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...

The government does make it RELATIVELY painless to sign up (well, other than that paying for it thing). You can go to the site by Googling: Medicare part d signup Or, just go to this site to find plan comparisons. Once there, your access to plans is partly determined by your location, so the first step is to enter your zip code. You will be asked a few questions (I Don't Know is an acceptable answer). This takes you to a page where you can enter your on-going medications (if this isn't something you need, you can skip it, but if you take regular meds, it will make a difference to the cost of the plans). You will want to enter your standard medications on the list (easy-peasy), then select one of the 3 options (the first one is for buying Part D separately from your Part B, which your person signing you up should have told you if you needed this). Check the first box and compare plans. NOTE: pay attention not just to the monthly cost, but to the overall yearly cost...

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...