If Shakespeare was a government employee now, which health plan would he pick? Mike Causey says Medicare to B or not to B, that's the question.
If William Shakespeare were alive today, say as a GS-13 at the Library of Congress, he’d have some tough choices to make. The federal health insurance open season ends next Monday. At age 452, he would naturally have some health concerns. The royalties on his 38 plays and 154 sonnets would have dried up long ago, so retirement planning would be a must. When he wrote the famous lines “To be or not to be …” many scholars — like me —believe he was, like tens of thousands of federal worker and retirees, weighing the pros and cons of Medicare Part B.
Because of this, uh, unusual election year, many families either banned or danced around the subject of politics at our just-concluded Thanksgiving banquets. Instead, in lots of federal houses — especially if the patriarch/matriarch is a retired fed, that left the deadly dull, but very import, subject of Medicare Part B as the issue de jour. Most Americans automatically get Medicare Part A — hospitals — based on their work histories, no matter where they worked. But Part B (doctors) is something they must pay for in a monthly premium. And while it is essential for some people, others, thanks to their health plans, can get pay without it. Which begs the question:
Medicare. To B or not to B?
So we asked David Snell. In addition to being a Shakespearean scholar, he is also director of the federal benefits department at the National Association of Retired Federal Employees. The question was Medicare Part B, yes or no? Who needs it? Who doesn’t? What are the pros and cons? And he said that like many important life, medical and financial questions, the answer is ‘it depends.’ Especially when the question is about enrolling in Part B when your federal health plan is secondary coverage.
It’s a tough question for many people, but one they must (or should) understand and deal with. Now!
“Rubber Duckie,” the song sung by Ernie of the Muppets, reached #16 on the Hot 100 on Sept. 26, 1970.
Source: Wikipedia
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Mike Causey is senior correspondent for Federal News Network and writes his daily Federal Report column on federal employees’ pay, benefits and retirement.
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