Added benefits.

[DURHAM D]

I keep seeing ads on tv about added benefits and income for people on Medicare - dental, eyes and hearing aids. I assume that these are Medicare Advantage plans.

Has anyone explored this ?

I have regular Medicare, plus a supplemental, plus Part D.

[SheltieLover]

1. Not advantage plans

Regular Medicare, but dental wouldn't begin until 2027.

Pretty sure this would never be approved in the Senate, for the usual reasons.

It's already on the chopping block, of course.

Why should elders be able to eat, see, & hear?

[DURHAM D]

2. Actually I think these ads are definitely about

existing plans.

[SheltieLover]

6. Could be, but most Advantage plans already have dental & vision, don't they?

I have Medicare with a supplement so not sure, but from what I've read they do.

[dweller]

3. If it's based on your zip code

I think it has to do with Medicaid so some states aren’t eligible …

But I don’t know for sure as I haven’t called them, I deal with Soc Sec for my Medicare and the ads say the are not affiliated with any government agency

✌🏻

[drexelkathy]

4. They are current plans

My Mom was looking into them for dental. But the cost vs. benefit didn’t make sense for her.

[bcool]

5. Some Medicare Advantage plans have them

I have the AARP United Healthcare plan (for $0 over regular Medicare) and those are covered...

[DURHAM D]

9. Help me understand.

You have an Advantage plan that does not cost you more than the Medicare fee taken from your SS check and then given to AARP and it covers ears, eyes and dental.

Correct?

[abqtommy]

7. I did check once to see if I was eligible for the "cash back" feature. Nope. Now

I treat it like the scam it is and the thing is the companies offering this coverage will
fight like hell to prevent Medicare For All and these benefits being added to everyone's
regular Medicare coverage.

[DURHAM D]

8. I have a cousin on an Advantage plan and he gets

cash back. However, he does not have ear or dental coverage. Not sure about eyes. His SS check was only about $700.

[Liberal In Texas]

10. Medicare Advantage Plans are private insurance subsidized by the gov't.

They really shouldn't be called Medicare.

They have more "goodies" then regular Medicare, but also have disadvantages.

Like they're all HMOs. Talk about not being able to choose your doctor.
Or lets say you get one of their approved doctors and like him/her. Out of the blue the doctor or the doctor's practice may drop being in this particular Advantage's plan. Now you have to find another one of their doctors. With regular Medicare you can choose any doc you want. (OK, there are a few that don't take Medicare. Very very few. So few you would probably never run into one.)

And you are stuck in your area for medical care. Don't move in with your grown kid in another state for a few months if you plan on having any medical coverage.

And will they still be covering you like Medicare when you get really really sick with cancer or another very expensive disease? Private insurance will always try to weasel out of paying.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. The limits and restrictions you are talking about are extremely common

in employer-based health plans.

One time, some years back, the company my husband worked for decided to go with a different health-care provider. Had to find a new PCP, which was a pain. A year or two later they went back to the old plan, we went back to our old doctor.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

11. I have an Advantage plan

and it's recently started those new benefits.

[MineralMan]

13. Yes. Advantage plans.

I have one of those, and it does offer some limited dental, vision, and hearing benefits. The devil, though, is in the details. In no case are those benefits adequate for the kind of services a lot of Medicare recipients might need. Yes, you can get a pair or two of basic eyeglasses and a free dental cleaning or two through those plans, but not a full set of dentures or complicated glasses.

You do have to read the actual coverage information to see what is actually covered. Usually, it's not really all that much.