Holy shit. Be prepared for the consumer to get screwed on your healthcare advantage programs.

[soandso]

217. I'm almost reluctant to comment

because I find this all very confusing. I have regular Medicare, parts A & B. I was not required to purchase Part D (prescription coverage). My pharmacy signed me up for something called Good RX (it's free) which gives a huge discount on drug prices.

From what some friends have told me who chose an Advantage plan, they get money (each month) from the insurance company that covers the cost of their plan (sometimes with money left over) and additional benefits like eye exams, glasses and some dental. HOWEVER, and you're probably aware, their plans are like HMOs and they are limited to "in network" providers, whereas with regular Medicare you are not limited. I'm mainly writing for the benefit for someone who may not know that.

While I am low income (but not low enough for Medicaid) and could definitely use a monthly payout from an insurance company and some dental and eye coverage, it was here that I read, years ago, NOT to get Advantage because of the restrictions against out of network and so many claim denials.

Also, with regular Medicare, you need even need a primary care physician referral to go to a specialist, unless that specialist requires a referral (and not all do). When they do, I just tell my internist to give me the referral to the specialist of my choice and they do. Freedom of choice and not worrying about claims being denied was a big deal for me. they trade off was no dental or eye glasses. I did have cataract surgery and regular Medicare covered a large %age.