The Co-operative Exchange

The Traps Within Medicare -- 2019 Edition

  • Sale
  • ₱709
  • Regular price ₱810


Author: Mr. Rick Mortimer

Edition: "Avoid the Traps" series

Number Of Pages: 284

Publisher: Next Mountain Publishing

Release Date: 21-09-2018

Details: Medicare is a maze of pitfalls, traps and consequences wrapped in strange language and acronyms. Words often have quite different meanings than simple English would make us think. A normal human can easily reach very different conclusions after a discussion or research session, than that which is correct.A simple example: the word covered. When we're told that a procedure or treatment or visit is covered by Medicare, our normal English interpretation is that our costs are taken care of, is it not?This is not the case, not by a long shot. Covered, to the folks at Medicare, means that they will pay some part of the cost, leaving us with sometimes huge out-of-pocket expenses. And figuring out what part they will pay can be far from simple.To illustrate, let's consider medical bills "covered" under Part B of Medicare, the part that encompasses doctors' bills and outpatient treatments, for a common senior procedure -- a knee replacement. Most of these are now done in outpatient surgery centers; your doctor will say, and Medicare will confirm, that an outpatient knee replacement is covered by Part B. If you merely accept that language as plain English and assume that you can have the procedure without cost, you are in for a massive set of surprises.Covered under Part B means, at best, 80% of the costs are actually covered by Medicare payments. You pay a monthly premium of $135.50 in 2019 for Part B coverage. Then you pay a deductible, $185.00 in 2019, upon your first use of Part B benefits in the calendar year. But the biggest surprise of all is that you have to pay 20% "co-insurance" for all Part B charges -- plus an additional (up to) 15% for "excess charges" if your doctor elects to bill you for more than Medicare will pay.Let's run the numbers. Costs for a knee replacement will vary widely with doctors, facilities, and your specific condition and complications. To get into the ballpark, we looked at some reputable websites for data.

EAN: 9781732152410

Package Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches

Languages: English