes thats around doulbe the 2013 rate.

[JohnH]

John: Can you cite a relliable source for your figures? (spam emails don't count). I don't find anything official on the Medicare web site beyond 2013. Not saying your figure is bogus, but if Medicare doesn't know what the premium will be, then I'm trying to figure out how someone else would know.

http://www.medicare.gov/your-medicare-costs/part-b-costs/part-b-costs.html

[FEDUKE404]

I don't THINK so . . . . .

JohnH, the increase to 240 per month medicare withheld from Soc Sec is not a hoax, thats the scheduled increase effective for 2014. Yes thats around doulbe the 2013 rate.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/medicare.asp

Well, if you believe everything on the internet.....perhaps??

FE

[Lion]

Having turned 65 in September, I can tell you the best way to stop worrying is to turn the decision/research over to your spouse! I dumped it on my retired (but younger) husband the ex-school teacher with a state pension and medical coverage. Turns out the state coverage for me as spouse but now Medicare-covered still worked out best to have dental, vision, prescription (no D required), and "gap" insurance here in CT. It's a pain having different plans than my husband, but we do go to the same administrator with questions. Don't worry too much as you can always change plans this time next year.

[JohnH]

Thanks Lion. I'm leaning toward staying with the state plan. I'm just trying to figure out how to get my wife to stop asking "You mean when you turn 65 they aren't going to stop taking YOUR insurance premium out of MY check?"

[Lion]

At least he couldn't ask me that, as he's the retired one with a state check but medical insurance from his local school district. But, we have to write a monthly check to them for me (his is free). Now we have it direct debit quarterly. I think you have to buy her nice gifts to make up for YOUR deductions from HER checks!

[JohnH]

Darn!
Basically the same thing she said to me.
I already give her the remote on any day that begins with an "M".

[FEDUKE404]

Premiums on another person's policy

.. I'm leaning toward staying with the state plan. I'm just trying to figure out how to get my wife to stop asking "You mean when you turn 65 they aren't going to stop taking YOUR insurance premium out of MY check?"

If you "stay with the state plan" (under your wife's coverage) they will continue to take out your reduced premiums, since you as a "dependent" (their definition) on her policy will now be covered by Medicare as primary. That is at least a positive, of course you will need to start paying Medicare B their (fill in the amount so as not to rile up anyone here ) monthly premiums, in the range of ~$1200/year. You will soon note, however, that once things have settled down, the SHP will rarely pay anything (except prescription drug benefits) since their starting point will always be the Medicare unpaid. Let's say you go to Dr. Specialist, Medicare pays all but $65 of the $275 bill...the state will pay zero because of the $70 flat fee for any specialist visit.

I am having to move my wife off of my SHP coverage. Within the last year, although I paid ~$540/month for her coverage, other than meds the SHP paid out ~$140 total. Even a bad accountant can see that is not a path to glory. (It made some sense to continue the policy when my formerly college age dependents were also on the same policy.)

The flip side of the equation is that for MY SHP coverage, when Medicare arrives the SHP will also pay minimal except for meds. But since my own (retiree) coverage is basically "free," then that is still a positive. What I will consider is going from the 80/20 plan to the cheaper 70/30 plan, once I run the numbers on my personal meds and see how those co-pays fall out.

BOTTOM LINE: If you are not the policy owner (employee/retiree) on a SHP policy, other than the prescription meds benefit (which can be bought separately elsewhere far cheaper) it makes little financial sense to continue such coverage once Medicare becomes primary. If you ARE the policy owner, then you likely do not need a Med D plan and the miniscule non-med payments by the secondary SHP are of no great consequence since you are essentially getting the coverage for free. One little kicker is that Medicare has a lot of "do not pays" for HOSPITAL issues, and in such scenarios the SHP would likely ease that problem for you by reimbursing for some of those. Eveyone's situation differs . . . .

Good luck on your quest!

FE

[Lion]

My Medicare is about $99/month. My secondary insurance through my husband's CT Teachers Retirement Board covers dental, vision, prescriptions, and "medigap" for about $180/month.

The only downside was turning 65 in September after already meeting all my deductibles and then starting on new insurance with new deductibles for these four months with a new calendar year starting 1 January for all my insurances. A definite pain with two sets of deductibles during 2012, but I renewed every prescription I could before September and had every doctor visit I could schedule before then also. My eight "maintenance" prescriptions for the last three months of 2012 cost me $181, so not too bad for my out-of-pocket.

[FEDUKE404]

clarification

My Medicare is about $99/month. My secondary insurance through my husband's CT Teachers Retirement Board covers dental, vision, prescriptions, and "medigap" for about $180/month.

The only downside was turning 65 in September after already meeting all my deductibles and then starting on new insurance with new deductibles for these four months with a new calendar year starting 1 January for all my insurances. A definite pain with two sets of deductibles during 2012, but I renewed every prescription I could before September and had every doctor visit I could schedule before then also. My eight "maintenance" prescriptions for the last three months of 2012 cost me $181, so not too bad for my out-of-pocket.

There is a distinct difference between "secondary" insurance and "Medigap" insurance.

That is the point I was trying to make to JohnH.

FE

[JohnH]

FE:

That was very good information.
Thanks for taking the time to give that lengthy explanation.
You've really helped me to begin getting a handle on this issue.

I'm beginning to agree with the quote (often attributed to Einstein) concerning taxes, and thinking that it applies to insurance as well -> "This is a job for philosophers, not mathmeticians."

[Lion]

I guess I don't know which I have. It picks up after Medicare pays without me doing any paperwork. And it covers dental, vision, and prescriptions that are not paid by Medicare. It did not require me to buy Medicare D. Is that "secondary" or is that "medigap"? (I had the option of purchasing only dental, only vision, only prescriptions, only paying for what Medicare does not, or any combination of those. I chose the whole package of services.)

[John of PA]

Sorry, I stand corrected, the 2014 Medicare Premium amount is not announced yet and the double rate was simply a projection by some over zealous pre-election Email chains.