One of the classic looney left lies about Medicare goes something like this:
“Like most seniors, I cannot afford a Medicare Advantage Plan…” or
"Medicare Advantage is for rich seniors."
Nothing could be further from the truth. The public Part C Medicare health plan program was designed because the poor could not afford expensive private Medigap insurance and were finding it necessary to "spend down" unnaturally to qualify for Medicaid. The public Part C program ended that requirement and as the data shows in the illustration above, public Part C plans are used disproportionately by the poor, particularly minorities.
Furthermore, even though Part C plans are almost always less expensive than private Medigap plans (and almost always cover more services such as drug coverage while providing an out of pocket limit not available with Original Medicare and a Medigap plan), if you know someone who still feels they cannot afford a public Part C Medicare Advantage plan, have them consider applying for Social Security Extra Help, which will pay a sizable amount if not all of the premium.
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