notnksnemor
The Great and Powerful Oz
Yes.
Part B is not mandatory.
Welcome Guest!
Medicare, again
- Thread starter hipster dufus
- Start date
Part B is not mandatory.
hipster dufus
Senior Member
Dang, postal reform act looks like its going to make postal retirees go on medicare at 65. Its awful confusing. Anyone understand it?
notnksnemor
The Great and Powerful Oz
This is from memory, so check it out before acting:
I think most group insurance carriers require you go on Medicare as primary, and they become secondary insurers at 65.
hipster dufus
Senior Member
That is mot how fehb works , or worked. We are not required to go on medicare, we still paid for A , get that free. We hav the option at 65. I think the new law changes that. Im hoping retirees get grandfathered and only new retirees,2025 on, hav to go on medicare
Another bit of into for the FEHB plans is that once you are retired and over 65, the health cost charged by providers is limited to the maximim amount they are allowed to charge MediCare.
OK, how do you go about getting the Medicare B premiums deducted each month directly from my OPM CSRS annuity?
Created a Medicare account and they have the option to deduct directly from a bank account. But I would prefer to keep all that kind of stuff in one central location in case I have to change banks or whatever.
OPM site was kind of vague on it. It Said they can't do it upon my request nor a request from the SS Administration. So can the Medicare office do it?
Created a Medicare account and they have the option to deduct directly from a bank account. But I would prefer to keep all that kind of stuff in one central location in case I have to change banks or whatever.
OPM site was kind of vague on it. It Said they can't do it upon my request nor a request from the SS Administration. So can the Medicare office do it?
Last edited:
By the way, I will add a tidbit that may be helpful. We are already on one of the more robust FEHB plans, NALC High Option. No choice but to keep that because of the heavy medical issues with my family members. So I signed up for Medicare A&B last month, thinking it would be 2 or 3 months before they processed it, which I wanted to happen. Hoping to start in Jan at the earliest. But no.... They processed it immediately, the first time I ever saw that with the govt. Have to pay part B for Nov and Dec.
But anyway, next thing I know I get a mailing from NALC that there's a new option for their members with Medicare starting in Jan 23. A combination of the NALC High Option with a Medicare Advantage plan. So I continue to pay the same NALC premiums (which I was going to do anyway), I am still backed up by the same NALC plan, plus the Medicare Advantage benefits, family members are still covered by the NALC plan, AND they are going to refund $75/month back against the Part B premiums.
But anyway, next thing I know I get a mailing from NALC that there's a new option for their members with Medicare starting in Jan 23. A combination of the NALC High Option with a Medicare Advantage plan. So I continue to pay the same NALC premiums (which I was going to do anyway), I am still backed up by the same NALC plan, plus the Medicare Advantage benefits, family members are still covered by the NALC plan, AND they are going to refund $75/month back against the Part B premiums.
hipster dufus
Senior Member
Stuff is so confusing, but do i want to pay 8k$ a yr in premiums? No!!! Someone explain why u would?
Artfuldodger
Senior Member
We tried that Advantage route with our FEHB high option plan for a year and didn't like it.
The Advantage plan used United and it had different doctors and hospitals and didn't cover quite as good. We dropped it and went back to the plain old FEHB High Option.
hipster dufus
Senior Member
Artful, so u r paying ur fehb premium and part B? That has to b 8k$ or more in premiums, right? Can u explain why u would go that route? Do u have hi priced meds? I just dont get it.
I agree, I am going to have to do some research on the coverage and network doctor options before choosing that.
There has to be some kind of catch. Why would they give me a $75/month rebate on part B and NOT charge me extra for the NALC premiums at the same time. But on the other hand, it is only me covered by the advantage plan for the next year and my own medical costs fortunately have been very minimal so far. Family doesn't get involved in Medicare until 2024. If I have to change the one and only doctor I have been to for the last 17 years, then it wouldn't break my heart.
Yes confusing indeed. You are correct some FEHP High plans plus a married couple both on Medicare Part B might come up close to 8K. It's insurance and insurance depends on the risk you anticipate. In our case, we probably would get that 8K back from potential bills within the first 8 months of the year due to extensive problems. I know that because of our history over the last 10-15 years. If it was just me to worry about, I probably would risk skipping Part B for a while. But even that is a gamble at age 65 unless you have mega bucks saved up (which we don't). Just a matter of time before my luck runs out and big medical bombs start falling on me as well.
Similar threads
