I’ve written before about how it costs more to be poor in this country, but beyond having to pay more often for lower quality items, one of the biggest reasons it costs more to be poor is healthcare. Let me be honest here. I work in healthcare. I work for what is known as a managed care organization or MCO (which is different than an HMO, but not to the layman). My company combines both ourread more…
This is the last post in my series about Medicare Advantageplans. You’ve looked at Part D coverage; you’ve looked at all thedifferent co-pay options, you’ve decided between PPO or an HMO type plan, andyou think you’re ready to enroll. I have one last question for you. How muchare you paying extra in premium a month? As I’ve said before, Medicare Advantage plans come from $0extra per month in premium up to over $200/month extra in premium.read more…
Yesterday my MIL went in for total knee replacement surgery. We knew a couple of years ago that this would have to happen eventually, and our plan was always to decide what year we were going to have the surgery done and transfer her to an MA plan that had better rehab benefits than her current one. That’s all well and good, but sometimes, plans mean nothing. When it came up, it didn’t make sense forread more…
This is the second in a series of posts about choosing a Medicare Advantage plan. You can read the first post, Traditional Medicare vs Medicare Advantage Products here. Now that you’ve decided that you want a Medicare Advantage plan, the next decision is whether or not you want one with the covers Medicare Part D- Prescription Drugs. You do not have to opt for a drug benefit from Medicare, and even if you do want Partread more…
I’ve written before about Managing Someone Else’s Money. In addition to managing the daily aspects of my MIL’s money, we handle all the big issues, too. This weekend marks the start of the open enrollment period for Medicare and Medicare Advantage programs, and we will most likely be switching the MIL’s insurance. This is the first in a series of posts I will be doing about the issue. For background, I have 11 years experience workingread more…
