At Last! Retiring for GOOD!

I really don't know what happened, or why my personal visit to the offices to get my Part B signup did not work. All I knew is that my Part B coverage wasn't showing up on the website. I tried calling - not a good idea - I spent HOURS on the phone, without success. So, this week, I got into the car, drove about 2 miles down the road, checked in and waited for almost 45 minutes (I didn't have an appointment), and saw a representative. Who was immediately helpful. I now have Part B coverage. Now, I will need to set up the arrangements for paying for it, but - I'm in, without a penalty. Penalty? Yeah. It turns out that if you don't sign up at 65, for BOTH Parts A and B, you will have to pay a penalty for the rest of your life in the form of higher premiums. The exception - which I qualified for - is for those over 65 who are still working (which, until 6/1/17, I was). I just needed to show them the form CMS-L564, signed by my former employer, which ve...

I've been hip-deep in the morass that is our Government-Issued/Overseen Health Care for Seniors for the last few months. I did NOT put enough time into it to be sure that I am making good choices, but I plan to monitor the situation, and re-assess as I approach the Open Enrollment period, so I can decide whether to keep that assortment of plans, or change them. I'm in uncharted waters here. I've only had access to work-connected health insurance, and my choices were limited to a few plans. At most companies, the Benefits department does a reasonably good job of explaining the pros and cons of different plans, making decision much easier. Two parts of Medicaid were easy - Parts A and B. I signed up for A last year when I turned 65, but didn't add B until I retired. No sweat, there was no real choice to make for these. Same for everyone. I spent some time wrestling with which of the alphabeted plans to select, and decided on Plan G - it has coverage for illnesses/ac...