I, one among tens of tens of millions of child boomers, was all the time underneath the impression that, if I accustomed be fortunate comfortable to succeed in the ripe noncurrent age of 65, all of my well being care prices could be lined underneath Medicare. I assumed that was one among my entitlements, my payoff for working... and paying into Medicare... and surviving... till retreat.
I accustomed be wanting ahead to the day once I may drop my atrociously costly personal PPO high-risk well being care protection (which prices greater than my month-to-month lease) and get what I accustomed be entitled to, get what I paid into for a complete working life-time... Medicare. Three months earlier than I turned worthy for Medicare I made a decision to do some advance analysis on sign language up for Medicare and additionally to see what my advantages could be.
Here is what I found... painfully.
I went to the official U.S. government website for Medicare, medicare.gov. The government website, medicare.gov, did a superb job in describing and explaining what Medicare is and the way it works. And how to enter in Medicare. The satan, nevertheless, is inside the particulars and the small print are evidently absent or extraordinarily difficult to search out and/or perceive. I defy any homo in America, who is just not a Medicare coverage specialist, to find and comprehend the benefits and drawbacks of the assorted must-choose choices underneath Medicare. It is inconceivable!
In essence here's what I found...
Plan A - covers hospitalization. Cost: free
Plan B - covers docs visits. Cost: $110 a month
However, Medicare does NOT cowl ALL the hospital prices or all of the doctor attend prices. You should purchase a supplemental personal coverage coverage to cowl these gaps. In my ZIP code (Los Angeles) the price of a supplemental personal coverage coverage, to cowl the 20% hole in hospital prices and your doctor co-pays not lined by Medicare, is over $200 a month. So now, my supposed "free" Medicare will value me $110 plus $200, over $300 a month. Out of pocket. But wait, it will get worse. Medicare doesn't cowl the price of prescribed drugs! Zero protection. What? No drug protection? What form of a medical coverage is that? No drug protection? The common variety of prescribed drugs taken by common people age 65 and older is 11. None of that are lined underneath Medicare. So, which means it's a must to purchase yet one more medical coverage to cowl the price of your drugs. In my case, there have been some 30 altogether different "supplemental" coverage insurance policies out there in my space for ethical drug drug protection and it's as much like the person to check all of the plans. Did I get a headache? Yes. Was I in a position to determine by myself which plan was one of the best plan for me? No. Though the month-to-month premiums on these plans had been very cheap ($35-$65 per thirty days) NONE of the out there plans lined all the prices of my drugs. They all had co-pays. The co-pays for my 5 meds would complete as much like as a peck as $300... each month. The co-pays are lots much less if I substitute generic manufacturers for my meds notwithstandin I can not, there seems to be no generics for my vessel meds.
So now, my "free" Medicare will find yourself costing about $600 a month. About the identical value as any first rate regular personal well being care coverage that you just had earlier than you're worthy for Medicare. And, underneath Medicare, you could possibly find yourself with three altogether different insurance policies on your protection (or 2 insurance policies if you wish to mix supplemental protection and drug protection, which is notable as "Medicare Advantage", besides you possibly can't determine which "Medicare Advantage" coverage is any good or what benefits and drawbacks they every have).
So, after paying into Medicare and reaching the retreat milepost of 65 years of age, you'll find yourself acquiring nothing you did not have already got. Under Medicare you get no free well being care protection, and worse, you doubtless find yourself paying about the identical as you had been paying on your well being care protection earlier than Medicare, except you had been acquiring free or sponsored life-time well being protection out of your employer. Or, in case your free or sponsored well being protection out of your employer Chicago spell you cease working, then, underneath Medicare, you may be paying MORE. Much more.
The government collected Medicare cash out of your paycheck (and out of your employer) all by means of your working years. The government collected that cash all by means of your working years to cowl the price of your Medicare. Only it does not cowl the price of your well being care at age 65. Far from it. Instead of acquiring free and full well being care underneath Medicare, at age 65 you'll have to pay $500 or extra per thirty days, out of your personal pocket, to get correct and full medical and drug protection. And, so as to add insult to harm, the federal government desires to chop Medicare advantages even additional!
This is what child boomers labored a life-time for? This is what child boomers get for paying into Medicare over a complete working life-time? This is the payoff for child boomers who survive to age 65?
This begs the query: is it Medicare or Medicrap? Is Medicare a large government rip-off? Is Medicare a large government rip-off of a complete technology of child boomers? Is Medicare a large government rip-off of child boomers, power-assisted and abetted by the personal coverage business? As tens of millions and tens of millions of us method age 65, and Medicare, we child boomers should determine... and match it. And we'll. Starting proper right here. Starting proper now. We child boomers have energy. Lots of energy. We have schooling, we have now cash, we have now loud voices, and we have now tens of tens of millions of votes. Baby boomers are activists. We marched, we protested, we modified the world. And now we're armed with e-mail and cell telephones. We child boomers can bombard our senators and our members of the House of Representatives in Washington about points that deeply concern us. Like Medicare. We child boomers have energy. Lots of energy. Use it or lose it!
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