Here’s why I won’t buy a Medicare Advantage plan

I turn 65 next year and the “Advantage vs. Traditional” Medicare decision is becoming more personal. It will be time to put my money where my mouth is.

We’ve tried to help our clients understand the decisions they’ll need to make at age 65, and the benefits and tradeoffs of selecting a Medicare Advantage plan vs. traditional Medicare.

We often send clients to a Medicare consultant and nearly always they end up with a Medicare Advantage plan, which is no surprise since consultants get much larger commissions for Medicare Advantage than for a Medigap policy.

For the most part, it won’t make a big difference in terms of my clients’ retirement plan viability or the quality of healthcare they enjoy in retirement. I hope not, anyway.

But for me, this USA Today article on Yahoo.com illustrates the concerns I have. A Medicare Advantage plan got dropped by a large health system because of payments dispute. Now all those Advantage patients will have to go out of network to keep their doctor or hospital.

That’s why I’ll be choosing traditional Medicare, a Medigap policy, and a drug plan. It’s more "parts" of coverage (A, B, Medigap and D) but I think it improves my chances for meeting whatever my future medical needs are.

LINK: A quick comparison of Medicare Advantage vs. Traditional Medicare