Medicare

[Bookfairy]

I will be retiring in the next few years and wonder how Medicare works with Extavia ( interferon) and Ampyra. Is anyone already on medicare with interferons? What is your experince
transfering over? I tried to do a search for Medicare and didn't find anything on this subject. I havent uswed this web site for a long time and don't know how to do a search here.

Thank you for your help.
Bookfairy

[Gabriella7]

Welcome

Just wanted to welcome you to the board. Sorry, I can't answer your question because I have another insurance that pays for my prescription not Medicare.

Medicare pays for the doctors and equipment I have needed.

Gabriella

[agate]

WELCOME, Bookfairy!

I can discuss only my own experience. I've had Medicare and Medicaid for years, and when I was on Avonex, and later on Copaxone, I didn't pay a cent for either of them.

For me a lot depended on who was my "provider" under Medicare Part D, the prescription drug coverage part of Medicare.

[Bookfairy]

I will probably have some type of insurance also but I don't really understand who pays for what and I need to know to plan for the future. I also don't know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid and which I should apply for. Tjes are things I aqm starting to investigate. Do you stay on the same insurance plan and Medicare and Medicaid just supplement?

[Gabriella7]

Medicare is a federal plan for disabled and seniors and Medicaid is provided by the state and is based on need in the state where I live. My other insurance plan is the one I had when I retired from federal civil service and I kept it as I didn't know what I would have to pay for in the future. Medicare always pays first and then my secondary insurance will pick up the remainder of what Medicare has approved and not paid for. My experience has been I don't have to pay anything except the monthly insurance premiums and that is about $300.00.

I have a husband who covers the living expenses so you might have expenses that I don't have.

You do need to figure out what is best for you as it will vary from person to person according to your circumstances. You can get information from Medicare that will help you.

Gabriella

[Bookfairy]

Thank you for you help.

[Gary]

Something that folks need to remember is that if you go out on Social Security Disability (SSDI) you have no insurance coverage for 2 YEARS and of course before no one would cover you due to existing condition now they have no choice but to cover you. There is a hitch of course, the premium for basic coverage ie: high deductibles, high co-pay and EXTREMELY limited coverage will run you in the neighborhood of $2,000 a month. This of course will depend on your part of the country. I am not naming companies but being that I don't have a lot of other thing to do I did some research and high deductibles mean $3,000 to $5,000 and co-pays of around 50%. Co pay is insurance speak for having a deductible that is never satisfied. :) Just saying........

[Jeanie Z]

:) Hi everyone. I never received disability. When I turned 65 I got Social Security and Medicare. I was paying $177. a month for a supplemental plan through AARP after I got Medicare.

During the period you can change your supplemental plan I inquired of the agency they said could give you guidance. They suggested I change to Care Plus Open HMO which would cost me nothing each month. The saving $177 plus the RX's savings gives me an extra $200. a month.

They looked up my RX's and Care Plus covered them. (I am on LDN, thyroid and Temazepam for sleep). The AARP paid nothing on my Rx's. Your supplemental plan becomes the primary and Medicare your backup.

I do not know if there is a difference if you are on disability SS. Jeanie :)

[Abby2006]

Welcome to the board

Abby

[Virginia]

Hi Bookfairy and welcome to the forum. I am on Medicare. I have Social Security and that allows me to have Medicare. I have a supplemental policy that pays for the things that Medicare does not. The supplemental policy does not pay for prescription medications so I have what is known as Prescription Part D to pay for that. This is the part of Medicare that pays for prescriptions and you have to pay separately for it.

I have one of the AARP plans for my supplemental policies and it cost me $185.00 per month. It goes up each year, however not as much as the same plan with Blue Cross does in the State I live in. Then my Prescription Part D cost about $30.00 per year. I am allowed to change the Prescription Part D once a year. A booklet is sent by Medicare and it list the companies that offer Prescription Part D. I look at each one to see if they cover all my medications and then choose the one I think is best for me, based on the drugs I take and the co-pays they charge for the drugs.

However, I am on Rebif and all the co-pays are expensive with that, so the drug company helps me with that. I work with them directly. My income is close to the limit of what they will allow and still help, so if I go over at all it will cost me probably at least 6 to 7 thousand dollars more per year.

I have not gone on a plan like Jeanie is on because it was recommended in my State that I not do so. They felt that with what I had wrong there might be things that would not be covered as well and that I might have more problems getting some of my prescriptions. I am on much more than Jeanie.

It all sounds very complicated and can be a little overwhelming at first. Once you understand the system it will not seem so complicated. As you get closer to retirement you can then start to look at different options that are available to you. For instance, I am not eligible for Medicaid because my income is too much so I am on what is known as traditional Medicare.

Don't lt it worry you too much yet because if you have a few years you will pick up different bits of information as you go along.

Virginia

[Parsi]

I see you registered in 2007 but only have 3 posts, so you're a newcomer. Welcome, bookfairy. I like your username.

I hadn't heard of Extavia before so I looked it up. Apparently it's the same med as Betaseron (interferon Beta-1b)

It's been a couple years since I looked up Medicare insurance so my answers may be out of date (and my memory is not always reliable). As others said Medicare is the normal insurance for seniors and Medicaid is for low income. You can't have both. If you qualify for Social Security to get Medicare free or nearly so. If you don't, then you need to pay the full premium. To cover meds, you need to also get Part D of Medicare. Medicare only covers within the US, but you must register by your 65th birthday or premiums are more if you decide to wait until later. I understand that most other health insurance won't cover seniors.

I'm a bit screwed because I'm rapidly reaching 65, I don't have enough credits/units to qualify for Social Security, and I live outside the US.

[agate]

As others said Medicare is the normal insurance for seniors and Medicaid is for low income. You can't have both.

I have both Medicare and Medicaid and know of many people who have both. If you're on Social Security you automatically qualify for Medicare (except that you wait 2 years for Medicare to kick in if you're on Social Security disability). If your income is low enough, you can qualify for Medicaid as well.

[Parsi]

I have both Medicare and Medicaid and know of many people who have both. If you're on Social Security you automatically qualify for Medicare (except that you wait 2 years for Medicare to kick in if you're on Social Security disability). If your income is low enough, you can qualify for Medicaid as well.

I stand corrected. I admit to being confused when I read about Medicare and such.