The Next Milestone on the Disability Front

We have reached that magical two-year mark, meaning Robert is now eligible for Medicare.

What you ask?

When you are approved for disability because of Huntington's Disease, after two years you are automatically enrolled in Medicare. Since his official start date for disability was June 1, 2021, that means Medicare kicks in on June 1, 2023. Automatically. There is no waiving or opting out. It will happen whether we want it to or not. Plus, they automatically deduct the cost of it from his check each month. Not to mention, Medicare is honestly better than the insurance I have through my employer. So, it's a no-brainer that we will take advantage of it. 

The real difficulty comes when deciding if you want supplemental insurance and which one to pick 

Do you need supplemental insurance? No, but also yes. 

Supplemental insurance or Medigap as it is often referred to is additional coverage to help with the cost of things like doctor appointments and other unexpected out of pocket expenses. You can also choose options that provide extras like dental and vision coverage. Some even provide things like transportation to appointments and help with over the counter medicine costs. You do not have to have it but you probably want it because it will save you money in the long run. 

So, how do you decide?

Fortunately, Medicare is generous enough to send you a booklet that lays out all the many options available to you.

The one that Robert got is only 130 pages (sarcasm font).  

It actually contains a lot of useful information. It talks about all the many things that Medicare covers, the cost of them and what is not covered. 

You can choose from an HMO, a PPO, a Private Fee for Service plan and Medical Savings accounts. It depends on your preference for the services. Some plans have an additional premium besides what you pay for Medicare. Some do not. Some have higher doctor co-pays and deductibles that have to be met before they will kick in. Some have higher out-of-pocket maximums than others. Again, it all depends on what things are most important to you. 

Once you have made up your mind about which type of plan you want, it offers pages and pages of all the different insurance companies you can choose from and what type of coverage they provide.  Or, if you are like me, you can visit the Medicare website to compare the many plans available. 

Honestly, it is a lot of information. It is not the easiest thing to understand. We were fortunate enough to have a friend who helped us make sense of a lot of it. 

Hopefully, we made the right choice. If not, it's okay because each year from late October to early December, they have open enrollment so we can change to a different supplemental program.