Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Who In This Age (65+)Group Has Medicare?

My aunt turned 65 last year and they sent her all this Medicare information. She is living off of her husband's social security and did not apply for part A last year. I called for her this year to see what part B covered, she needs a few teeth pulled, and they told me they don't cover normal extractions. To get a tooth pulled it has to be part of a more severe problem. I also found out for her she will not get any cost of living raise this year, the benefits will go up and my aunt will be penalized for not signing up last year. I could not believe what they were telling me. My aunt cannot get any private, affordable low cost health or dental insurance because they all want you to have part B of Medicare. The government has this thing on lock. My aunt didn't sign up last year because part B was going to take $97 dollars from her check and she could not afford it, plus the supplement insurance companies have their own plans where you might not pay for certain things but you will have to pay certain cost for others which means my aunt will not only have the money taken out of her check but still be on the hook for other things even though it would not be a large amount. Her own SS benefits are lower than her deceased husband benefits which is why she kept his. She is thinking about returning to work part time(she's in good health with the exception of the few teeth problems) to help cover the cost of getting part B and whatever she would have to pay with the supplement companies. Has anyone else out there had this problem? Do you know of any other solutions she could take besides getting part B? If she has to get part B, from your own experience, which supplement company is the best. This is scary. She does have part A. The government is literally forcing people, 65 and older, to take this insurance but are not making it easy for them to live a decent lifestyle.
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I have Medicare, but I only use it for hospitalization. I am on Medicaid as well, but don't use it ex- cept for dental care. I found that many dentists I have called will not accept just the coverage of Medicare on tooth extractions. They want around $100.00 more in cash, which I don't have, nor the same amount for Medicare's full coverage. I wonder if your aunt qualifies for Medicaid, to get basic coverage on dental care. If so maybe she can find a dentist that will take the Medicaid coupon or use both Medicaid and Medicare to pay the complete cost for her extractions. It seems each dentist has their own guidelines on their costs, so don't assume they all are the same. I found one out of four that accepts the coupon, without wanting more money. I know I need to get my work done, before he decides to go with the flow of other dentists.
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