Go to medicare.gov for info - and like all Gummint stuff, it's almost mind-boggling at first.
There is an enrollment period every year, and that period is also when you can make changes if needed.
There are people who know the system, but they're not likely to be the ones calling on your phone and speaking with an accent.
Some hospitals and providers may not accept some insurers, like Humana - check with them prior to adding non-Medicare supplements.

In my case, with Medicare & the Plan G from MoH, I paid nothing for detached retina surgeries, cataract surgery, or hip replacement, except for medications.
I didn't add coverage for meds but could at approx $150/year.
Being blessed with generally very good health, that's been basically a "wash" so far.

I was on an employer plan, and dropped it at 65 to go Medicare. I work for a very small company, so the size of the company may have something to do with it, I don't know. I would investigate further to see if you can go off the employer plan at 65. It get's complicated but talk to a Medicare expert for advise.

My parents also have an advantage plan. I don't remember which provider. Their plan covers the cost of part B, they pay nothing. Both are extremely happy with what they have. Knee replacement, back surgery (multiple) and my dads biggest bill was $800.

It is a bit of a scam.

Hard to plan for because they change it every other year is seems , Advantage is mostly useless for me , not enough population and not enough options due to that.

I'll be 65 in 3 1/2 years and it's going to help financially to get on medicare. Right now, just coverage for myself (ex-wife's insurance covers the kids) is $1,400 and it's sure to go up every year. I figure if I only have to supplement $300 a month it's still a whopping savings.

It depends on the number of employees on the plan. My wife is covered under my health insurance plan at work, it's a family plan. The factor for her having to start the Medicare was because we have less than 20 people on the plan at my company. I am pretty sure more than 20 would eliminate the penalty like you said.

My wife works for a very large company.

There are 10s of thousands of employees worldwide
I think there are over 10,000 employees here in Tucson alone.

IMO,
if one looks at the costs and coverages the choice should be easier to make.
The first year I was told in error that I was not eligible for the previously favored Plan F. I can't remember which plan I signed up for but there was an additional 200.00 + monthly deduction.
After looking at the options more closely, the following year I signed up for a no cost Advantage plan through Aetna with a max out of pocket cost of 4500.00 with a lot of items being covered at 100% including allowances for dental, hearing aids, glasses and a lot of tier 1 & 2 drugs.
Saving the 200.00 a month for 2 years would more than pay the max out of pocket cost plus the allowances for other things mentioned.
When one looks at the additional savings over the 2 year period factoring in the allowances it becomes even more enticing.
This year I have encountered a few issues with the allowances and am addressing those with Aetna. They have been 100% up to this point.
It can be mind numbing. The best advice is to start learning about the pro's and cons of each choice as far in advance as possible. DO NOT try to learn about them all at once but rather a little at a time, absorb the info, then move forward.
When you start narrowing down your choices check the google and online reviews for the plans you are considering.
One company I will not consider under any circumstance is Blue Cross Blue Shield. Why? they changed a contracted Obamacare plan mid stream due to a peeing contest with a large hospital / firm which left 1000's (myself included) not being able to see their normal Dr.s
Hope this helped a bit

Anybody under 65 could look at something called Medishare if they like living dangerously, but want to save some serious bucks on coverage. It’s religious based, and they can decide to not cover your bills if it’s a “sin” thing that is doing you in. Lots of people like them, but they got banned in Montana for not covering stuff. It’s not technically insurance. People vote on if they agree to “share” the cost of your care. Been around for a decade or more.

This is timely as I retired effective 1 July 2023; State of Alabama, Department of Labor. At the time I was covered completely through Blue Cross Blue Shield - Medical, Prescription, Dental, and Vision for less than $100 per month as I had over 28 years of service, which accounted for the low monthly cost.

Since I had turned 65 back in June of 2023, those two weeks that I worked past the age of 65 reduced my Insurance cost after retirement significantly, well, at least the Part C and Part D. Through Medicare, Part A has no charge as has been mentioned while Part B is automatically deducted from my SS Direct Deposit and since I can't have one without the other, I do essentially 'pay' for both. In my case $164.90; this now covered Part A and Part B. Here's the fortunate circumstance in my scenario - my BCBS immediately transformed into United Healthcare to cover Part C and Part D and since I worked two weeks past my 65th birthday, that cost dropped from what would have been slightly over $300 per month down to $23 per month and became my coverage for doctor visits, Dental, and Vision. That $23 is automatically deducted from State Retirement Direct Deposit.

A little background as 2023 became a long, strange trip of a year for me beyond simply retiring. Circa Christmas of 2022, I developed symptoms of what would be diagnosed as an enlarged prostate. Long story short, I wound up with a catheter (inserted where you never want one inserted ) for 7 weeks give or take before Thulium laser reduction of the prostate surgery basically rolled the clock back 40 years for me. To paraphrase George Carlin, I'm now able to drink all the beer I want and break up a Kent with a Micronite filter again. Regardless, that's what prompted me to call it an (I T career) effective July first. Then, on November 4, 2023, I got married to a wonderful lady who owns her own home along with 4 1/4 rural acres outside of town; we'd been engaged just shy of two years and met at work. She's more than happy to support my Mopar addiction, and even encouraged me to build any size garage I want on the site of an old, dilapidated barn just off the house proper. The only rule is no yard art.

The key, in a nutshell - at least for me - appears to be that I worked past the magical age of 65.

Hope this helps, and apologies if I got too wordy...

One idea is to check out different plans that suit your fam better, especially since Medicare is coming up. Switching it up could score you a cheaper plan that still covers what you need without those huge deductibles.

I found this site about outsourcing podiatry billing services, and it showed me how it can make billing easier and cheaper in healthcare. If you wanna save some cash, you should think about outsourcing those billing services.

Anybody can take medicare at 65. There is no sliding age bracket. That only pertains to SS. If you or your spouse is working and have an employee sponsored program you do not need additional coverage and there is no penalty for not signing up for additional insurance. But when you both stop working you only have 30 days to sign up or the penalties will start from that date. If you're covered on a spouse's insurance they normally will force you to sign up for medicare @ 65 and pay that premium on top of what it normally costs to be on her insurance.

Note to avoid penalty YOU OR YOUR SPOUSE MUST STILL BE WORKING. EMPLOYER SPONSORED RETIREMENT INSURANCE DOESN'T COUNT!


Your monthly Medicare payment will be based on your income from 2 years ago and will adjust each year according to latest 2 year old tax return. There is a penalty for making too much money. (Part B penalty added as part of the Bush tax cut in 2006) Part B is medical .(Part D penalty added by Obama care) Part D is drug coverage. Mine is $508 a month instead of the base $174.70. And I take the free part C coverage. Two years so far and it's been great.

Mike

well, I just signed up for medicare and the part G coverage. Its less than or right around $200 a month I think.
Wife found a free drug coverage plan. But Im not taking Any medication so Im sure that could change if/when that changes

So the government screws you no matter which way you turn. So if I decide to work till I'm 75ish I get penalized for MAKING TOO MUCH MONEY!?!?! Such BS. There gotta be a way around that.

Thats a little simplistic to state that. In the past health insurance always had a lifetime max, they were able to dictate what was covered (think birth control, gender transition surgery etc). That isn't the case anymore . All of this comes at a cost . When I started(1992) working for the company I retired from insurance was cheap. The cost in 2013 was only 15% more. I left in 2022 and that was now 250% over 2013 and I now had a 5k deductible vs $500.

My parents love their advantage plan. They have had zero problems with doctors and or treatments.a

i too have medicare and humana as my supp. i pay humana ZERO for the coverage...my drugs are tier 1, so they send me a 90 day supply in the mail... my cost... ZERO... how they do it i dunno.... my primary doc has no co-pay, specialists 35bucks

i have no clue how humana does it, but have had em for 5yrs, and so far so good... all my doc's accept the plan...

I've been on Aetna Advantage for several years with ZERO issues Until this year
I will likely be looking around at renewal time due to the BS games they are playing. IE: Hearing aids in 2022 = 2400.00 all covered as they allow 2500 a year.
The exact same hearing aids in 2024= 4500.00. Their coverage was the same at 2500. So I have to pay 2,000 out of pocket WTFO?
It's because the hearing aids HAVE TO BE PURCHASED Through Aetna's source.
My audiologist can sell the SAME ones to me at 2400.00 with better coverage/warranty.
I can also buy them online many places for ~ 1200.00
the same was true with a new CPAP machine.

The insurance industry is running amok with outrageous increases. They say they are losing money blah bla blah, my house nad car policies jumped
Policy Current year(23-24) Renewal (24-25) % Notes
Home 3039.00 4700 55% Preceding increase 35% (ONE small claim in 2022) no other claims in over 15 years
Umbr 202.00 370.00 83%
Cars 1180.00 1405.00 20%
Totals 4421.00 6475.00 46.4% Overall increase

Appears as thought they are now tracking ALL claims via a database of some sort. I say this as when shopping rates many competitors knew all my information. Some were lower on the house but higher on the cars. End result, about the same>

if I were a gambler Ii would invest in insurance stocks a I predict a 🚀🚀

I will refrain from further comment lest this wind up in the unmoderated section.

SAD NOTE: 🤔 We are on a Car related forum talking about Medicare and insurance, we're getting old 🙄👎🍺🍺

I find it rather puzzling, so many complain about the society basis for Medicare, but NOBODY that has it, complains about it, and refuse the to see altruistic value in this great country of having Medicare (single payer) for all, that most other countries have had for many decades.
Rather self centered.

That said, I have Medicare A&B with plan F, I pay $280/month, and pay zero costs for medical care, and have no complaints.

Note, hearing aids are the most overpriced highest profit medical scam fostered on the needy, sadly

Along with hearing aids are many other things like some drugs that people need to live are pennies on the dollar elsewhere. Why is that?

What bothers me most is the people that spent their entire working lives paying in are still paying, and in most cases, more for less. Trying to keep this non political, and factual.
On an Advantage plan I pay 174 a month with with small copays, but only for specialist visits. Max out of packet is ~ 5K. So If I make it 4 years without a major problem I have now saved enough to pay the 5K max out of pocket and break even. If I make it 6 or more, I'm ahead.
Prior to this I was forced to go on OB care as the wife's com[any sold and moved leaving both of us with no insurance. Yes it was pricey but as many agents told me, due to previous conditions I would only be insurable at outrageous premiums on policies that excluded any pre-existing issues. Having genetically bad arterial conditions OBcare was better than sliced bread. In 2017 I required a triple bypass that went a bit sideways and had me in an induced coma for 4 weeks. 4.5 more weeks of in hospital rehab and I think our total out of pocket was 4500.00

SS was given a 3.2% cost of living adjustment (COLA) this year. I would like to know what increased by ONLY 3.2% in 2023 as my cost of living went up much higher than that. I am not talking about eating out, movies, vacations, or other similar things, but rather, gas, insurance, property taxes, food etc. no new clothes no new anything except what was needed. It went up by A LOT more than 3.2%