old folks of ATOT, how much does medicare cost you a year?

[brianmanahan]

i am trying to help plan for my parents and it sounds like it might be way more expensive than i thought

like 5-6$k per person per year, just for the premiums?

 

[Captante]

i am trying to help plan for my parents and it sounds like it might be way more expensive than i thought

like 5-6$k per person per year, just for the premiums?

God bless America!

 

[ponyo]

It shouldn't cost that much unless your parents earned high income. There's Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) if your parents earned high income in 2019. If that's the case, you're in good luck because that likely means your parents are high earners and you're going to get fat inheritance when they die.

https://www.medicare.gov/your-medicare-costs/part-b-costs

My mom started Medicare this year and she pays $144.60 a month for Medicare Part B. Her only income right now is Social Security which is far below $87k a year limit.

 

[brianmanahan]

My mom started Medicare this year and she pays $144.60 a month for Medicare Part B. Her only income right now is Social Security which is far below $87k a year limit.

does she have to buy part D + medigap or medicare advantage too?

those were the things i figured would be cheap, but supposedly end up costing way more than the medicare part B itself

 

[ponyo]

does she have to buy part D + medigap or medicare advantage too?

those were the things i figured would be cheap, but supposedly end up costing way more than the medicare part B itself

No, she just has the part B. She's pretty healthy. She's diabetic so she takes insulin shots and couple different medications but the costs are not that much. I pay for all her spending through my credit cards so I'm pretty sure all her drugs are less than $100 a month after Medicare discount. Some of the generic drugs she was paying are now free under Medicare.

 

[BoomerD]

It shouldn't cost that much unless your parents earned high income. There's Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) if your parents earned high income in 2019. If that's the case, you're in good luck because that likely means your parents are high earners and you're going to get fat inheritance when they die.

https://www.medicare.gov/your-medicare-costs/part-b-costs

My mom started Medicare this year and she pays $144.60 a month for Medicare Part B. Her only income right now is Social Security which is far below $87k a year limit.

Sounds about right for what I pay for Medicare part B. I have a kind of crappy Med Advantage plan (only one available in this county) that's another $38/mo.

 

[brianmanahan]

Sounds about right for what I pay for Medicare part B. I have a kind of crappy Med Advantage plan (only one available in this county) that's another $38/mo.

ahh that is not as bad as i thought then. though i assume there is a pretty high deductible.

i just figured medicare was cheaper than it is and covered more than it does.

my grandparent's coverage always seemed cheap and good, but i think they have work-sponsored retirement plans covering everything after the part B payment.

 

[rasczak]

Sounds about right for what I pay for Medicare part B. I have a kind of crappy Med Advantage plan (only one available in this county) that's another $38/mo.

Did you have any pre-existing conditions? I'm trying to plan out our costs in retirement (still have about 20 years to go), but I'm Type2 Diabetic. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to get my meds from Mexico or something by the time I retire.

 

[olds]

Just starting to deal with this.
I officially retire at the end of today at 62 and I stay on my pension plan till I am 65. Then I have to enroll in Medicare.

My wife has to go on Part B today as she is older than me. Her part is about $140/month. But I didn't realize she was supposed to apply 30 days before today so there will be a delay.

 

[rasczak]

Just starting to deal with this.
I officially retire at the end of today at 62 and I stay on my pension plan till I am 65. Then I have to enroll in Medicare.

My wife has to go on Part B today as she is older than me. Her part is about $140/month. But I didn't realize she was supposed to apply 30 days before today so there will be a delay.

Congrats on the retirement. My dad is loving it.

 

[brianmanahan]

Congrats on the retirement. My dad is loving it.

that's awesome. my parents were excited until they realize how much medicare costs!

i think i might need to cover the premium so they dont have to worry about that.

 

[pcgeek11]

i am trying to help plan for my parents and it sounds like it might be way more expensive than i thought

like 5-6$k per person per year, just for the premiums?

$144 X 12 = $1,728 per year for Medicare Plan B, Supplement is via Tricare for life. Tricare for life picks up the deductibles and cost shares plus it pays for the drugs.

 

[PowerEngineer]

OP, you are wise to recognize that it pays to investigate Medicare options well in advance of your parent's eligibility dates. There are actually penalties and lost opportunity costs if you screw it up.

The first choice that needs to be made is whether to go with traditional Medicare (part A and Part B) or so-called Medicare Advantage plans (also called Plan C). If you go with the former, then you get to consider the need for a Medi-gap plan to cover costs that Medicare Part B does not cover and Medicare Part D for prescription medicines.

FWIW, we went with traditional Medicare. We opted for the highest coverage (and most expensive) Plan F Medi-gap policy which costs each of us about $220/month. (Plan F has been superseded by similar Plan G.) We have also chosen to add Plan D prescription medicine coverage. What you pay for these depends quite a bit on the prescriptions you take. The Medicare website has a very good tool that allows you to enter your prescriptions and then tells you which Plan D options are best for you. Monthly premiums run from as little as $10/month to about $100/month -- but there lots of deductibles and co-pays to consider.

As others have mentioned, the Feds do charge Medicare recipients a monthly premium. This fee does depend on the income on your federal tax return. This can be as low as ~$150/month (in 2021) or up to around $600/month (in 2021).

So OP, the bottom line is that your estimate of $400-$500/month is probably in the right ballpark.

 

[Lanyap]

ahh that is not as bad as i thought then. though i assume there is a pretty high deductible.

i just figured medicare was cheaper than it is and covered more than it does.

my grandparent's coverage always seemed cheap and good, but i think they have work-sponsored retirement plans covering everything after the part B payment.

If you don't mind me asking. Do your parent's have healthcare insurance now? If so, what type of plan. I'm in the process of reviewing my Medicare options when I convert in 6 months. It can be a lot more complicated than people realize. It all depends on your individual situation. In my case I'm on my own. I was not able to retire with a corporate or government retirement healthcare plan so I'm having to look at Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans (HMO/PPO), medigap, part D, etc.

A few things to keep in mind. if your parents are already receiving social security they will automatically be signed up with Medicare on the first day of the month they reach 65. They would receive a Medicare signup package three months before their birth month.

If you haven't already you can go to https://www.medicare.gov/ and figure out all of the options that are available to them and at what cost. For example, they might be able to get a Medicare Advantage plan with $0 monthly premium (it will still have copays and deductibles) that covers their needs or they may need the more expensive medigap plans. FYI, as I understand it, the MA plans have low premiums because Medicare pays some amount of money per month to the insurance company to handle part A & B for them so the insured doesn't deal with Medicare directly. Watch out for skilled nursing care coverage. Some of the medigap plans have better skilled nursing care coverage than MA but they cost more. If you have to go into skilled nursing care for a long period of time it can eat up your money fast. A lot depends on your parents health.

 

[brianmanahan]

If you don't mind me asking. Do your parent's have healthcare insurance now? If so, what type of plan.

yeah they have an ACA HDHP plan that is super high premium and deductible - like 1800$ a month premium and 7$k deductible per person

i figured it would get a lot better when they got to medicare and i guess compared to what they have now it will be

but certainly not as cheap as i expected

 

[JEDI]

does she have to buy part D + medigap or medicare advantage too?

those were the things i figured would be cheap, but supposedly end up costing way more than the medicare part B itself

hm.. thought Part B costs the same for everyone?

my mom retired from the union. (She worked with mentally handicapped children.)
I think her union pays for her MediGap (or whatever her Union equivalent is) for life.

no idea about Part D.
I think she's only on high blood pressure meds.
(does she even need Part D for that? or just pay out of pocket?)

 

[Muse]

I have Kaiser Permanente Medicare Advantage (HMO). Monthly premium is about $92 IIRC. Copays to see a doctor have fallen from $30 to $10 for whatever reason, I think. While the pandemic is on I am not going to their facilities.

You get a free yearly checkup with your primary care physician. They have a long schedule of copays. If you have conditions, naturally it's more expensive. Myself, I don't have any. I also take zero meds. They have a Medicare part D thing. But I rarely acquire any of that stuff.

My cataract surgery was pretty cheap but if I had wanted premium implants it would have cost me a few thousand.

I pay dentistry separately, no insurance involved. I could get dentistry through my HMO, additional expense, but I don't because I liked my dentist. He retired, recently.

 

[Denly]

Not sure, always build into the tax I paid. that is for body check, family doc, specialist and most hospital fee. Dental(company), eye and drug(70% company) I have to pay.

 

[Lanyap]

yeah they have an ACA HDHP plan that is super high premium and deductible - like 1800$ a month premium and 7$k deductible per person

i figured it would get a lot better when they got to medicare and i guess compared to what they have now it will be

but certainly not as cheap as i expected

Yikes, that premium seems high for what they get. We pay $2600 a month for a good Florida BCBS gold plan that has a $0 deductible. That's for me, 64, my wife, 59, and my daughter 21. Check out Medicare.gov for Medicare plans in their area and healthcare.gov for current plans before they convert to Medicare.