After months of studying the different plans I finally signed up for Medicare supplement and Part D.
I have a two inch file of information that I have gone through I hope I made the right decision. I went with the mid level Part D plan and the AARP United Healthcare plan for supplemental. All together with the 149 for Medicare, 33.50 for Part D and 121 for the Supplemental part G it is 90 dollars cheaper than what I am paying for my insurance from work now that I am less than full time.
One of the drugs I take is not one any of them pay for it is a muscle relaxer called Metaxalone. I am going to talk to my doctor about an alternative.
I feel for people who have limited cognitive abilities, this is a mess to slog through.
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A friend said, "They should have had us sign up for this in our 40s when we might have been able to understand it."
We used a company called EnlightenU, which was one of many that sent us what looked like sales pitches as we neared 65. They explained that all insurance companies that are allowed to sell Medicare supplemental plans have to offer a training. All of those envelopes actually had training sessions--all of those envelopes I kept throwing into a file called "Medicare" and never opened--because a friend of my husband's who is a couple of years older told us about EnlightenU. We went to their training--a pretty big room full of people who seemed much older than we are 
--that used excellent adult education techniques. Without it, we would never have figured it out.
about how complicated this process is, that there are people whose sole job is a “healthcare navigator” who help you figure out your Medicare or an ACA plan? Why does it have to be so complicated? And, yes, what do people do who have no one to help them and limited cognitive ability?
But ....aren’t we lucky we have all this “CHOICE”?
An aside: in many states, Medicaid is just as complicated to apply for, too. I think they just hope poor people will give up and do without!
I've gotten some good deals using that site (and there might be a phone app).
Congratulations on arriving at a choice. (and, a pretty good one).
until a year ago. I switched over to a Medicare Advantage plan through UHC,, which also covers prescriptions. I pay only $27 a month, but there is a little more out of pocket I have to pay for. They said that you can either pay more in premiums for a supplemental medical plan and less out of pocket, or pay more out of pocket in some instances. So far that has worked for me. There is a ceiling on what I have to pay, which is $4,500. OptumRX, the mail order pharmacy, is fantastic though - most meds are free for a 90 day supply mailed directly to you. They have always been very helpful when I've needed to call.
So good luck to you! And congrats on slogging through all of that. Feels good to get it done, though, right?
