Well, M Day is approaching for me. I turn 65 in January, so it was time to make some Medicare decisions. And since I’m delaying Soc Sec until I’m 70, first step was to sign up.
So signing up for Medicare without Social Security is a two step process. Step one is to go to the Social Security web site - ssa.gov - create an account if you haven’t already (I had, and you should, too, just to monitor your Soc Sec account), then sign in and go to the Medicare drop down at the top of the page and sign up. Very quick and straight forward.
About 3 or 4 weeks later, your Medicare card will show up in the mail. And about a week or so after that, I got the bill for the first 3 months of Medicare Part B. Those who are already collecting Soc Sec won’t get a bill - they’ll have the Medicare premium deducted from the Soc Sec benefits.
Then it’s over to the Medicare web site - medicare.gov - to take care of some business there. Top right to sign in or sign up. You can do either from the sign in link.
Now for the trickier stuff. If you do nothing more than the above, you’ll get regular medicare, Parts A (hospital) and B (doctors). But if you want a medicare advantage plan, you’ll need to choose that from the Medicare web site. You can also select other options, such as a drug plan (Part D) , or search for Vision, Dental or Medicare Supplement plans (MediGap).
As to my specific choices, I went with traditional Medicare (Parts A and B) rather than an advantage plan. I also selected a drug plan that was inexpensive (less than $10 a month) and covered all of my routine medicines at 0 cost to me. That was a no-brainer, as the cash price for even my inexpensive generics is way more than the Part D premiums. So I’m guaranteed to save a little money, and if I need some other drug during a year, I’ve got a decent chance at some coverage for that.
Lastly, I went with a Medicare supplement - Plan G with high deductible. I wanted the guaranteed issue of the MediGap plan, and I get a little peace of mind with some caps on larger medical bills. The premium is less than $40 a month for me, but will go up with age. I did check using the medicare web site, and even at age 90, the Supplement plan was something like $70 or $80 a month. So as long as I keep the policy in place, I’ll have some limit on all but the most catastrophic of medical bills.
Almost all of my choices were informed by reading posts here, along with linked articles. To that I added just a bit of my own reading and research. I started reading and learning in earnest about the time I turned 63, so it was a couple years of on and off thinking about the topic.
I’m very comfortable with my choices. After years of worrying about whether a doctor or facility was in network or not, I’m done with that. “Do you take Medicare?” is the only question I need to have answered. I skipped dental and vision. I’ve been paying out of pocket for those for the last 25+ years. Those aren’t going to break my budget. It also helps that I have good genes that gave me good teeth, and I’ve taken good care of those teeth.
So there you have it. One person’s decisions for your education or entertainment or derision. They won’t be right for everyone, but I’m comfortable that they are right enough for me and my situation.
–Peter
I was paying about $13 a month for my prescriptions.