10 Dec 2024 10:30 am
Great!!! But advantage plans do nothing to lower the cost of medical care, dental or vision!!! Why can I go (and I did) to Mexico and get a full mouth full of dental work 24 crowns done at 1/3 the cost in the US? $5000 in the US would not even begin to cover $35,000.00 for full implants.EDC4ALL! » 09 Dec 2024, 3:50 pm » wrote: ↑
Where a Supplement policy earns it worth is if you need a Part B drug or extensive outpatient treatments. These are cancer infusions (chemo) and treatments for infusions for Crohns, RA, and other autoimmune system problems.
The word "Advantage" In Medicare Advantage doesn't mean the advantage over Original Medicare and a Medicare Supplement, it means the whats the advantage of a Medicare Advantage plan over Original Medicare. For starters, Original Medicare doesn't have a maximum out of pocket. Get cancer and you could be out tens of thousands of dollars. Advantage plans are nothing more than a private insurance company administering Med A, B, and usually D. They all cover EXACTLY the same thing. They all get paid by the Feds the EXACT same amount per month per enrollie based on region (approx $700-$800 in Wisconsin, $1300 for chronic illnesses), and they all keep the maxiumum amount of .15 on the dollar to pay my comission, adminstration, and marketing. If one plan has really good dental ($3500-$5000 in benefits) the plan will always make you pay more somewhere else to offset the dental bennies.
Medical prices for all services are intentionally ridiculously inflated by hospitals and specialists.
My 93 yearold father contracted influenza B last June. He was in the local hospital ER for 12 hours. At 9PM the second shift doctor told me that they were going to have to send by ambulance him to their bigger hospital in a town 70 miles away because they had not heart interventionalist. I questioned why his heart was an issue and he told me to go home and get some rest and go see him in the morning. Well, When I did I found out thst instead of an ambulance they care flighted him by helicopter (70 miles!!!). Their original charge for the flight was $98,000+. His Medicare paid them $8,900+, so his part was a little over $1,800.00. When I questioned why a helicopter instead of an ambulance because there was no real medical emergency, I got no answer. At the bigger hospital he was treated with Tamiflu and NEVER saw a heart doctor!!! They sent him home in 3 days with a bill of over $25,000.
My point is that his whole ordeal was done for MONEY not Medical CARE!!! He could have been treated the same at the local hospital THAT IS OWNED BY THE BIGGER HOSPITAL 70 MILES AWAY!!!
Do your medicare advantage plans do anything to lower those ridiculous costs?