Disability, Medicare and Advantage Plans

Just for those who don't already know this:

If you have Stage 4 cancer (most simply defined as metastasized) you are not only eligible for getting your Social Security (through "disability") but they will fast-track it for you, no hassles, little paperwork, no questions asked (except of your doctor) and you will start getting payments in a couple weeks.

I belive it is a year later that you qualify for Medicare, and can jump onto an Advantage Plan medical insurance and save a couple hundred more a month. You still pay Medicare premiums, but in an Advantage Plan, your carrier handles all the bills. (Medicare just pays your carrier a fixed amount per month for you.)

Of if you don't like the coverage/deductible of Advantage Plans, you can deal with Medicare on your own, submitting bills to them, and getting a Supplementary Plan to deal with the remainder that Medicare won't pay. Premium may be a bit more, but it's been found that less co-pay for Tier 5 drugs more than makes up the diff.

Once I realized I wasn't going to go back to work (as much as I miss it) it sure helped with the bills. Thoughts like waiting until I was 65 to collect were out the window.