Paying for drugs while on medicare
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Sunshine99,
Glad to hear that you are feeling less stressed now that you were able to make your decision.
Hope you have a great weekend (what's left of it) too!
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Thank you, going2beaththis! I think between starting to figure this out and getting our tax stuff to our accountant, I'm a LOT less stressed.
I hope you have a great rest of your weekend, too!
Carol
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While we were all discussing Medicare and getting drugs paid for, I wanted to post this "sort of" resource for getting some free and unbiased help, but I couldn't remember it's name. It is "sort of" because this is just for Washington State, but I am wondering if other states don't have something like this too. I would imagine they do. I had never known about this in my own state, and then a couple of years ago, a friend told me that one of her co-workers had found this program very, very helpful when she was overwhelmed with all the different plans and their pros and cons. By the time I heard about it, I had already signed up for traditional Medicare, but have kept this organization in a "mental file" in case I need some more help in the future. I didn't post this during our discussions when Sunshine99 had questions, because for the life of me, I couldn't remember the name of the program. I asked my friend who had told me about it, and she couldn't either. We both spent a lot of time this past week or so wracking our brains, trying to think of the program name. My friend finally came up with it yesterday, so I am passing the link to the site on to anyone here who thinks it might help them in some way. Again, this is only for people in Washington State, but I am wondering if they wouldn't be able to refer people outside Washington to programs in their own states - usually there is some kind of network of these things. Also, maybe some of the volunteers who work this program would or could be willing to offer help to people outside of Washington, I just don't know.
Anyway, for what it's worth:
https://www.insurance.wa.gov/statewide-health-insu...
My understanding is they can help asses your situation and needs, and discuss and advise on the different plans. Maybe this could be of some help to some of you in one way or another. Hopefully all states have something like this.
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Oh, threetree, you are so sweet. Thank you for taking the time to research this. You would think that individual states would have these resources for their residents, right? Again, thank you and thank you to all the ladies who have responded here.
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Sunshine99 - Happy to help in any way that I can. I just did a quick look and saw that at least Oregon and California also have SHIBA programs. Looks like they may have some connection to CMS, so maybe they are in every state.
When I originally asked my friend if she could remember the name of the program, I had told her not to sweat it, but that if she could remember the name off the top of her head, I'd post it here for others who might find it helpful. Well she decided to "sweat it" anyway. She doesn't have breast cancer, but I think she wanted to do anything she could to help the cause.
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This is the website to find assistance in your state. It seems to vary what it is called in each state. Scroll down and click on "SHIP LOCATOR". You then can pick your state. In some states it is called SHIBA. Other states have different resources.
(Nope, I don't volunteer for them...I just seemed to recall it was called SHIP)
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Mandy23 - Great to see that it is a national program. I followed the link and put in my state and it did indeed take me to the Washington State SHIBA website. My friend's co-worker said it was a huge help to her, but I had never heard of it. I don't think I've ever seen it discussed on these boards anywhere either, so this is a good resource for many people to have. Glad you found the "national link", as I all knew was for Washington State.
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So, I've decided, after looking at the cost of my Part B premium, to just stay on DH's insurance, keep Medicare part A and hold off on all the other stuff until he retires. I think the agent may be a little annoyed with me, but how am I supposed to know unless I spend time with someone who will explain all of my options. I'm just worried about making the wrong decision and costing us more money. DH told me not to worry about it. He's my rock. I'm so thankful for him!
On the humorous side, he has a bank customer who loves him. She promised to either marry me or adopt me if something happens to him and we lose his insurance - or if he gets hit by the beer truck and dies. Gallows humor, but what else can we do?
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sunshine99 - From what I can tell, your decision is a good one. I did something similar myself initially. I am single (unfortunately - I'd love to a have husband who would be "my rock"), but had insurance through work, when I became Medicare eligible. When I got cancer (age 66) I was still just using my work insurance, but realized Medicare could also kick in some. When I needed to get proton radiation covered, I signed up for traditional Medicare in addition to my work insurance, and got Part A initially, then went for the Part B premium too, just to get more coverage for all the cancer stuff. I also got a Medicare supplement through AARP, to pick up the copays. (The private work insurance would not pay for proton radiation). I continued to use my work prescription option, so did not get Part D. (This is very much like you staying on your husband's plan until he retires.)
Well, in about the fall of 2020 the business I work for ran into financial trouble and told me they could no longer pay for my health insurance. They are a real small family business and I am the only non-family member. I wasn't too devastated by that because I had put the traditional Medicare and Supplement in place, and all I had to add was the Part D, which I did. I did not have to pay the "lifetime penalty", for getting part D late, since I had just lost my previous coverage. I have to say that for awhile there when I had all 3: work insurance, Medicare, and supplement, things were good, and everything got covered one way or another. I turned 70 over the winter and am now just Medicare with Parts A,B, and D, along with the AARP supplement, and things haven't been too bad with this combo either. So when your husband does retire, you should be fine.
Unless you run into a large amount of money that the private insurance your husband has won't pay, you are fine with just Medicare Part A for now. I think the agent you were working with is a little annoyed because she won't be getting a commission for selling an Advantage Plan. That's all part of her job. I think you were real smart to look into all the options and then make the decision that was right for you.
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sunshine, I laughed at The Gallows humor and the comment about adopting you. I have a good friend 15 years older than I am who has always told me that she was going to adopt me because I cared for my mother better than her girls would ever care for her. I think it's time she come to the realization that instead of adopting me, she'd better adopt my husband. I too and the organized one of the family and he is going to be a bit uncomfortable dealing with the trudging details of household bills
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