#345 - How Does Medicare Work? Making Your Medicare Decision

The retirement decisions that you make today will impact you for years to come. This can be a scary thought since we don’t know what the future holds. The Medicare decisions that you make now can affect your future self so you don’t want to take these decisions lightly.

For the past 4 episodes, we have discussed the inner workings of the Medicare system which has given us a good basis of knowledge to work from. Danielle Roberts from Boomer Benefits joins us one last time to help us understand how to make Medicare decisions.

“Making Medicare decisions now can be a scary thought since we don’t know what the future holds. ”

The retirement choices you make now will affect you for years to come

Choosing a Medicare plan is one of the most important and long-lasting choices that you will make in retirement. It’s hard to make these choices that will affect our future selves who may not be as healthy or alert as we are now. It is important to strike a balance between overanalyzing this decision and not analyzing it enough.

How to start to make your Medicare decisions

Thankfully Danielle Roberts has returned to the show with her sage advice on how we can begin to make these choices. She recommends a few things to help you narrow down your choices.

First off, start your research early. (Listening to this How Does Medicare Work series is a good start.)

Next, you need to decide whether to choose a Medigap or Medicare advantage plan. To help with this decision, start at your doctor’s office. You’ll need to ask whether they accept original Medicare. If they do this means that they accept Medigap plans. Then you’ll want to find out whether they participate in any Medicare Advantage plans.

“The Medicare decisions that you make now can affect your future self.”

There are many questions that come with Medicare

You’ll start thinking of more questions that you want to ask your doctor as you learn more about Medicare so start creating your list of questions to ask your doctor now.

There are a lot of considerations when deciding between Medigap or Medicare Advantage. Do you have a lot of different doctors? Do you want inexpensive copays? Do you have the money set aside to afford large deductibles or hospital stays down the road?

Consider your future self when making you Medicare decisions

It’s easy to choose what’s right for today rather than considering your future self. Ask yourself if you are going to be ok with this coverage not just now, but if you have a year where you aren’t as healthy. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Sleep on it to see if you have a few more questions.

You may want to consider using a broker like Boomer Benefits. Since they are a brokerage there is no cost to the consumer. All costs are worked into the insurance plans. Learn more about the whole Medicare system by listening to the entire How Does Medicare Work series. This will help you make the right Medicare decisions.

“Start creating your list of questions to ask your doctor now. ”

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

HOT TOPIC SEGMENT

[3:03] The latest happenings of the Retirement Answer Man show

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT

[9:20] How to make good Medicare decisions
[15:30] Should you ask a specialist the same questions you ask your primary care doctor?
[21:04] Know the risks of each plan that you are considering
[23:08] What about dental and vision plans?
[25:46] What are the benefits of using a brokerage?