one step at a time, day by day. Used to be that as long as you were paying something - anything regularly they couldn't come after you. If so, send them $5-10 a month and get on with your life. Till then...

don’t worry about those. It’ll take a few months to sort out such emergency bills.

Hope he’s doing well now.

where you can switch coverage.

I know there are websites out there that can give you lots of information about Medicare Advantage. Talk to some of them.

And it's extremely important to understand that such plans vary enormously from state to state.

And for what it's worth, I just got home from three days in hospital for myocardial infarction. I did have to cough up $27.50 to get out of the hospital (can't recall exactly what the charge was for) and I'm sure I'll be getting multiple bills. Which reminds me, I actually ought to look at any bills I get very carefully. There were two or three times when a doctor stopped in my room briefly. One came in, took my blood pressure, and that was it. I better not have to pay anything for that

See bills come in. Thats what gets me... I never received any prior billing.

And this Ambulance copay, it's not from the agency and it's a company I've never heard of. I woke up in the middle of the night with the thought THAT could be a scam company. There's no website on which to pay your bill referenced anywhere and instead it's a call and do it over the phone with a debit card.

Also this was like a bulk mailing... yellow sheet of paper, no envelope, no mailing payment envelope. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that's what it is. But damn! You not have to check what you do get billed for, but now also if someone's trying to use info to steal you blind. What a mess.

I likened it to a "get me out of this plan now!" period (LOL). But hubby's health took its downturn long after we passed any of the change periods. This is our chance to change to one that more closely meets what he needs (and hopefully me, too).

They will have info on MA plans &/or Part D & gap plans.

I am fortunate to have landed with an MA Counselor I like and can trust the research she does. It's just both of us missed last year due to our changing health conditions. In fact, I've thrown the whole "where did this dun come from and why have I never gotten a billing" issue directly in her lap for research, especially with regards as to whether or not its a scam. Lovely thing to think of at 3am!

What does concern me is that how the cost *and* coverage is going to be seriously affected by all the repugs healthcare hits on everyone. I noticed the other day even the MA groups and plans are shaking out to get rid of the "chaff"... like everything else has always processed. Remember when we started out with small Internet companies competing with each other everywhere? And then they all were either bought out, merged, or out of business and we get left with just the big players. I see the same thing beginning to happen now with the Medicare Advantage groups and plans.

Last edited Fri Nov 21, 2025, 03:35 PM - Edit history (1)

Farm Bureau was the cheapest by far & all policies in eaxh class must cover ghe same things.

Good luck!

after my 65th birthday. After realizing what that "administrator" did to me, I immediately called SSA and informed them what had just happened, but they said there wasn't anything they could do for me to get me out of it once I was he'd signed me up. Then she explained the Supplemental and the pricing on that, if I'd switched back to Medicare, was too much for us. I can't remember what it was exactly, but with the penalty for switching back, I remember thinking these are like COBRA prices!

We'll be okay... and I've given hubs a long, long talk about things that have to change where his health risks are concerned. I hope he listened to me (gryn). But enough of the eternal leaf-raking, especially now that the weather is turning colder. I can't even bear the thought of life without him... I'll kill him if he pushes his body again!

Medicare Advantage will continue to be problematic as you age. I pay more for my Plan G, but it has covered nearly $1,000,000 in cancer treatments. My out-of-pocket expenses are less than $1000 for deductibles over that same three year period.

especially when you consider the penalty we would pay in finding a Supplemental plan. I got tricked into this crap by an unethical "Administrator" who came "just to show me what these were like and how they contrasted with Medicare." Somehow, even after saying I'm not making a decision right now a signature to allow him to show me the plans ended up being the signature to be ON the plans.

I absolutely will admit to being pressed and stressed when I turned 65 and trying to figure out all this stuff on my own. I was also caretaking my elderly mother at the same time. It's a time frame I'd never want to relive.