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Thumb of Michigan | Martin above is sending you to the right place (Medicare.gov).
Yes, you need to sign up for Medicare to avoid penalties (higher premiums) in the future, in most cases.
In most states an insurance broker is an insurance agent. And the agent has to be an agent of the insurance company.
Advantage plans seem great as long as you are healthy and don't mind having less choices on doctors. NOTE: advantage plans usually have higher deductibles for major/costly procedures (that's how they are cheaper and can pay agents more to push them).
No matter what company you go with for a medigap policy, their coverage for a given plan (G, N, etc.) HAS to be the same, this is a government requirement. IMHO for newer (younger) folks medigap Plan G, is the plan of choice. Now, not all companies offer a High-Deductible Plan G (Plan G-HD). For folks who are fiscally smart, I've always suggested a Plan G-HD.
I suggest you look at United American Insurance company if you are inclined to do a Plan G-HD. They have a 'side' account that you can put your premiums 'savings' (the different in premium for a Plan G vs Plan G-HD) into, that if you have service preformed will automatically pay your deductible. BTW, the HD is less than $3K per year.
Naturally, agents/brokers get paid from insurance companies, and with the lower premium from a gap policy verses the advantage plan, I let you guess which one is push/sold.
If you think most brokers/agents do this for free, I suggest you think again of how they pay their own bills. | |
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Medicare signup?
