Why does Medicare have to be so danged complicated? [View all]

[ShazzieB]

Mr. B recently got laid off from his job (he should have retired a long time ago, but decided to keep on working as long as he felt able, because we needed the money... but that's a whole separate story). The health insurance from his now ex-employer will only cover us till the end of this month, and we have got to get our Medicare ducks in a row by then. We already both have parts A and B, but as we all know, that will only get us so far. We need to add a Medigap/Medicare Supplent plan plus Part D for prescription coverage.

(Before anyone mentions Medicare Advantage, we've already ruled that out. I've read too many posts here at DU about the pitfalls and decided to steer clear.)

So like I said, if I understand correctly, we need Medigap and Part D. But (again, if I understand correctly), we have to get those from a private insurance company (or maybe 2 different companies?) and that's when my brain shuts down. There are so darned many insurance companies and so many different types of plans, and I can't figure out where to start. If we really have to wade through all these websites to figure out what will work best for us, I'm afraid we may end up flipping a coin or something equally random by the time it's all said and done. It all sounds so complicated, and neither of us has the kind of brain that's good at processing this kind of information and keeping it all straight.

I'm extremely leery about talking to any insurance people on the phone while were in this frame of mind. I'm sure they'd all just tell us how great their plan is and try to sell us on it, and that's the last thing we need right now.

I'm curious to hear abut how others have navigated this process, and whether anyone has any pointers to share. Right now, I feel as lost as if I was trying to find a couple of needles in a haystack the size of Mt. Rainier.