Turning 65 (urgh)

10/4/2014

Let me be clear, I'm not worried about turning 65, after all it's just a number.  Unfortunately, for those of us who are looking down the short path to 65, a person could go mad literally while trying to make the best decision for him/herself.  If the choices you made suck, you will have to wait until the next enrollment period in a year.  I urge you to proceed with caution regarding your options.

Medicare A and B you have to have: hospital and medical.  After that, you must choose what other optional coverage you would like - and how much you are willing to pay.  In the months preceding your 65th birthday, your mailbox will literally stagger under the weight of mailings from insurance companies wanting to be your "Medigap" carrier.  

You must decide if you want a copay, and if so, how much are you willing to shell out each time you see a doctor?  Do you take a lot of medicine, then you definitely want/need that coverage in addition to anything else you sign up for.  Jeff and I are now enrolled in different plans regarding medicine.  He routinely takes one/two pills a day.  Yours truly, takes a lot of medicine, so Jeff opted for a plan that covers all of the medicines that I take.  

Jeff opted for us to have different coverage for Medigap.  He will have a small copay when he goes to the doctor, which is seldom.  The coverage for myself will pay 100% of charges after Medicare does it's thing.

Cost also enters into coverage.  For a no copay option, your premium will be higher each month, but will even itself out if you, like me, see a doctor regularly.  Here's what I'm thankful for, correction, here's one more thing about Jeff that I'm grateful for.  He has spent hours, with a capital H, on the phone with both IBM and AARP, who is our medigap insurance carrier.  He waded through pages upon pages of policy options, trying to make sure that he elected the best coverage possible.

Since it appears that a hip replacement is in my future, if I wait until December, and if I read all the fine print correctly (and I know that might be a stretch), then it looks like I wouldn't have to pay anything for the hospital.  

For those of you who have yet to experience a near 65th birthday, brace yourself.  I tried reading some of the material that came to the house, but my eyes crossed!  Thank you Jeff for taking on yet another project on my behalf.

P