one less problem
Earlier this year, we received a notice from our city's hospital and medical network saying that they were no longer accepting Aetna or Humana for Medicare recipients. This caused us some concern, as we've been with Humana for supplementary insurance at least since we moved to Kansas. So I did some investigation, and found several other insurance companies with Medigap offerings in the version I prefer, which is purely catastrophic insurance (it pays only for major medical expenses, and it costs much less).
I called the hospital to make sure that they would accept Blue Cross, Cigna, or Mutual of Omaha. Then when I talked to their billing department, I found out that the change wasn't necessary. They've stopped accepting the Medicare Advantage programs of those two companies (programs where the insurance company gets a flat monthly payment from Medicare and manages your entire health care, on the lines of what Kaiser does), but they still accept Medigap from them (programs where the provider first bills "original Medicare," and then bills the insurance company for what Medicare doesn't cover). So we don't have to change.
I strongly prefer the Medigap model, because it leaves me much freer to select different providers, and even a different primary care physician, if I don't like the one I've got; I think that's important and I would never even consider signing up with a system like Kaiser. This was an unanticipated fringe benefit, but one I'm glad to have.
I called the hospital to make sure that they would accept Blue Cross, Cigna, or Mutual of Omaha. Then when I talked to their billing department, I found out that the change wasn't necessary. They've stopped accepting the Medicare Advantage programs of those two companies (programs where the insurance company gets a flat monthly payment from Medicare and manages your entire health care, on the lines of what Kaiser does), but they still accept Medigap from them (programs where the provider first bills "original Medicare," and then bills the insurance company for what Medicare doesn't cover). So we don't have to change.
I strongly prefer the Medigap model, because it leaves me much freer to select different providers, and even a different primary care physician, if I don't like the one I've got; I think that's important and I would never even consider signing up with a system like Kaiser. This was an unanticipated fringe benefit, but one I'm glad to have.