The dreaded 65 is fast approaching and I have

[stopbush]

11. I am 66 - one year on Medicare. I have an Advantage plan - costs me $0 a month. $0.

I pay the typical premium of $135 a month for Medicare, which is deducted from my SS check. I pay $20 a month extra for a dental/vision/hearing add-on to Medicare. With that, I get $350 every two years for new glasses with a free eye exam. I had my semi-annual dental check-up/cleaning last Tuesday. My cost: $15. Had my annual check-up with my Kaiser GP two weeks ago. My cost: $5. Just ordered 100-pill refills on 3 meds I take daily for afib, cholesterol etc. Cost: $6 per prescription.

Had surgery in January. Total bill came to over $15,000. My co-pay: $200. Yep, two hundred.

Had a colonoscopy a few weeks ago (results, normal. Yea!). My cost: $0. I had looked into the cost thru the KP insurance we had thru Obamacare, and my cost was anywhere between $1500-3000. My GP had suggested for a couple of years that based on my age, I should get a colonoscopy. Well, I simply couldn’t afford it, and the yearly fecal tests were negative, so why take on that expense? I rolled the dice and waited until Medicare kicked in - it worked out for me.

Medicare Advantage is great.

I live in SoCal.