It’s Medicare hunting season
Probably the best analogy is duck hunting, where they use decoys to fool the ducks.
“If the past is any indication, sellers working for insurance companies, some with household names, others not, will snare new recruits into Medicare Advantage plans, possibly omitting in their sales pitches that they will be locked into an MA plan and could face great difficulty returning to traditional Medicare and buying a supplement policy if things go wrong – as they often do. Insurers will once again flood seniors with “free” Medicare Advantage goodies and offers.”
While I have encountered one person who likes his Medicare Advantage plan with Kaiser, that’s an anecdote. The data show that many people experience false or misleading claims.
Medicare Advantage deceptive marketing
“If the past is any indication, sellers working for insurance companies, some with household names, others not, will snare new recruits into Medicare Advantage plans, possibly omitting in their sales pitches that they will be locked into an MA plan and could face great difficulty returning to traditional Medicare and buying a supplement policy if things go wrong – as they often do. Insurers will once again flood seniors with “free” Medicare Advantage goodies and offers.”
While I have encountered one person who likes his Medicare Advantage plan with Kaiser, that’s an anecdote. The data show that many people experience false or misleading claims.
Medicare Advantage deceptive marketing
This cannot be emphasized enough: “omitting in their sales pitches that they will be locked into an MA plan and could face great difficulty returning to traditional Medicare and buying a supplement policy if things go wrong – as they often do.”
It’s one of the biggest reasons I have avoided Medicare Advantage like the plague.
Some more Information:
– “Medicare Advantage Industry Blames 2025 Service Cut-Backs on Policy Changes That Hold Them More Accountable,” Center for Medicare Advocacy
Also here:
– “Traditional Medicare versus Medicare Advantage'” Angry Bear
Great amounts of disadvantage to Medicare Advantage plans.
My Medicare Advantage plan provides me the following benefits:
1. A monthly savings of $250 that a traditional Medicare supplement plan would cost me, $3,000 per year (this is a conservative estimate. My partner is on traditional Medicare and her supplement is now $350 per month).
2. A gym membership worth $50 per month, $600 per year.
3. An over the counter benefit of $320 per year.
4. An eyeglass benefit of $300 per year.
5. A dental benefit that is worth about $300 per year.
Thus, my material financial benefits total $4,520.
Ten years after starting Medicare, I’ve not experienced any denials of service. There is no charge to see my primary doctor. My co-pays for specialists typically run about $25, I end up paying about $100 per year for co-pays. My total out of pocket maximum in any year runs about $2,700. One year I ended up paying $255. The other nine years I had no out of pocket expense besides nominal co-pays.
I know some will argue that I will regret signing up for Medicare Advantage in the future if I have more serious health issues. I have no way of knowing if that is true or not.
@Jim,
Congratulations! You are exactly the demographic that Medicare Advantage seeks! For those who have serious health issues, MA hasn’t been so beneficial. It’s when the health care becomes expensive that denial of care occurs.
Well Jim:
You will be there forever as some aspects of Traditional Medicare may be or will be unavailable to you if you do switch back to it and supplemental insurance. I hope they explained such losses to you.