Medicare supplemental or advantage advice?

I recommend you pick up a copy (Amazon or Library) of the latest edition of Philip Moeller's "Get What's Your From Medicare--Maximize Your Coverage and Minimize Your Costs."  It is a comprehensive and unbiased review of original Medicare, Medicare Advantage, the alphabet soup of Medigap policies and Part D Pharmaceutical benefits.

After reading it twice, I stuck with my original plan, which was to go with original Medicare and the most comprehensive Medigap policy (which now is Plan G, I believe).  I do not believe in the benevolence of private insurance companies so I did not think a Medicare Advantage Plan was a good fit.  By law, they must provide all the coverage of original Medicare, but then they can do all these add-ons.  To me, a skimpy dental and/or vision benefit, or a Silver Sneakers gym membership is a nothing-burger.  You can purchase equivalent dental plans at your dentist's office, which will give you about the same benefit.  My ophthamologist can find a way to charge some of my vision check to Medicare, leaving me a small out of pocket, and I'm not limited to certain frames.  Part D is the most frustrating.  The pharmacy benefit with a Medicare Advantage plan may be "better," but I doubt it.  Most of these companies offering MA, also have Part D plans and I would imagine all customers get put in the same risk pool as their equivalent Part D plan.  My issue this year with Part D is trying to get a handle on what drugs my doctor may put me on for another recurrence and to see which plan will cover these best.  The difficulty in trying to discover the answer is too much for me.  But the biggest decider, is the fact that many MA plans require you to stay within a network, whereas original Medicare is nationwide with any provider that accepts Medicare.  And, more importantly, the only time you can guarantee access to your preferred Medigap plan without medical underwriting is when you are first eligible for Medicare.  This is important because you may find that a MA plan, in the future, will drop some discretionary benefits to the point where you might decide it no longer is a better deal, but then you are rejected for a Medigap plan.  To me, it's not worth the risk.  But Moeller's is a good book; he also has one about "getting the best" out of Social Security.  He used to author fact/advice columns on both subjects that were posted on the PBS.org website, but no longer.

Isn't is great to live long enough to get on Medicare?  I know I did a big happy dance on that birthday, and no longer had to sweat through the assaults on the ACA.

Best wishes. Oldbeauty

I'm no expert, but I had to make these decisions in June....BEFORE I knew I was headed for a cancer diagnosis. What I did know: 1) having taken care of both my father and my uncle and their finances before their deaths, they both had AARP supplemental plans with United Healthcare & despite huge medical bills & services, I NEVER had to write checks to pay for things not covered by insurance, and 2) my in-laws also had same coverage and experience. They have "Plan F," which is not available for people joining in 2020. 
So....best I could tell... "Plan G" was closest thing to it

i said to the sales guy...."This is what I know I want: 1) I currently don't have any medical issues,but if/when I do, I do NOT want to have to be in the hospital or have huge medical bills for some reason, and then get some bill for thousands of dollars. 2) I also do NOT want my insurance dictating what doctors I see." All total, my Medicare, plus supplemental, plus Part D costs less than $350 a month.

So... best I know...all these commerdials you see....oh  Great! $O this & $0 that! for Medicare Advantage plans? That sounds good until you've got an expensive problem like cancer. To the best of my knowledge....I still hold my breath a little every time the mail arrives....With 2 major surgeries & 2 procedures in the hospital (in 3 1/2 months), well over $250,000 has been billed through my Medicare and supplemental and the only bill I've received is from my incompetent GYN for $75 (which I am seriously considering not paying, simply as a matter of principle!).

That's my $.02!!
Best of luck!

I'm not positive, but my understanding is that if you start out with the "Advantage" option originally, if you later want to switch to a supplemental plan, not only is it difficult (as Forherself mentioned above), but can also be more expensive...I.e., now they're not just charging you the rate they would have originally, but adding costs based on what's occurred since you made that original decision! 

You could ask about this!