To all CPD Lt.’s, A Medicare Health Ins. Survey was sent out to the retired Lt.’s in Aug/17. As we all know, last year all CPD sworn retirees were notified that the CITY would not provide a CITY subsidized health plan for retirees as of Jan.1, 2017. This gave the retirees a very short period of time to do research and find a plan that was right for each of us individually in terms of both cost & coverage. Many of us went with the Medicare plans offered by FOP & the City. Others went with plans offered by the Veterans Administration, Tricore, and Aetna & BCBS plans through medicare.gov. Medicare Supplemental plans were also chosen by some.
51 retired Lt.’s on Medicare responded to the survey. They were asked what plan they had gone with and if they were satisfied with the coverage, cost, and customer service. Not all of the answers add up to 51 as not all Lt.’s gave an answer to each question. Most gave short yes or no answers. Some elaborated a little more and I have tried to summarize these where it might help others.
***There was a common theme that struck me in reading the responses. Because each of us have different criteria that is important to just us personally (drug availability, drug costs, deductible limits, doctors & hospitals in each plan, etc.) no plan is right for everyone. Depending on our medical needs we need to research what plan is best for ourselves. Also, because medical and drug coverage can change year to year in many plans we need to check each year that a plan is right for us and our current needs.
This seems to be especially true if you are taking multiple or specialized drugs. In some cases, because of the cost of many drugs, if a plan covers the drugs you need, at an affordable price, it can almost, by itself, determine if a plan is the right one for you financially.
I want to thank all of the retired Lt.’s who participated in this survey. As members of the Association, this is a way that we can share our collective knowledge to help not only ourselves but other members also.
Hopefully, some of you will find the information below helpful when picking your Medicare Health Plan for 2018 and in the future.
Stay Safe & Good Health,
Terry McMahon
CPD Lt.’s Association Retiree Representative
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**** 51 retired Lt.’s responded to this survey
FOP Aetna Advantage Plan –35 joined this (several Lt.’s mentioned that they knew of at least 12 other retired CPD that had gone with FOP Aetna and were happy with it)
Coverage: (* 5 stated they were in the deluxe plan)
(* 3 stated they lived in WI. or Fl. full time and were happy with the plan)
Happy——31
Unhappy—1 with the plan
1 unhappy with the drug plan
Costs
Happy——-32 (3 stated the drug plan was better)
Unhappy—-1 with the deductibles
1 said the drug costs were higher than old City plan
Customer Service
Happy——-32 (* 13 made a point of saying that they had talked to Labor First about an issue and it was handled and fixed very quickly)
Unhappy—1 (had trouble with the drug mail order plan)
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CITY BCBS Advantage Plan–7 joined this
Coverage:
Happy——6
Unhappy—1
Costs
Happy——-5
Unhappy—-2
Customer Service
Happy——-4
Unhappy—-2
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Tricore (Retired Military)–1 has been in this for several years (stated it is better than the plan the City used to offer & subsidized)
Coverage:
Happy——1
Costs
Happy——- 1
Customer Service
Happy—— 1
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Veterans Administration– 1 (stated he gets all medical care through the VA)
Coverage:
Happy——1
Costs
Happy——1
Customer Service
Happy——-1
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A Non-Fop Lodge 7 Aetna Premier Advantage Plan–1 (Pasco County, Florida: found through medicare.gov)
Coverage:
Happy——1
Costs
Happy——-1
Customer Service
Happy——-1
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A NON-City BCBS Medicare Advantage Basic HMO Plan–1 (found through an insurance broker)
Coverage:
Happy—– 1
Costs
Happy——1
Customer Service
Happy——1
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The following went with Medicare Supplemental plans.
(They were found by the Lt.’s either through www.Medicare.gov, through an insurance broker that specializes in medicare plans, or other organizations. (3 of the following have BCBS D & F. As there are dozens of plans with various costs & levels of coverage I have no idea if they are the same or different plans.)
BCBS D & F (went with this as his Dr. at Rush was not covered in the CITY BCBS Advantage plan.)
Coverage:
Happy——1
Costs
Happy——-1
Customer Service
Happy——-UNK.- has not used it yet
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BCBS D & F
Coverage:
Happy—— 1
Costs
Unhappy—-1 (Drugs costs are higher than the old City plan
Customer Service
Happy——-UNK- has not used it yet
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BCBS D & F— ( has high cost on-going medical treatments ($1 million plus/year) that would not be fully covered by the City or FOP advantage plans. This Medicare Supplemental Plan covers almost all $ costs. Losing the approx: $700 tax deduction by paying through the pension fund is offset here many multiple times by the better coverage)
Coverage:
Happy——1
Costs
Happy——-1
Customer Service
Happy——-1
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AARP D & F
Coverage:
Happy——1
Costs
Happy——-1
Customer Service
Happy——-UNK not used yet
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Physicans Mutual– (SW Wisc. where the FOP & City plans were no good for the doctors and hospitals this Lt. needs)
Coverage:
Happy——1 (Joined the FOP Vision & Dental plans)
Costs
Happy——-1 (OK)
Customer Service
Happy——-Y
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