Recent Retirees Medical Insurance Question

Medicare Advantage (BCBS)
Cost

Wife & I are both in good health

Our doctors are in the network.

The few prescription drugs we take are either cheap, mine cost $0 this year, or are covered.

Been retired 4 years and have not had any significant out of pocket expenses.

If one of us developed a serious illness we would probably switch to a supplement policy.

Medicare can get expensive- part B is $135/month, but you also have to get part D for prescriptions. Part B only covers 80% of outpatient services, so you'll likely want to get a supplement to cover that additional 20%. Supplemental options vary state-to-state.

Medicare Advantage is great because it's set up similar to employer insurance in the sense it's all-inclusive. You'll have a premium with an annual deductible/OOP, but prescription, dental, and vision are available. Although it is a type of Medicare, you cannot get a supplement to pay secondary to the costs not covered under Medicare.

Personally I would prefer an advantage plan because I think the prescription coverage is better than Medicare part D. Part D has a lot of hidden costs (google Medicare part D donut hole), and I'd rather just pay one premium for all of my coverage.

Bump

Forgot to mention that we do not have dental or vision coverage.

So, we’re self insured for those expenses. Buying coverage for those do not make financial sense; the premium’s expenses are more than the cost for the checkups.