Of course we have to make everything the Norm so nobody has pensions but the elite. Something I like to call the Crab in the boiling pot of water theory.
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I would exchange our pensions for keeping retiree healthcare past 65. It was great healthcare. Unfortunately Covid delayed out travel plans until after DH hit 65.
BTW, not in the top dozen or so executives, and retiree healthcare was a benefit we stayed in the industry for even early on in the career
Youâre just making the point for Medicare over again. Emphasizing that lifelong private sector medical insurance was never any kind of norm. It was available only to select people in select fields. Oh no. Not ALL were C Suite types. Just look at regular people like me. Highly transparent. To ever get it you and your parents would have had to know before you started school exactly where it could be secured and live your life towards those specific niches. Unless you get lucky when you get a job and find yourself there.
Problems with that free market solution:
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Only so many jobs there. How is 100% of the population going to get employment in only those fields with only those employers? Whoâs going to do the other 99 bajillion jobs that still need to be done? See, if it was âthe normâ it wouldnât matter what you do or who you work for. It would simply be there like it would be everywhere else. That is a ânorm.â
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How about the future when something unknowable happens and you find you spent your life in the wrong field with the wrong employer? Like you were lucky enough to have avoided.
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lol, yup. I got a sense of that when he mentioned âprice discoveryâ in reference to healthcare pricing. Nothing more opaque than pricing in healthcare.
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- Everyone needs and benefits from healthcare, and everyone benefits from everyone else also being healthier and more vigorous and less sad or nuts during longer lifetimes. It is best not thought of as a consumer good but rather as a part of efficient effective social infrastructure, like clean drinking water.
Now, those who want to live a curated existence with pretty handsome sexy smart nurses and gourmet food and pretty views from their hospital suitesâŚ. they should buy private insurance. For the rest of us it is becoming more of a racket.
d fb
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Hey Joe! I am a former Michigander, who withstood 50 winters and then called âUNCLEâ!
Itâs a beautiful state, but those January and February freezing temperatures, and windchill that cuts right through your clothes. (even dressed like the boy in The Christmas Story)! Lol. I had had enough. Iâm in California now but wish for Michigans policies. Donât get me started on Gov Newsum!
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Except it seems to be a less than stellar option, unless you are happy to simply exist in one spot. Definitely donât understand why our non-emergency healthcare options are restricted to our home town, or why DH is forced to see his doctor in person quarterly, or his coverage ends. Thatâs new. And bizarre. And highly restrictive.
IP
Could you explain why you have to be in one spot if you are on Medicare? I can understand if you wanted to go outside the states but within the United States? It sounds like you are on the Advantage Medicare product is that correct?
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Lots of people wrongly believe yhe money theyâve paid in in theirs, itâs not. The money people pay in today, covers those receiving benefits today. Itâs not set up like an investment account. Doy.
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That seems bizzarre to me,too. With traditional medicare I can see any doctor I like that participates in the program â which is like 98% of doctors in the country.
Being forced to appear in person every 90 days for care sounds like something this single doctor cooked up, or Medicare Advantage.
My kidney problem, though potentially deadly, has been in remission for more than 20 years. Doctors seem to want to see me in person about once every 6 weeks and order labs which have been remarkably stable. Iâve convinced them that thatâs overkill and theyâre now doing the labs once every 90 days ( you can do the lab work anywhere in the US under traditional Medicare and itâs free --even if you havenât yet met the $257 annual deductible for Medicare Part B â yet another exemption to the â20% that Medicare doesnât payâ that they try to scare you with ), and I visit the doctor in person once or twice a year. I did agree to buy a bottle of paper urine test strips and check my urine for blood and protein once a month during the 90 day period between labs since if things were headed South for 90 days without knowing what was going in, that could be bad. But so far, so good.
Better to have the doctors spending their time on the people who are actually sick. {{ LOL }}
intercst
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Social Security and Medicare is a âsocial insuranceâ program. When people ask what the return on investment is? I tell them itâs the same as the âreturn on investmentâ for their homeownerâs or auto insurance. Itâs a good return if you make a large claim and are successful in getting reimbursed, but otherwise itâs a bad investment. Better to get yourself more wealthy to the point that there are more areas of your life you can âself-insureâ rather than get rogered by a for-profit insurance company.
In areas like Florida where there is a lot of fraud. The loss ratio for claims paid is only 60% of premiums collected and theyâre losing 20-25% to investigating the fraud along with the regular 15%-20% haircut you see with any kind of insurance. Iâd definitely be driving an old beater without collision & comp if I lived in Florida.
intercst
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There are people who travel all over the country and still have access to Medicare. Mrs. Goofy and I looked into it back when we still had the RV. One plan required you to âcheck inâ every time you moved, but most did not. (IIRC the restrictive one was the one endorsed by AARP, but Iâm not sure. But we found several others without such a restriction.)
How Do RV Fulltimers Access Medicare?
To access Medicare as an RV full-timer, simply enroll in Medicare based on your age and eligibility criteria, as you would if you were living in a fixed residence, as Medicare coverage applies nationwide, allowing you to receive care anywhere in the U.S. regardless of where you're parked; most RVers opt for Original Medicare with a Medigap supplemental plan for enhanced coverage while on the road.Key points about Medicare for RV full-timers:
- Eligibility:
You must meet the standard Medicare eligibility requirements, typically meaning you are 65 or older.
- No residency restrictions:
Your RV lifestyle doesnât affect your ability to enroll in Medicare.
- Original Medicare + Medigap:
Many full-time RVers choose Original Medicare (Parts A and B) combined with a Medigap policy to ensure access to a wide network of providers across the country.
- Medicare Advantage plans:
Another option is a Medicare Advantage plan, which may offer additional benefits but could have network limitations depending on the plan.
- Prescription drug coverage:
Remember to enroll in a Part D prescription drug plan alongside your Medicare coverage.
Important considerations for RV full-timers:
- Establishing a legal domicile:
While traveling, designate a permanent home address (usually where you are registered to vote) to ensure proper Medicare enrollment.
- Researching providers in advance:
When traveling to a new area, check which doctors and hospitals accept Medicare in that region.
- Consulting a Medicare specialist:
Consider speaking with a Medicare insurance agent to understand the best plan options for your specific needs as an RV full-time
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Or it might be related to the medical condition or drug. For example, if X% of people in this situation fail to follow instructions or develop problems then it would be worthwhile to have regular follow-ups.
DB2
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No, regular govât provided Medicare.
Identifying good endocrinologists and actually getting appointments, each one as a new patient, is just not practical on a quarterly basis. He will have to fly back quarterly, and I will fly back once a year. Failure to comply for him seems to results in loss of coverage for all things related to his type 1 diabetes, including insulin pump and CGM materials. I say seems to as itâs almost impossible to get a uniform answer. The quarterly requirement was a bit of a shock.
IP
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Nope. Doctor would prefer not to waste their time too, prefers to spend it on patients that need their help, not do face time with someone who has been declared âthe healthiest long term diabetic patient, (50+ years,) they have ever seen.â Best we can figure itâs something to do with a desire of the govât to make sure he hasnât sold his insulin pump/supplies on the open market. Was able to do telehealth last year, (still problematic if honest about location as you need to be in the state the DR is licensed in, though my doctor told me to just lie,) but thatâs been taken away as of 2025. QuarterlyâŚin person, or Medicare stops paying for diabetic supplies. He stayed away from Advantage plans to avoid having to be re-rated if he ever wanted to go back to conventional Medicare.
IP
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I am enrolled in Medicare, but not using it as I live in Mexico. Here in Mexico I just pay out of pocket, and am mostly lovingly looked after by their HIV public health service so long as I have nothing else too nasty. If I get something nasty I will probably head back to the USA and surrender.
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Mom and Dadâs RV travels took them into Mexico for extended periods of time. While there, Mom had emergency gall bladder surgery. I remember Dad telling us he has never seen a bill paid by Blue Cross Blue Shield so quickly. So much cheaper there, even back in the 1980âs.
Our retiree healthcare was great. Really hate having lost it. Medicare is also much more restrictive on when you can re-order medical supplies, to the point of being close to running out. Canât have more than a 10 day supply when re-ordering. Considering the lags in supply DH sometimes sees with his pump supplies, thatâs downright scary. Canât really run to the local CVS to pick this stuff up. Every time I see a mass scale problem on the news, like Heleneâs devastation, or what is going on now with the LA fires, I wonder how people on meds are faring.
IP,
who used to pack evacuation boxes every hurricane season when living in the Caribbean
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