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I just moved to another state and spent the day sorting health care!

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Veronica; thanks for the head's up! I don't recall that we had a problem when we moved mom from NYS to Connecticut, but I suppose her plan was more portable, perhaps because she remained within the Tri-State region.

Good health to you, my dear!
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So was the issue specifically with the PPO Plan but not with basic Medicare?

Oh, joy - another issue to deal with, as if moving isn't complex enough.

This is good information to know; after I wrap up my father's estate, I'll be moving, probably out of state, so I'll have to focus on getting a Medigap Plan before I leave.
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I just moved from NYS to MD with a Medicare PPO plan and thught I knew my rights. How wrong i was.

I thought when you moved to another state you had six months to find new insurance without being subject to underwriting.

I dutifully notified my old company of change of adress and got a letter asking me to confirm i had made the change.

All well and good so i started to seriously investigate plans in my area but found all sites that promised information woulldn't do it without a phone #. Within minutes I has an agent on the phone and they were relentless.

i finally liked one agent who did not slip i sneaky health questions. When you change within a special enrolement period which moving out of state is they can't ask about you health and put you through underwriting and hence higher premiums. (I am very expensive these days).

I was supposed to receive a letter from the old company telling me how long I had to apply for new insurance. So i call the company this morning and was told firmly I only had to the end of the current month. Apparently you are disenrolled at the end of the month you inform them of your move. So with less than a week to go till thend of May I paniced big time.

Called the agent I liked and explained the situation and told her i would go with one of the policies she had suggested. She walked me through everything again and filled out the application and i was able to give a voice signature so I should be OK come June 1.

So if you are thinking of moving Mom or Dad cross state lines set up the Medigap insurance ahead of time with a starting dateof your choice but don't notify the old insurer till late in the game and end up with only a few day like me.

I simply would never have found out thinking I could use my old policy for another six months. The disenrollement letter still has not arrived and the customer service rep my agent and i had a three way call with said it had not even been sent yet.

Luckily DH has neglected to follow my advice and notify the company he has moved so there is a bit more breathing room for him. If we both share the same plan we will get a family discount so every little helps. The new plan costs over $200 a month each but there are no deductibles or co-pays for anything at all and last year I had spent my max of $5K in co-pays by Oct.

FYI all medicare plans offered by
ins cos have to provide the same benefits they can just charge more. The plan I choose was Plan F which is expensive up front but will probably be cheaper considering all the health problems I have and frequent hospitalizations and expensive tests. I have already had two hosp stays this year already and lots of procedures.
Any other information others may have would be very welcome
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