Is Medicare as horrible as is seems?
I was finally approved for disability (yay!!) after 5 years of trying and then I received a packet for Medicare. It’s confusing and scary and they Cover NOTHING, but they charge the crap out of you. By the time you’re done paying premiums, you can barely afford to GO the doctor OR get your meds (and pay the co-pays for those too). I mean we’re disabled...we spend a lot of time at doc appointments and filling scripts. Is there anyone out there who can explain it to me in laymen’s terms? I received my notice on the 23rd and everything goes into effect Jan 1 so with the holidays I been limited in reaching out to all “resources” for lack of a better term, but have spoken to a few. Please feel free to inbox me if you can really get down to the nitty-gritty with me. Thanks, Your super stressed out migraine friend Dana.
Hi there Dana- So glad you wrote in - you are right that the process is confusing and overwhelming! I, too, am on disability and when I got that same notice from Medicare, I was befuddled. I ended up deciding to stay on my husband's insurance, because that was an option for me at that time. However, even doing that has had ramifications. Evidently if you are offered Medicare, you are required to let your private insurer know this fact because this is a way to help share/save on your costs. You are really not supposed to make this decision without consulting with the private insurer or else you risk them potentially coming after you for reimbursement $ later. It is also hard to re-access Medicare once you've turned it down, even if you remain on disability. So, it's very smart of you to be weighing your options carefully. Even though I can't personally tell you how to navigate the Medicare system, I wanted to pass along the resources we have on the topic in hopes that they might be of use: https://migraine.com/?s=medicare and I hope others in our community will respond soon.
Thinking of you and hope you're adjusting to life on disability. Hope you'll keep in touch.I’m very much learning the hard way. I had no private insurance to deflect to. I am a single mom and had been in Medicaid awaiting the decision. I was automatically enrolled in several programs for low income families, but decided to purchase an Advantage plan (which I thought was a Supplement Plan). I got different information from everyone I spoke to. I later was told before I was unenrolled from Medicaid, I met criteria to be reenrolled ( which no one told me, so I was paying co pays) I finally got a letter, but now I have to re notify all my doctors (and this will more than likely through a wrench into a planned brain surgery ) which was all set before I was approved for Medicare. There are definite downsides that people aren’t aware of. You are so relieved your SSDI has finally gotten approved and then you’re hit with a mountain of other information. Lots of things I wish I had been prepared for. Maybe we should start a section on “What to expect when your disability is approved”.
Thanks for your helpful response...Dana
Dana Hey Young Lady. I am real and been trying check on you since your last message asking if I had a real name.
There’s to many ifs, ands, or, Buts when it comes to Medicare, SSI and Insurance
You Gotta have a Degree to Understand it and if Your Sick You Surly not Up to Trying to figure it out and keep it straight.
I’m Praying for You I Promise
My email if you want to email is with a capital H
Helopilot516@gmail.com
I’ll be watching for it
