Ima, do you and your DH even have a doctor lined up? My Dad had Medicare for years before he ever used it. He did not have a doctor and the first time he decided he needed to see a doctor he had pneumonia and was living in an area where there are not enough doctors to go around. It is not when you are sick or injured that you want to be looking for someone to see you. He lives in the same state as you. sp perhaps there is a similar doctor shortage where you live. I would say having someone lined up to do medical business with is part of being financially prepared. You do not want to be backed into the corner of having to go to an emergency room when an office visit could suffice.
More on point with this thread, DH and I have the same deal that COBRA would offer to dismissed employees. It is what is offered to retirees at this point. So it is group rates, but still we pay $1344/month until June of 2010. We do not know how much it will go up or even whether they will leave retirees out of the plan next year, as they are not bound to offer it to us. We stay with this plan because it IS the best we could get dollar-wise, and because we expect we are less likely to be dropped from coverage than if we had an individual private coverage.
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