Countdown to Medicare with Type 1 Diabetes: 3 Months / It’s Happening

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Laddie

On April 1, 2016 I started writing about my journey to Medicare with the sentence “A year from today I will be on Medicare.” With 3 months to go I’m not yet at the finish line. However, on January 1st I entered my “Initial Enrollment Period.” That means that I can finally start doing something about Medicare rather than just talking about it.

Tuesday morning I applied for Medicare benefits online. (I did not apply for monthly retirement cash benefits because as someone born in 1952, my NRA (Normal Retirement Age) to receive full benefits is age 66.) Enrollment in Medicare Part A (Hospital insurance) and Part B (Medical insurance) or Part B only is required before I can apply for a supplemental or cost/advantage plan in my state. Therefore I will need to wait for proof of enrollment and I assume that will be my red, white, and blue Medicare card.

The online enrollment was easy and I immediately received an email confirming my application. About 24 hours later, I received an email from SSA.gov indicating that my application was being processed and I could expect to receive a letter within 30 days.

Thank you for filing your Social Security application online. Our Social Security Office in CHICAGO, IL received your claim and will be working with you to process it. Our goal is to process all applications efficiently.

A representative may call you for more information at the phone number you provided on your application. Please be aware that our representative may call you outside normal business hours, such as on a weekend or during the evening. If we are unable to reach you by phone, we may also contact you by e-mail or U.S. mail.

You should receive a letter in the mail within 30 days with a decision or to request additional information. If you have a future month of entitlement, you should receive a letter in the mail approximately thirty days before your benefits should start. Also, you can check the status of your application at Status of your application or you may call us at (800) 842-0588 with questions. Please wait five days from the time that you filed before checking the status online.

Now my job is to reply to any requests for further information from a SSA representative and then to wait.

countdown-to-medicare-3-months Unless something happens in the next month to change my mind, I have decided to enroll in a Platinum Blue Cost plan offered by BlueCross BlueShield for 2017. I will write more about the decision in a future blogpost, but this plan essentially “cushions” my entrance into Medicare. It allows me to use BCBS DME suppliers and not deal with Competitive Bidding. It exempts me from several other Medicare regulations such as seeing my pump-prescribing physician every 3 months and extensive record keeping to justify more than 3 test strips per day. It includes prescription coverage and for the most part functions like the commercial insurance I currently use.

With any Cost plan in Minnesota I would have 6 months to switch to a Supplemental/Medigap plan with no questions about pre-existing health conditions. However, by going with the BCBS Cost plan, I am allowed 12 months to switch to Senior Gold, the supplemental plan offered by BCBS. I am still not sure about the best Medicare plan longterm, but this strategy buys me time to consider that choice again for 2018.

So now I wait.

Countdown to Medicare with Type 1 Diabetes: 4 Months / No Decision

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Laddie

I thought that I would have made a decision about Medicare by now and I haven’t. I don’t feel that I am much closer to a “right” decision than I was a few months ago. I have narrowed my choices to 3 plans: 2 Cost plans and 1 Supplemental plan. Each plan has definite pluses and minuses.

About 6 weeks ago I was close to making the decision to go with one of the Cost plans offered by BCBS of MN. The advantages of this plan are reasonable cost, excellent coverage for pump supplies, formulary inclusion for all of my drugs, and a preferred test strip brand that I am satisfied with. It allows me to use BCBS DME suppliers without dealing with the Competitive Bidding suppliers of Basic Medicare. With this plan I will have 12 months to change my mind and switch to the BCBS Supplemental plan with no consideration of pre-existing medical conditions. Therefore I can stay on this plan for all of 2017 and have all Medicare options available in 2018. The major disadvantages of this plan are no CGM coverage and that starting in 2017, Walgreen’s is not a preferred pharmacy. I have always had great service with Walgreen’s and my first choice is to stay with them.

A couple of weeks ago it was announced that Fairview, one of the major health systems in Minnesota, has not come to a network agreement with BCBS for 2017. Therefore many of my health providers will be out-of-network if I choose a BCBS Cost plan. I believe that an agreement will eventually be reached, but….

The second Cost plan that I am considering is offered by HealthPartners. The main advantage of this plan is that it provides CGM coverage. It should be a no-brainer to go with this plan, but co-pays for pump supplies and test strips cost substantially more than on the BCBS plan and the total cost of the two plans is about the same. Plus the preferred brand of test strips for HealthPartners is one that I have not had good success with. I will only have 6 months to revert to Basic Medicare and a Supplemental plan and I will need to countdown-to-medicare-4-months re-evaluate my options partway through 2017.

The Supplemental plan that I am considering is BCBS Senior Gold. The advantages of Senior Gold are that benefits will never be reduced in the future and I can take the plan with me if I move out of Minnesota. With this plan I will experience few or no out-of-pocket costs. There are no network restrictions and I can see any provider who accepts Medicare. I can always choose to switch to a Cost or Advantage plan in the future. The downside is that Supplemental plans follow Medicare guidelines and there is no CGM coverage. Also I will be forced to use Competitive Bidding suppliers for mail order test strips and pump supplies. I will be required to see my endocrinologist every 90 days in order to receive pump supplies. Although this plan allows the most flexibility for future coverage, it is substantially more expensive than the two Cost plans I am considering.

I don’t know what I am going to choose. I have a list of questions that I will present to an insurance broker I have been in contact with and to a representative from my local SHIP agency. Because I do not need to make my decision until February, I have avoided recent contact with these consultants until the Medicare Open Enrollment period ends today.

Last month I wrote about the anxiety I was experiencing as I thought about Medicare. Today I am not worrying about it. Frankly there are so many unknowns that I am beginning to think that it may not matter what I decide. I have written that Medicare Cost plans are unique to Minnesota, Wisconsin, and a few other states. I was told by a representative from BCBS of MN that these plans will probably be disappearing in the next year or two due to pressure from Medicare. They will be replaced by Advantage plans with different guidelines and network restrictions but more similar to plans offered in other states. The plan I select now may possibly not exist in two years. I know people with diabetes who are using Supplemental plans. I know people with diabetes who are using Cost or Advantage plans. Whatever I select, I will be part of a population of people with diabetes who are in the same boat as I am.

Meanwhile a Trump presidency along with a Republican-controlled legislature is an indication that we may see substantial changes to Medicare in the coming years. Will current Medicare beneficiaries be exempt from future changes or will we all move into a new unproven system? What will happen to people with pre-existing conditions and serious illnesses?

I don’t know the answers to these questions. The only thing I know is that there may not be a “correct” decision for me to right now. There are different decisions. There is Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. Maybe my choice will make a difference. Maybe it won’t.

I just don’t know.

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Please note that Medicare began reimbursing the Dexcom G5 continuous glucose monitor in 2017. Most of my concerns in the Countdown to Medicare series are still relevant. But the details may have changed by the time you read this post. Laddie 6/28/18

Countdown to Medicare with Type 1 Diabetes: 5 Months / Anxiety

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Laddie

There are frequent online discussions about addressing mental health issues along with physical concerns when living with diabetes. I am lucky to be mostly immune from things like diabetes burnout and depression. I don’t like diabetes but it doesn’t haunt or slow me down much. I come from a family with a history of depression but its dark clouds have never settled over me for very long. Still…

I have a tendency towards anxiety. The kind of worry that radiates in my chest and aches in my belly. It has never been so crippling that I have felt the need for professional help and I have been helped by progressive relaxation tools I learned from a book many years ago. Deep breathing and exercise also help.

I am very in tune with my anxiety. It surfaces when I need to make a decision or address a problem and I don’t feel in control. Sometimes the issues are trivial or at least very fixable, but my rational brain can’t convince my gut that I shouldn’t be stressed. I won’t call them silly, but my anxiety worries are not life-or-death. Maybe it is a leaky roof. Maybe it is a grandchild getting her feelings hurt. Maybe it is Christmas. Maybe it is thinking about what needs to be done to sell our house and we don’t even plan on selling the house.

Maybe it is Medicare.

I have been trying to get a handle on Medicare options for several months. I haven’t decided whether I know too much or not enough. I wake up many nights at 2:00AM and start thinking about Supplemental versus Cost* plans. I walk the dog and my stomach cramps thinking of Competitive Bidding. Part B insulin and test strip brands are a constant concern. This stuff is important, but not so important that I should be losing sleep.

But anxiety does not always make sense.

I finally have premium costs and plan information for 2017 and I am making worksheets to compare my options. I have only one decision that could have an impact beyond my first year on Medicare and that is the Supplemental versus Cost plan decision. Supplemental (Medigap) policies are only required to accept me (a person with pre-existing conditions) countdown-to-medicare-5-months during the first 6 months that I am on Medicare. After that I can be denied coverage or charged higher rates. At the same time there are guidelines about having guaranteed Medigap rights and some of those scenarios will grant me needed flexibility in the future.

The things that stress me are discrepancies like one plan agreeing that insulin for a pump will be covered under Part B and a similar plan saying it won’t. (That can be a big deal because Part B insulin does not go into donut hole calculations.) I think the plan saying no is wrong, but what do I do about it and do I dare risk signing up with that company? I need to consider that company because it happens to offer CGM coverage. Yes, I am lucky to have the option of CGM coverage with one plan! But I need to consider the whole package, not just one thing. More homework to do.

Another thing that is stressful is trying to figure out what pump and testing supplies cost. For the most part I have been using the negotiated prices from my current BCBS policy. But one friend shared his test strip cost info with me and it looks as though he is paying 20% of what I consider a high retail price compared to what a negotiated price should be. Am I right? Right or wrong it certainly makes me wonder what prices I should be using to figure out my anticipated costs.

Another thing that kicks me in the gut is competitive bidding. This is only relevant if I choose a Supplemental plan because Cost plans use their own suppliers. DPAC has published a couple of blogposts recently that scare the bejesus out of me. One post was written by a person with diabetes on Medicare and the other was written by someone who owns a durable medical equipment company. These are great articles to spur advocacy, but frightening for those of us anticipating Medicare.

One benefit of participating in the DOC is that I have support from other people affected by diabetes. A downside is that I read stories of people having nightmare experiences with Medicare. As a blogger, I get emails from readers sharing their stories and problems. At the same time I know many people with Type 1 who are doing fine on Medicare but those people don’t write much about their experiences. I mostly hear the bad stuff.

anxiety

I have anxiety. Some of it is unreasonable. I live in Minnesota and have several good (not perfect) options for Medicare. My husband still works and his income will provide a buffer from the shortcomings of Medicare. At the same time some anxiety might be reasonable because healthcare reimbursement at all levels in the United States is under siege and people with diabetes are getting hit particularly hard.

I expect that my next Countdown to Medicare post in December will outline some specifics of my choices. Obviously cost is a major concern, but so are things like drug formularies, test strip brands, and requirements for getting pump supplies. I have already eliminated choices that do not network my current doctors and I am looking at the plans of two different companies. It is likely that I will choose a plan that allows me to avoid competitive bidding because anyone with a tendency towards anxiety might not survive that disaster.

More to come. 😀

**Minnesota is one of very few states that offers Cost plans. These plans are hybrids that combine features of traditional Medicare and Advantage plans. Most people reading this post will not encounter Cost plans in their Medicare journey.

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