# What choices, exactly, must one make for Medicare? If it were a test, how many questions would there be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 23, 2021, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-choices-exactly-must-one-make-for-medicare-if-it-were-a-test-how-many-questions-would-there-be/944878 "2021-06-23T07:29:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-choices-exactly-must-one-make-for-medicare-if-it-were-a-test-how-many-questions-would-there-be/944878/1 "2021-06-23T07:29:16Z")
I’m doing retirement planning and trying to pin down a zillion details. How many details are involved in Medicare? Maybe there are four yes/no choices, for parts A, B, C and D? Are there any choices that aren’t simply yes/no, such as any amounts one must choose? I know people can additionally buy supplemental policies from insurance companies, but I’m just asking about the Medicare part. As to how one arrives at the best choices, well, no doubt that is complex. I just really want to picture the choices like we could describe a test in school. Is the test multiple choice? How many questions, and how many choices for each question? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-choices-exactly-must-one-make-for-medicare-if-it-were-a-test-how-many-questions-would-there-be/944878/2 "2021-06-23T14:07:54Z")
I suggest you read this and the other threads connected to it: > [@America's Elder Crisis, Medicare Edition](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-elder-crisis-medicare-edition/937146): > > They call, or we call them, an inexhaustible stream of elderly, disabled, and/or poor Americans, all with their stories to tell. Different in the details of course, but in the aggregate a theme develops, a daily oral history of a shattered medical insurance system, not broken because of governmental incompetence but of an insane ideological commitment to “choice” and “competition” and “the market” even in areas where these ideas do not belong. And it has been my experience in the private Medica… You’ll be vastly more educated when you get done. I know I was. The very short version of your “What kind of test?” question looks like this to non-expert me: > You have one non-decision, one trivial decision, and a handful of decisions that each have dozens to hundreds of choices ranging from superb to disastrous with almost zero practical way to find the superb needle in the haystack of disaster & meh. Good luck with that. You also don’t get a do-over on most of them. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-choices-exactly-must-one-make-for-medicare-if-it-were-a-test-how-many-questions-would-there-be/944878/3 "2021-06-23T14:13:43Z")
Effectively, as a senior, you’re gonna spend about $3000-5000 on your medicare/medical expenses every year. The question you want to ask yourself is: do I want to spend this money on premiums (Medicare supplement plans) or do I want to spend this money on copays (Medicare Advantage plans)? ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-choices-exactly-must-one-make-for-medicare-if-it-were-a-test-how-many-questions-would-there-be/944878/4 "2021-06-23T16:34:01Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Good luck with that. You also don’t get a do-over on most of them. Seriously? You mean, until next year? Or until I’m dead (supposing I last more than a year)? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-choices-exactly-must-one-make-for-medicare-if-it-were-a-test-how-many-questions-would-there-be/944878/5 "2021-06-23T16:48:02Z")
Read @JohnT’s cited post. He is a true expert in these matters. I just stay at Holiday Inns and read his posts. But yes, there are some decisions that if you screw up in year 1 it’ll cost you dearly later to change, or may even be impossible. Not all but a couple. FYI claiming Social Security has a couple of those one-way trap doors too. Get it right the first time or pay for your mistake for the rest of your life. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-choices-exactly-must-one-make-for-medicare-if-it-were-a-test-how-many-questions-would-there-be/944878/6 "2021-06-23T17:08:48Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Seriously? You mean, until next year? Or until I’m dead (supposing I last more than a year)? Until you’re dead. There are provisions which cover some mistakes - for example, if you choose a Medicare Advantage plan in your open enrollment period and, within (IIRC) 6 months, want to switch to a Med Supp plan, you can do so. Or if you have a Med Supp plan, switch to a MA plan… you have a 3 month window to get back to that same MS plan. After that 3 month window, you have to go through underwriting. Again, a lot of the above is explained in the linked thread. Go ahead and ask questions there, since it is apparently the go-to resource for this stuff on the SDMB. If you want to take a look at the available plans in your area, both Med Advantage and Med Supp, just go to [medicare.gov](http://medicare.gov) and follow the prompts. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-choices-exactly-must-one-make-for-medicare-if-it-were-a-test-how-many-questions-would-there-be/944878/7 "2021-06-23T17:28:35Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But yes, there are some decisions that if you screw up in year 1 it’ll cost you dearly later to change, or may even be impossible. Not all but a couple. I have never heard Canadians talking like this. It’s a huge difference in our systems. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-choices-exactly-must-one-make-for-medicare-if-it-were-a-test-how-many-questions-would-there-be/944878/8 "2021-06-23T19:01:23Z")
Apparently, we are required to register for Medicare part A at 65. I’m still working and have insurance from work. I can’t see paying for health insurance at work AND paying $145.00 a month for part B. I have the option of keeping my health insurance when I retire, but I’ll be the company can weasel out if I am eligible for Medicare. Does anyone have experience with this? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-choices-exactly-must-one-make-for-medicare-if-it-were-a-test-how-many-questions-would-there-be/944878/9 "2021-06-23T19:06:35Z")
I can’t answer for your company, of course, so whether or not they’ll renege on their benefits is beyond my knowledge. But: 1. You don’t have to pay the $149 if you have employer coverage. 2. Once you lose the employer coverage, and are over 65, and are not going to replace it with other credible coverage (for example, you got a new job w/ a new health plan), you must enroll in Part B within 3-6 months. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-choices-exactly-must-one-make-for-medicare-if-it-were-a-test-how-many-questions-would-there-be/944878/10 "2021-06-23T19:50:42Z")
When I did it, the choices were: Medicare Advantage or Medigap - which involved looking at available Advantage plans Once I chose Medigap which program to choose, and how did they do premiums over time. Then, since I chose Medigap, which Part D drug plan should I choose, which involved the drugs I was taking and might take. The already mentioned thread gives advice on how to make these decisions. And I did not have the working at 65 issue or planning to live abroad issue, so there were some choices I didn’t have to make.