Observation status with Medicare Advantage can cost you a lot of money. If you go to the hospital, you might start out in the Emergency Room and your co-pay would be $75 – even if they do lots of tests…
How much a knee replacement costs
Do you know how much a knee replacement costs? I received this infographic from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. It looks like Blue Cross Blue Shield negotiates different prices with different providers – and negotiated prices can be a lot…
Politics and Medicare
Politics and Medicare are featured in a recent NPR story. Here are highlights from the NPR story on politics and Medicare: The challenge for Medicare is not to expand benefits, but to figure out a way to control future cost…
How To Pay Your Medicare Premium
You can pay your Medicare premium in several ways. This info on how to pay your Medicare premium is from the Medicare.gov website: If you get Social Security, Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) benefits, or Civil Service benefits, your Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) premium will…
Medicare Advantage Auto Enrollment
If you are turning 65 and transferring from an individual health plan to Medicare, BEWARE! You might find yourself the victim of Medicare Advantage auto enrollment. I just read an article in Kaiser Health News that says: With Medicare’s specific…
Lidocaine Patch and Medicare
The most read article in this blog is about the Lidocaine Patch and Medicare Part D plans. I wrote about this last year when a client called me to complain that she could no longer get the Lidocaine Patch through…