First off - your data is out there. Not much you can do about it.
Much of the data collected is NOT personal, but just META data to see trends and patterns. Not necessarily where YOU are driving. But where EVERYONE is driving.
Targeted data is there, but you have to be extremely naive to think itās not already out there. Data breaches (mainly due to extremely poor security) happens almost daily. And many times companies just sell their data. Radio-Shake always told us they donāt sell their customer data - UNTIL they filed bankruptcy. Their last act as a company to give bonuses to high-level exes was selling their customer data. Now 23AndMe has filed bankruptcy and they are looking to sell their data even though they said theyād only SHARE their data with researchers if customers opt in.
Not really breaking news . Our car , our PCās , the utility companies and our phones all track . Who ever is looking at those is going to see we are really boring.
I think 5g took care of that at least for on star. They canāt communicate with me any more.
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We did the dna test and not sure what information they would have that would be that big a deal. I suppose if they were matching dna with a crime scene o4 something. I donāt think buffet really cares if Iām a distant relative or not. We both drive old cars.
That bankruptcy was surely coming, and thatās why I had them delete all of my info about 3 months ago.
Or, at least they claim to have deleted all of my info.
And you should see some of the things I do in my car, boy are they in for a shock when they spy on meā¦
Really? DNA is one of my personal pieces of information I donāt want public. Insurance companies would LOVE to deny you a policy (or charge you exorbitant rates) because you have a gene that gives you a higher-than-normal risk of developing Alzheimer.
Not to talk insurance but Iāve always had blue cross under the group plan. After Medicare I just went with the bc supplemental plan. Maybe $125/a month. For prescriptions we went with welfare last year for 50 cents a month. This year they lowered it to zero per month.
I went to urgent care yesterday for an anti biotic. No charge for the visit. I picked up the prescription and was charged 93 cents. I grumbled a little at the bc cost but I have no idea how they can charge zero per month and still provide the prescription for a dollar. Someone must be paying it.
At any rate Iām not real concerned about getting profiled. Those not in a group plan though or with Medicare might be an issue.
You go to the hospital for a procedure and the hospital āchargesā $1000. Then Medicare comes and says they only pay $200 for that procedure. The hospital says āOKā.
BUT, if you do not have health insurance of any kind, the hospital bills YOU for $1000.
I vote for free universal healthcare. Why do we have to add insurance company profits to the equation?
Would that apply to people on Medicare or Medicare Advantage? I donāt think so. For younger folks, absolutely it would matter. Bing is old, very old, and he isnāt faced with medical insurance of problems.
Because medicare advantage plans are private insurance plans that are paid for by the medicare dollars assigned to you. These private plans are more efficient with your medicare dollars than medicare so they can offer more services and lower co-pays. Nearly half of medicare recipients are now on these plans.
These is no such thing. We all would pay for such plans in taxes rather than when services are delivered.
That said, our current system is so screwed up, it is un-fixable so something better is needed like a universal system. But we should learn from the Canadians and Brits and not copy their systems.
I donāt have an advantage plan though but a supplement. And welcare is not a Medicare plan. Part c I think is the Medicare prescription plan. Welcare is somehow linked or contracted with the legion now I believe. 50 cents or zero is a pretty good deal. I asked my insurance agency about it but they didnāt know any more. I thought I would be paying full price up to the $3000 or whatever but guess not.
As far as government universal coverage, careful what you wish for based on the UK and Canada. One guy recently said he was on the list for two years for a hip replacement but could schedule it right away in the us. Even with Medicare they try to reduce the payments to providers to the point where some will not take it anymore.
I donāt propose to understand the whole thing but Iāve seen how sausage is made and the people involved and itās not pleasant.
Maybe we will adopt the Canadian system when it becomes the 51st State. All those kicked off Medicaid will certainly vote for it. I think my car is communicating over Signal, so there is no possible way that data will be made public. It is a perfect system.
Medicare C is Medicare Advantage. Medicare D is prescription coverage. My wife has United Healthcare Medicare Advantage and is happy with it. Itās the plan that AARP recommends, and is available in MN. The article from Forbes linked below is recent.
Ok. I only have an and b. Iāve never paid a whole lot of attention to it, just take the advice of the agent.
From āMedicare Advantage Has Become Notorious for Prior Authorizationā:
āThe Sollars are not alone in facing obstacles to care under the Medicare Advantage program. A new analysis by KFF, formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that Medicare Advantage insurance plans denied 3.4 million,or 7.4%, of 46 million prior authorization requests in 2022. Those actions often shut the door on care, since only about 1 in 10 patients appeal the decisions.āhttps://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2823261 .
Medicare Advantage pays for insurers because they can deny care - they pay people to deny care. āRegularā Medicare doesnāt, though it doesnāt pay full price either. The problem is that you can be underwritten if you apply for a new Medicare Advantage or Supplemental plan after your first enrollment. If youāre sick, denied care by your MA plan, any new insurer (except regular Medicare) can charge as much as it likes.
'Private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans will reap $83 billion in overpayments from taxpayers this year, according to Congress' official Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). What do patients get for that money? Not financial protection, according to Park and colleagues' study.from āMedicare Advantage: High Costs and Poor Protectionā https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M24-0881
During Medicare's open enrollment period between 15 October and 7 December, advertisements for MA flood the airwaves: 643 852 English-language television commercials (including 9 daily on the popular show Dr. Phil) and morethan 40 000 Spanish-language ones aired during that period in 2022, of which 93% touted extra benefits and 88% mentioned lower costs).'
That may be true for most Medicare Advantage programs, but definitely not for all of them. As a retired State of NJ employee, Iām entitled to coverage beyond regular Medicare, and for several years we had a supplemental plan from BCBS that was awful. They nickel and dimed me on a lot of medical bills.
Then, about 7 years ago, they switched us to an Aetna Medicare Advantage program. In addition to saving the state $15 million per year, the coverage is unbelievably good.
The best example would be my outpatient hernia surgery, about 6 years ago. My GP sent me to the Chief of Surgery, and I was initially skeptical about how much I would have to pay for this guyās expertise. When all of the billing was accounted for, he billed a bit more than $5k for the procedure, and Aetna Medicare paid him $666. (Yes, that number sounds like somebody had a sense of humor) My co-pay for his bill was $10.
The Anesthesiologist billed a bit more than $2k, and she was paid $200. My co-pay was zero.
For my 6 hours in the hospital, the hospital billed more than $16k. 
My co-pay was zero.
Would have loved to see the DNA of a former coworker, Iām sure he was at least 20% Neanderthal. No offense to the other Neanderthals on this site.
My wife has been dealing with this for a number of years with Medicare Advantage. Some plan suppliers are awful. Some are very good. Even with the bad ones, diligence pays off in lower overall costs and copays. Not all providers suck. My wifeās last one didā¦ (Aetna) and her current one does not (Humana). But all provided more services and lower costs than straight Medicare.
I am not on Medicare as yet but Iāve had the exact same prior authorization and approval issues with various suppliers. Florida Blue (BCBS) is a pretty good one, again Aetna was not.
Your experience may varyā¦ see @VDCdriverās good experience with Aetna and bad with BCBS.
I have a Medicare Advantage PPO and can choose my doctors and their treatments without prior authorization. This company also has a HMO version that is less expensive but does require preauthorization.