B&B Happy Goats....journal

[farmerjan]

@B&B Happy goats ; one thing I was wondering.... why not consult with the ins person that did/does Leon"s???? knowing the both of you would be in the ins persons best interest to make sure that you got a good plan also.
Glad that you have something better than before......I don't pay anything for dr visits, no copays, nothing for anything else unless medicare contests it.... Just the original $187.50, deductible for the year. They are contesting the iron panel the dr wants to run, will submit it, but might have to pay for it eventually. Since I want to know what it says, I am willing to pay for it if they don't.
Since I never used the dr much, going years with no dr visits, I can see not wanting to pay a high supplemental ins.... but knowing I wanted to do the ankle and the knee etc.... I also went with the one that will pay everything down the road. So If I have paid in 1,000 for the year in supplemental costs, and the deductible .... don't have any idea of what the ER visit will be, but figure the MRI is probably several thousand; probably a ridiculous amount, I am already ahead....

For me this is best. I will have 2 very expensive surgeries, in the neighborhood of 75,000 each, or more; plus the rehab etc and so on...I will keep this plan forever & ever, amen..... and still probably be ahead at a ripe old age of 90.....
Anyone contemplating something like a knee, hip, ankle, shoulder replacement or other surgery.... needs to have a REAL GOOD supplemental ins .... Heck, $1,000 + a year is only what some people pay for ins for 1 or 2 months when younger.... which is a real rip off , but alot better than me having to pay out co-pays, and such that can run 3-4 thousand every year. One of the reasons I was waiting for Medicare to kick in. My ins from work cost me about 200-250 a month, they paid most, but the deductible was 6500.... I never met the deductible. The friend of Michael's told me this eve his was 11,000 deductible.... Totally absurd. So I intend to get back every little bit I can with these couple of replacement surgeries after years of basically paying all my medical "out of pocket" because I never hit the deductible anyway. It was a good "disaster" insurance as anything over the deductible it would pay everything....even some others aren't like that.

 

[Bruce]

and then when the "open period" comes around, you would not be able to qualify for the medical underwriting by the ins co., to go back to regular medicare with a supplemental plan.

I'm still confused by this but since I'll be on Medicare in < 1.5 years I need to start understanding.
If you EVER go with an advantage plan you can NEVER switch to a supplemental in the future?

 

[Bruce]

You likely wouldn't be the first person to sell an animal that just wouldn't shut up.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

She is a cutie - but agree! Life is too short for annoying goats, lol!

 

[Baymule]

just found out the last button on the tool bar is a on or off control ...back to happy faces again

What do you mean?

 

[Bruce]

it's her voice that I hear through the ear bud that is sooooo darn annoying !

I know someone who has a goat that sounds like a baby crying. Had it on the phone and sure enough it does. Her pregnant neighbor came over and asked if she could shut the goat up, it was causing her milk to let down. The goat is now known as a "lactation specialist".

 

[Mini Horses]

@Mini Horses , please believe that I was not trying to criticize or anything, about your decision to switch to an advantage plan. The "extras " that you can get are good. My ins agent told me that for someone who has never had any issues, it can be a good thi

All good -- I didn't take offense. I feel it's good to know what is available AND be able to decide based on ones OWN needs.

Bruce you can switch insurance at open season. Each area may have slightly different "advantage" plans. The plan I will use has some co pay but, minimal & only one is more than the medicare portion would be. Total out of pocket is $4,900. PCP is zero co-pay. In reality, since I haven't had a doctor need in 20 yrs, or EVER used medicare in 9 yrs, I'm pretty happy to have some "free" payback in the form of vision, dental & OTC use. Not everyone is in this situation. Co-pay or my "share" of medicare? That's my view. Same policy premium.

B&B I see you have found one that works for you. On the one I will have there is a $3K per year for hearing aids. Hope yours has that! Would be nice if they could "pool" the vision, dental, hearing $$$ and let you use it in any portion within those 3 issues.


So, on to your thread -- did they want to come look at the doe or just haggle? LOL Maybe add "firm" on your price listing. She is a pretty thing!! I have one that just likes to holler sometimes. It is annoying. I just shout "shut up!" I had to laugh at the neighbor. My stepdaughter had that happen one day in our office when a tenant came in with a tiny baby, who decided to cry. Yep, wet blouse. LOL

 

[Baymule]

I just got a text in response to my ad for Bella, before even seeing her they tried haggling the price ...I ended that conversation quickly. Why oh why are people so stooooopid ?

 

[farmerjan]

I'm still confused by this but since I'll be on Medicare in < 1.5 years I need to start understanding.
If you EVER go with an advantage plan you can NEVER switch to a supplemental in the future?

No, that isn't what I meant @Bruce . Sorry I may not have explained it very well. As far as I have been told, like maybe @Mini Horses has done.... she went from regular medicare paid out all those years and never used it. Switched to an "advantage" plan that gives her perks like the dental and OTC stuff. If she stays healthy like she has been, when open enrollment comes around she should be able to switch back to reg medicare and get a supplement. So I have been told. BUT if she has a major issue happen, like heart attack, stroke, diabetes, or anything that could be considered major, when open enrollment comes back around she would not qualify for the underwriting to go and get a supplement. I have been told that by 2 different ins agents. I do not know much about the Medicare Plan C which is what I think that @B&B Happy goats has gone to. They might call it Advantage. That is an "all - in - one" medicare which has the drug plan included. Costs less, or next to nothing, has some restrictions, co-pays, what doctors you can use.....
What you really need to do is talk to your ins person NOW, start getting a feel for what would be the best for you. They tend to not be so "pushing a plan" at this point because you are still more than a year out. Some might be more candid. There were several groups that put on seminars here explaining the different forms of Medicare. Honestly, I got more and more confused with each meeting I went to. So I went to our ins lady from work, talked to her, explained the joint issues and wanting to (having to) do something down the road in the not too distant future. When she told me about her husband retiring, going on Medicare, and having the knee replacement and it only costing $187.50 out of pocket TOTAL, I said that is what I want.
Part A is the hospital plan, medicare provided free, Part B is the doctor/office/lab test/ etc and so on. You pay for it. Comes out of my SS check. Can't for the life of me remember exactly what it is; like 135.00 month, directly out of my SS check There are several supplement "plans" offered and a zillion ins companies that offer them for different prices. Then there is Part D which is the drug plan. I have the cheapest one that she said was decent.

So I have Part A = free..... Part B and the supplemental plan I have is plan G..... Mine is through Anthem. Pay $88.00 month, for the supplement. Then I have Part D - "drug plan" which is through Well Care and is $14.50 mo. I paid it for the year and got a little bit of a discount. It was something like $149.00 for the full year. Easier than having to remember to pay monthly. The Part B is an auto payment out of my checking account. If you do not get a drug plan right off, you will pay a penalty when you do, based on the # of months you did not have one. It wasn't worth it to me to pay a penalty down the road, even though I have not used it up to my ER trip (been on it for right at a year).... Again, knowing that I was going to be doing the ankle and /or the knee within a couple of years; and will be taking some drugs for pain if nothing else.
There is the Part C which is more like an all in one, including the drug plan. They may call that Advantage.... There are some restrictions... My ins lady said I did not want to go that route, I think because of the replacements. I said OKAY and did not pursue it.
So, I am paying for Part B $135/mo; plus supplemental plan G $88/mo; plus Part D drug $14/mo. $240 a month m/l
That is about what I paid through work with a $6500 deductible.... And this will pay all but $187.50 for the year no matter what I do. Well, there are restrictions, but they are very few. Any doctor, any hosp..... Someone like @MiniHorses, who isn't looking at joint problems like I have, is probably better off with what she has, and probably should have had that before.... all the more reason to have an ins person who can advise you after knowing any and all of what your health and future health (replacements?) might be.
You need to talk to someone in ins... one on one.... and make sure they know your history. I am assuming that since you retired early, that you are on your wife's ins at the P.O.???? Or do you have a separate policy? Can she carry ins through them after she retires??? You can stay on an ins plan, you can defer Part B and Part D if you prove you are covered by a policy. Don't know the particulars. I was about to lose my ins due to losing full time status, so it worked out just about perfect for me timing wise.

SORRY TO steal the thread....

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I just got a text in response to my ad for Bella, before even seeing her they tried haggling the price ...I ended that conversation quickly. Why oh why are people so stooooopid ?

Haggling is part of the culture around here. I understand that and I simply price the animal a bit higher than the selling price I will accept.

This past year that practice backfired on me - but in a totally unexpected way. I had a bottle baby that I was sooo tired of feeding so offered him for sale at $110 dollars - fully expecting to go down to $100 (or less). A high school girl answered my ad and her mom brought her out to see the baby. Of course she fell in love with him and proudly pulled $110 dollars from her jeans pocket and handed it to me. I explained that I was happy to take $100 dollars for the baby and tried to give her the $10 back. She wouldn't take it and her mother explained that they came out expecting to pay $110 because they hated it when people tried to undercut their price when they tried to sell things. That's the first time that I've ever tried to cut my own price and the buyer wouldn't accept a price cut, lol.

It generally goes the other way - hence building in a higher price to begin with. Sometimes it goes my way and I get the fully inflated asking price - and sometimes I accept the reduced price. Factoring in the price of feed - I usually come out ahead by selling the animal even at a lower price.