Blue Cross Plans
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Today I plan to attend a seminar on a new Blue Cross Blue Shield offering for Michigan. The situation in this state is a little unsettled with regard to this non-profit insurer because BCBS has been seeking considerable rate increase to cover not only the non-profit aspect of their business, but the real losses as well.
It ought to be interesting. Insurance coverage is every imaginable variety of fruit, so comparing apples to oranges is the easy part. I'm hoping to gain some insight about this offering and I'll be joined by several others who volunteer their time providing assistance to seniors in matters related to Medicare supplemental insurance.
I'll pass along anything that might be useful. For those of you who are 65 or older, you can see a site these volunteers have pulled together here. I'm certain there will be many changes appearing there over the course of this year as the health care legislation "features" are identified and understood... and the impact on seniors becomes more apparent.
The most likely impact on seniors over the next decade will be higher Medicare premiums along with higher supplemental insurance premiums [if available]. The recently passed "re-forming" health care legislation did little except add more entitlements to the system. It is time to take a serious look at the alternative proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
He understands that having the government re-form health care is like having the Mafia re-form police departments. The government, as the Mafia, are simply organizations that channel useful funds away from the ordinary citizen.
UPDATE:
BCBS did present materials about a new "Medicare Plus Blue PPO" and a new "MyBlue Medigap" along with some explanations about how they vary and how they treat such important considerations as coverage [must use network doctors versus any doctor] and deductibles [low to high]. It was quite useful, but I walked away with the thought that buying supplemental Medicare insurance was a lot like buying a new car:
- narrow down the brands buy some objective or subjective parameters
- narrow down the type of vehicle
- narrow down the trim level and options
- compare the bottom line price to the vehicle and features you want
- figure out your finances
- hope for the best