Get What's Yours for Medicare

Maximize Your Coverage, Minimize Your Costs

Philip Moeller

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9781501124006
• eBook ISBN:
  9781501124013
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Sociology

A coauthor of the New York Times bestselling guide to Social Security Get What's Yours authors an essential companion to explain Medicare, the nation's other major benefit for older Americans. Learn how to maximize your health coverage and save money. Social Security provides the bulk of most retirees' income and Medicare guarantees them affordable health insurance. But few people know what Medicare covers and what it doesn't, what it costs, and when to sign up. Nor do they understand which parts of Medicare are provided by the government and how these work with private insurance plans—Medicare Advantage, drug insurance, and Medicare supplement insurance. Do you understand Medicare's parts A, B, C, D? Which Part D drug plan is right and how do you decide? Which is better, Medigap or Medicare Advantage? What do you do if Medicare denies payment for a procedure that your doctor says you need? How do you navigate the appeals process for denied claims? If you're still working or have a retiree health plan, how do those benefits work with Medicare? Do you know about the annual enrollment period for Medicare, or about lifetime penalties for late enrollment, or any number of other key Medicare rules?Health costs are the biggest unknown expense for older Americans, who are turning sixty-five at the rate of 10, 000 a day. Understanding and navigating Medicare is the best way to save health care dollars and use them wisely. In Get What's Yours for Medicare, retirement expert Philip Moeller explains how to understand all these important choices and make the right decisions for your health and wealth now—and for the future.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• 1. No One Told Me
• 2. Living Longer Is Great; Paying for It Isn’t
• 3. Leaving the Health Insurance Herd
• 4. Get It Right the First Time
• 5. What Medicare Covers and What It Doesn’t
• 6. Medigap: The Glue That Holds Original Medicare Together
• 7. The Horse Insurers Want You to Ride: Medicare Advantage Plans
• 8. Mugged and Drugged: Part D Prescription Plans
• 9. Medicare Moneyball: Financial Help and Pitfalls
• 10. When You’re Mad as Hell: Medicare Rights and Appeals
• 11. So Many Stars in the Sky: Health Provider Quality Ratings
• 12. Fuzzy Reception: How to See Health Care Providers and Networks Clearly
• 13. Open Enrollment: How to Fix a Medicare Lemon
• 14. What’s Your Endgame? Getting Ready to Not Be Here
• Acknowledgments
• Glossary
• Appendix: Medicare Manuals
• About Philip Moeller
• Notes
• Index
• Copyright