I haven’t seen the plan book, but the Aetnafeds website still shows the supplement under the 2022 summary of benefits
https://www.aetnafeds.co...a-medicare-advantage.php

Edited by user Wednesday, October 13, 2021 2:57:26 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

And I have to add that this seems a little suspicious. Adding $150/mo to the plan premium bumps this up to $425/mo…which is almost the same as BC/BS Basic, which still gives you $800pp annual Medicare supplement. Not to mention the Part D IRMMA bump with Aetna. There would seem to be almost no advantage to this “Advantage” plan. Are we sure they’ve dropped the supplement?

Edit. Now that think about it Aetna isn’t actually increasing costs, so my numbers don’t make sense. But still, the “Advantage” this plan had over BC/BS Basic is much less without the supplement.

Edited by user Wednesday, October 13, 2021 3:19:29 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Thanks for hunting that down, Sante. Won’t have to start my search all over again now.

This post doesn’t change anything I’ve written before. I’m adding it just to provide some background and clarity.

Aetna sells lots of different medical plans, some for individuals and some for groups. There is a sort of template of general benefits for group plans, which can be upgraded by the organization (usually an employer) at its expense. As a result, the final plan design for one organization may be VERY different from that of another organization. Some final plans may have deductibles, copays and coinsurance while others may not. Some may lessen or eliminate the impact of the “donut hole” in Medicare Advantage plans, while others may not. Some may apply a credit to reduce Medicare premiums, while others may not. While speaking with an Aetna customer service rep this morning, I was advised that the Aetna Medicare Advantage PPO plan designed for OPM via the FEHB is one of the sweetest deals, if not the sweetest deal, offered by Aetna. The thing is that “Aetna Medicare Advantage PPO” and “Aetna Medicare PPO” are marketing terms Aetna uses to structure and package an assortment of MA plans, one of which (this one) happens to be in the FEHB. This means that their communications regarding such packages often relate to a broader audience than just the one FEHB plan we are discussing here. This leads to various Aetna documents and websites containing a lot of extraneous language which does not apply to the FEHB plan. But there’s more…

Thee are certain things that Aetna is required to do.
1) They must issue the official plan brochure in the format set by OPM. This leads to a somewhat confusing mix of text, which is mostly devoted to the non-Medicare Aetna Advantage plan and only partly devoted to the Aetna Medicare Advantage PPO plan.
2) They must notify members concerning changes in the “plan” from one year to the next. The format is set by Medicare. This was mailed out to arrive (unexpectedly) yesterday. As you may have guessed by now, this mailed document also tries to address more than one type of plan within the Aetna MA universe. Even the Schedule of Costs section tucked away in the middle of the booklet (which is supposed to be just about our FEHB plan) contains language on page 2 concerning copays and coinsurance that has no business being there since our plan does not have any of these things. But the BIG mistake was the one on page 4 of the Annual Notice of Changes for 2022 which claims that there will be no Part B premium reduction in 2022. This is flat out wrong and Aetna didn’t notice their error until after they had sent out the booklet. Aetna will soon send out a notification correcting the error(s). At least that’s what the rep told me. I hope this helps folks understand the situation better and recognize that not much of anything important is changing from 2021 to 2022.

If you look at page 8 of this summary, it says they do pay for annual physical exams.
https://www.aetnafeds.co...agePlanBenefitsGuide.pdf

So, has anyone compared this Aetna MA plan with the one offered by United Healthcare? With the info I’ve seen the UHC plan is somewhat cheaper, as they reimburse the entire $148 cost of (pre-IRMMA) Medicare.

Thanks, Sante. I’ve been looking at the 3 UHC MA choices for my area (Northern Virginia). They are the Choice Primary, Choice Plus Advanced, and Choice Plus Primary. They range from $1000-$1400 less per year than Aetna Advantage. I’ve been looking at the different brochures, and they of course have various benefits, deductibles, and in-network requirements. It’s a little confusing trying to compare them, but it seems like the MA plan, when attached to the main plan, evens them out…no copays, no network requirements (other than participating with Medicare), etc. here’s the Summary of Benefits from the website
https://uhcvirtualretire...of%20Benefits%202022.pdf
What am I missing? It seems like the cheapest UHC plan is about the same as the Aetna Advantage…

Looking into this in 2021, but thought I’d add this note here anyway, in case anyone is following this older thread. One difference is the “Advantage” plan would trigger an additional part D IRMAA , for those who are already subject to the part B surcharge. ( it’s in the small print). I was tempted by the $900 rebate for part B … but I think I will stick with GEHA standard this year. I hope additional FEHB plans come up with similar variations for retirees who have signed up for Part B, as I feel we’re duplicating coverage.

Edit: forgot to add that GEHA high option is worth considering if you have high Rx costs, since that option also offers a partial rebate to compensate for your Part B premium ( but it’s more expensive than standard), without restricting you to network-only doctors. For me, it doesn’t pay, since the monthly cost would be about $100 more than standard, but I’m glad to see other FEHB plans are beginning to consider compensation for our having Part B ( which saves them a lot of money!)

Edited by user Friday, November 19, 2021 1:44:51 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

I’m still looking into it … there were a few other things about the Aetna ( not sure if it was the Direct or “advantage” plan that I flagged as questionable ) — foreign medical coverage other than emergency was one item missing — unfortunately travel has been severely curtailed recently, but I’m hoping that will change. Off the top of my head I can’t recall the others specifically, but there were a few things that gave me pause. My $ problem really stems from my doctor’s decision to join a “concierge” style group … I have to tally that extra cost in, as well as FEHB, medicare part B + IRMAA ( and long term care) … all of which is definitely getting expensive. I’m less concerned about part D IRMAA, and you’re right - that’s a minor add on compared to part B. I do think Aetna is definitely the cheapest way to go …and I think more FEHB plans should be offering some rebate for Medicare B picking up a significant portion of the cost. I don’t necessarily want to trigger changes in doctors. On the Aetna site they had an odd phrasing along the lines of “ any doctor who accepts medicare AND Aetna” that rang an alarm bell. It’s not that easy to get info out of them! I will run the numbers again — GEHA standard is slightly more, but it has some added benefits for dental and vision and they’ve been reliable service providers in the past. If it were just a matter of $ I probably would give Aetna a try this year … and may still do so. United Health care has an FEHB Medicare plan too … but you have to call for info. I prefer reading the fine print! Hoping there will be more Medicare - focused FEHB options in the future. Once I have to start taking RMD I will no doubt have an even bigger problem, as that may bump me up one or possibly two IRMAA tiers, so shopping around makes a lot of sense.

I haven’t found anything in the FEHB plan materials that says that explicitly. However, related text which suggests as much is in Chapter 1, Section 6 of the Evidence of Coverage (EOC), located at the bottom of page 12. https://www.aetnafeds.co...OC_2022_ESAwithRX_EN.pdf

An additional reference is at the bottom of page 96 in the 2022 plan brochure. https://www.aetnafeds.co...2/2022AetnaAdvantage.pdf

Finally, here is a non-FEHB source which seems to be on point.
https://q1medicare.com/q...rtDQA/FAQ.php?faq_id=654