Every day about 10,000 of us enroll in Medicare for the first time — inevitable with the aging of the massive Baby Boomer population.
All in, more than 55 million of us are in Medicare, and every year – in the so-called open enrollment period – many change their plans, either to cut costs or access better coverage. But what you don’t understand about Medicare will likely cost you when making such decisions.
There may even be a one-stop, money-saving solution that you have ignored. How could that be? Easy. Talk with Medicare recipients and those entering the program, and confusion is rampant. That’s because signing up for Medicare in fact involves many choices; it’s not one plan, it is is many. To boot, there also are many varieties of plans. All have different price tags, co-pays and even some means testing (the more you earn, the more some features cost).
If you thought multivariable calculus was a gut course, you’ll love Medicare enrollment and changing plans in open enrollment.
“People think when they turn 65, their health will be handled by Medicare. That’s part right,” said Dr. Stephen Schimpff, author of Fixing the Primary Care Crisis. “But they don’t know that they will have to make a lot of complicated decisions when they enroll. It can be confusing.”
Click here to read more about hidden cost of Medicare.
