Help Me with Medicare Advantage and Drug Question

[mediguy]

hi all. my name is mike and i will retire in july. i am 66 years old and about to go on medicare for the first time. I recently met with two different agents to talk about medicare. one with bankers life and one with united health. and they are telling me two different things, and I dont know who is telling me the truth.

Bankers life is telling Medicare advantage is bad. and I cannot have a separate Pt D plan with it (i can only do it, if the drug plan is built into it). and I should go with them and pay a premium i cannot afford for a medicare supplement.

The united health guy is telling me I can have a pt d plan if the advantage plan does not have a drug plan built into it. This would be good for me, because the advantage plan has no monthly premium. He says I should do it like this because the PPO that he offers that does have the drug plan built in, wouldn't cover some of my drugs, and it would be really expensive, but he was able to find a separate pt d plan that would keep my drug costs down.

they are telling me two contradicting things, one is obviously lying. who is telling me the truth?

 

[xrac]

hi all. my name is mike and i will retire in july. i am 66 years old and about to go on medicare for the first time. I recently met with two different agents to talk about medicare. one with bankers life and one with united health. and they are telling me two different things, and I dont know who is telling me the truth.

Bankers life is telling Medicare advantage is bad. and I cannot have a separate Pt D plan with it (i can only do it, if the drug plan is built into it). and I should go with them and pay a premium i cannot afford for a medicare supplement.

The united health guy is telling me I can have a pt d plan if the advantage plan does not have a drug plan built into it. This would be good for me, because the advantage plan has no monthly premium. He says I should do it like this because the PPO that he offers that does have the drug plan built in, wouldn't cover some of my drugs, and it would be really expensive, but he was able to find a separate pt d plan that would keep my drug costs down.

they are telling me two contradicting things, one is obviously lying. who is telling me the truth?

You know a Bankers Agent is lying when their lips are moving.

What state are you in?

 

[mediguy]

You can tell when a Bankers Agent is lying when their lips are moving.

What state are you in?

Florida, Lake County

 

[jdeasy]

hi all. my name is mike and i will retire in july. i am 66 years old and about to go on medicare for the first time. I recently met with two different agents to talk about medicare. one with bankers life and one with united health. and they are telling me two different things, and I dont know who is telling me the truth.

Bankers life is telling Medicare advantage is bad. and I cannot have a separate Pt D plan with it (i can only do it, if the drug plan is built into it). and I should go with them and pay a premium i cannot afford for a medicare supplement.

The united health guy is telling me I can have a pt d plan if the advantage plan does not have a drug plan built into it. This would be good for me, because the advantage plan has no monthly premium. He says I should do it like this because the PPO that he offers that does have the drug plan built in, wouldn't cover some of my drugs, and it would be really expensive, but he was able to find a separate pt d plan that would keep my drug costs down.

they are telling me two contradicting things, one is obviously lying. who is telling me the truth?

You can get a med sup, at a much better rate than Bankers, and pick up a stand alone PDP if you want/need one. In fact it will have to be separate if you go with a med sup.

You can have only only medicare and pick up a stand alone PDP.

You can get an MAPD, (an MA plan with built in PDP). If available in your area you can get a stand alone MA plan and a separate PDP.

The Bankers agent may be not be misleading you because there may not be an MA plan in your area that's not an MAPD. There probably is a PPO in your area that doesn't have a PDP but you can't have a PDP with those that don't include it.

This probably sounds more confusing than it is. Best thing to do is contact an independent agent in your area that offers all option and let them guide you through the process.

You have many options and no one answer is the right answer for all.

 

[WCMason]

My experience has been that agents who bad mouth MA plans aren't certified to sell them.

 

[tins]

Agree with JD above. When you are talking with an agent representing one company, they are going to push that company (and more often than not, make disparaging remarks about other companies or types of plans).
The best thing you can do for yourself is to find an independent agent that can show you a variety of companies and plans.

 

[Newby]

The network of the MA plan determines if you can get a stand alone PDP. It has to have a PFFS network.

I wouldn't deal with either of those agents. Work with a local broker that sells all the various companies. Not an agent for a specific company.

 

[mediguy]

so what your saying is, 'If the medicare Advantage plan DOES NOT have a drug plan in it, i CAN get a separate pt. D plan?"

 

[Dave020]

If you purchase a Medicare Advantage plan that does not have Part D drug plan built into it (MA only) and it's an HMO or PPO, you cannot add a Part D drug plan. Only Fee For Service (PFFS) plans are allowed to carry a stand-alone Part D Drug Plan.

 

[Newby]

so what your saying is, 'If the medicare Advantage plan DOES NOT have a drug plan in it, i CAN get a separate pt. D plan?"

Only if it has. PFFS network and those are the worst kind to have.

First, are their drugs not covered by any of the MAPD RX plans? Why do they even think a stand alone is to their advantage? Because some joker from Bankers Life said so? Most people do fine with the MAPD drug plans.

You might just need to deprogram the wrong info out of them. Spray them down real good with some BS repellent and start over.