medicare question from senior lady?

If you can't afford any supplemental insurance that is fine, just make payments arrangement or ask for charity help. I have done this myself for my husband who didn't have insurance at all and had a emergency rapture appendix surgery. He was in the hospital for a whole week and we gotten charity help.

Part D is for prescriptions, if you do not use a lot of meds then drop it and only buy generic brands that cost only 4 bucks a month for one kind, or 10 bucks for 3 months for one kind. You don't have to have Part D.

But if you take a lot of meds it is best that you have this Part D or would you rather pay full price on meds that can cost you thousand of dollars a month?

Also when you ask for charity they can help you file for Medicaid and help you get it too..

Having Medicare share of cost is better than no Medicare. Do you qualify for Medicaid with a share of cost? You might try to reduce your assets or income to qualify for Medicaid. Change your Part D before December, or get an Advantage plan which includes Part D.

There are alternatives---

1. You can make payment arrangements with the hospital or doctor to pay your share.

2. You can find a doctor who will accept Medicare as payment in full. (look at the Medicare site for doctors).

3. You can get a Care Credit credit card which is for medical use only.

4. You can join a Medicare Advantage plan and pay a monthly fee (varies according to location) and you wont have to worry about the 20%. It is all inclusive.

5. You can also buy vision or dental insurance to offset your income and qualify for Medicaid.

6. Many Catholic hospitals offer charity if you cant pay bills.

Depending on your age, if you incur a large medical debt you can just avoid paying the bill and letting your credit go to hell. If it goes to colleciton you send a judgment-proof letter stating you have no assets to seize, only whatever your income is. They wont find it worth suing you.

I am in your place. At one time, my meds made it important that I get a supplement insurance policy, because it was cheaper to get the insurance company to pay for the drugs than out of pocket. Prices have dropped for those same drugs over the years and the supplement has gone up, so this is the year I cut back to a cheaper supplement.

But, have you checked out supplements? Are you aware, if you get one, Medicare takes that money they already take out of your monthly money for Medicare and sends it to the insurance company? The one I'm looking at now--from the same insurance company--will cost me $7 a month. That doesn't mean they're only getting $7 a month. Social Security sends them the other $100ish. (I try not to see how much they take out. lol)

Even so, the supplement doesn't pay much more for hospital stays than Medicare does, but it does help. Honestly, I've come to the conclusion, unless the hospital can promise to work with me on a pay back plan, (which they usually do), I simply plan never to stay in a hospital. You're not there yet. You haven't checked to see if you can afford the supplement insurance so you don't have to worry about that day. Until you know, why sweat what may or may not happen by taking action now? After all, it is open season to make these decisions.

Greetings!

I also have a low income and live by myself and I have a supplement insurance with United Healthcare and it is an AARP policy and I have part D with them too. This is their number 1-888-867-5575.

So far I never had any problems and when I was in the hospital a few years ago they paid for everything which needed to be paid. I would not advise you to take a Medicare Advantage Plan because you always have co-payments when visiting your doctor and you need referrals to see another doctor or specialist. Good luck!

I'm in the same boat. Low SS check with too much in the bank for help, but could be cleaned out fast if I got really ill. The one thing I found was applying for the newer Humana part D called Humana Walmart Preferred Prescription Plan. You can apply online or by phone. It's $12.60 a month beginning in Jan. You save $10 but hey that counts. Good luck.

Check into cheaper place (other than the part A & B you have). We just switched to something called part F that sounds like it'll be the cheapest one we can get that will cover what meds we are now taking.