If you are 65, you've already paid a sizeable amount into it. Medicare pays 80% of most medical bills, and with your VA taking up the rest, you can afford to get all sorts of exotic diseases.
The Germ
A mighty creature is the germ,
Though smaller than a pachyderm.
It's foolish pride it often pleases,
By giving people strange diseases.
Do you dear reader feel infirm?
You probably contain a germ.
-----Ogden Nash

Remember when Reagan tried to refuse Social Security payments? His staff had the uncomfortable task of informing him that since he'd reached age 70, it was a Federal offense not to take SS. He then made sure he added his SS check to his charitable contributions account.

What I'm waking up to is the fact that I've passed the 70 year point and have been informed that Medicare isn't going to pay for most of the preventive care that they've been pushing me to get. But of course all of those stories about "death panels" are just conspiracy theories, right?

Me dino signed up for Medicare five years ago at age 65 shortly before I first heard of Ayn Rand by way of AS1.
Guess I was going along baa baa thinking this is what you do.
At the same time got supplemental health insurance with Colonial Penn. It's pretty good.
Shortly thereafter I picked up dental insurance with Physicians Mutual that really helped out due to problems now solved.
I'm now collecting money paid into Social Security since I started working jobs since age 14.
More of a monthly income comes from the Alabama Retirement Systems because I used to be a state worker.
Y'all can throw rocks if ya want. At age 70 I'm not gonna stop taking that income.

Carl, you will only have to pay if you choose part B. If you choose only part A, the hospital part, you don't have to pay.

I do the insurance billing for a doctor, and when I bill medicare claims I have to bill some $0.01 codes that we don't get paid for, but they report whether or not you are a smoker, drinker etc. We do not get paid for these charges, but once or twice a year they send us a check. When the AR lady asked me which category to put the payment in Quickbooks, I asked if she had a category for bribes.

After filling a claim patients will start getting a questionnaire to fill out about there entire experience with that doctor visit and the doctor will be reimbursed according to his reviews.

Insert many nasty words here.

For 16 years I paid for an annual eye checkup $93. Was required by Lasik if my eyes needed some "tuning" after the intial burning. This year they staff noted I was 65 and said they could save me some money. I paid $35 and a $12 co-pay and so I did save some money. Great program I thought.

Then the other shoe dropped two months later when I got an EOB (Explanation of Benefits from the carrier of medicare in this state. The eye center had charged $336 and after my part they get paid by government $276. SOOOO

I figure I got a bone and the eye center got the meat. And the taxpayer got bred. Corruption and graft follows the intrusion of government monies into an enterprise.

was in the same age boat as you 3 years ago...furious like you...didn't want to be forced into it...had a friend go thru a heart electrical reset of his heart...outpatient procedure...with medicare...$180..without medicare...$93,000...they have made medical costs insane...

i have become vegan and grow my own food trying to stay away from socialized medicine...so far so good, but i will never get any younger...i wish you the best, but be prepared for the worst...

Social security payments are the carrot, paying you back a fraction of the tax you paid with your own money. Everything else is the stick, enslaving you to the politics of the socialist-fascist government. This was the plan from the beginning in 1913 with the fed bankster cartel and the income tax, with you and your descendants as security to the banksters for socialist government borrowing.
The answer? Stop voting for evil. Stop buying corrupt corporatocracy products made with chinese (et al) slaves.

I know someone who recently turned 65. She got her Medicare card. It gave an option to refuse Medicare by signing and sending the card back -- only it said if you refuse Medicare, you don't get any SS payments either.

Interesting "choice of words." First, as long as you are working, MEDICARE is your Secondary Healthcare Insurance and pickup what your Primary Healthcare Insurance (provided by the place you work assuming you signed up for such coverage). That means to you that you will have zero out of pocket costs, exclusive for prescription. Also assuming that you do not elect to get MEDICARE PART-B. HOWEVER, be careful what you wish for. I also have TRICARE FOR LIFE and VA coverage. I have never used either. Reason: VA hospitals and clinics have always been too far away to make it worth the time and effort to use. As far as TRICARE, military bases do not put retirees on a priority basis. Therefore I have MEDICARE PART A&B plus a Secondary Healthcare Provider. I have had major surgery on my spine, two shoulder replacements, and sever other major surgeries by doctors of my choice, at hospitals of my choice, that without MEDICARE PART A&B plus my Secondary Healthcare would have run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. As it is, I have paid nothing except for the cost of MEDICARE PART B and what my Secondary Healthcare coverage costs me (peanuts compared to what the medical bills were.) Why the surgeries you may ask? "Service related" left over from Nam tours. But I have seen the inside of VA hospitals; I have seen the results of VA operations. No thank you. My completely unsolicited advice: IF you have any combat related/military related issues then go with MEDICATE PART A&B plus an excellent Secondary Healthcare Provider that also covers prescriptions, once you actually retire. In the meanwhile, stay with your employer healthcare as primary and MEDICARE PART A&B as secondary. DO NOT get MEDICARE PART D (prescription). My Secondary Healthcare Provider also covers my prescriptions and I do NOT have to worry about any "donut hole" crap. AND, what my secondary does not cover, TRICARE normally will cover. One last comment: IF you "opt out" of MEDICATE PART B and later want to get it, you pay a very hefty penalty and your monthly cost for PART B goes through the roof. Oh yeah, almost forgot: MEDICARE PART B covers almost everything in a hospital stay; private room, meals, medication, doctors, nurses, equipment, you name it it's probably covered. Otherwise, you will probably be paying for it. OK; I've put in my three and one half cents worth. "Look before you leap." Create a really FUN day. And the adventures continue.

My brother went through that several years ago. At the time, he could just sign up with the VA which he did so he has no Medicare premium. I read somewhere that you can also sign in with Medicare so that you can use either service. With the VA he gets good service but there are some co-charges for expensive tests.
I tried opting out of medicare back in the late 60s and early 70s, after getting a pay up or else letter from a guy named Mr. LORD from Kansas City, I payed up and take the monthly stipend. I have used it with a heart attack through the local non-profit health service chain and have had to pay about $6000 in fees on about $130,000 costs. I have noticed that they have special contracts with Medicare where they accept what Medicare pays and write off the rest. The yearly Medicare wellness visit for about $500 seems like a pure ripoff for the taxpayer since it does nothing. The doctor just threw in a thorough physical for an extra $300 so I had to pay another deductible. The reason I took it was that the doctor said he might cut off my heart meds if I didn't even though the visit is not required by medicare.
As for the VA, if you have nearby places, like here in WI, you could get by with that. My brother has not had an emergency by ambulance yet so I don't know what they do with you for that. For my heart attack, medicare paid all but $270 of the $1600 40 mile ambulance trip to the stent installation hospital in Milwaukee. Nothing to do there for four days with a few crummy TV channels and absolutely no reading material matter and nearly no sleep due to being awakened about every half hour for tests and with auto blood pressure cuff expanding.

Check to see if the VA is OK justifiable coverage. You can put off Medicare if the coverage by any other insurance meets certain standards.

I have researched this several times, as I am approaching that age. I found a citation at one point that indicated that Clinton succeeded in linking Social Security and Medicare such that you could not receive payments on the former unless you signed up for the latter. This quote was in context of 4 or 5 people who were trying to take this to the Supreme Court for judgement - but I have not subsequently been able to find that information. (I think this is a key word problem, not that the info is not there.)

I too do not want to sign up for MCare but I resent that I will not see any return on the money I have been forced to invest in MCare and SS if I do not sign up for both. I want my money back!

I too do not intend to retire, which sounds boring and fraught with peril, so I will continue to have my work insurance - but apparently I am not allowed to not let MCare interfere with me medical life.

If you find additional info, please post it. I will look again to see if I can find the mandatory MC-SS requirement and post the link if I do.

Jan

I do know that if you are still working and your employer provides health insurance you do not have to sign up for medicare. My wife and I made the mistake of assuming, even though both of us were retired, that since she got health ins. from her former employer, we didn't need to sign on to medicare. Wrong! You have to still be working. We had a penalty of 25% added to our medicare payments because of our assumption.

In this country, no one should be forced to sign on to any program, especially a govt. program. For over 3 years, The Convention of States Project has been trying to get States to sign on to a Constitutional Article 5 convention of states in order to propose amendments to rein in the scope and power of the Federal Govt., limit spending and taxes, curtail unconstitutional executive orders, redefine the public welfare and commerce clauses, limit regulations from unelected bureaucrats that have the force of legislation, limit terms of legislators and judges and give States the final say on Supreme Court decisions. There are 8 States that have signed on and many more with proposals in their legislatures. Learn more at conventionosstates.com and sign the petition.

I feel your pain, my wife and I are childless and over the age of changing that. Every year we pay property taxes, every portion of the sales tax and endless "fees" that are aimed toward education (including the beyond bloated DOE cartel) are taken from us, with no benefit for money taken...if you find a way out of your version of that, be sure to pass it on. (edit) I forgot to mention, because we are both employed and must purchase health insurance on the open market, as I refuse to be involved in o/care, we pay extra high premiums and laughably high deductibles, Aint prog / commies grand?

Personal experience: I am seventy years old with a spouse and fourteen year old daughter (being an older Dad is great). When I was forced to leave Blue Care Network and take on Medicare my finanicial risk climber to $32,000 / year - remember there are copays and payments that must be met before insurance takes over. My rates for my family went up because I am no longer on the plan. To get any level of insurance at all one must sign up for Part D to qualify for the supplimental insurance. The real rub is that seniors are not allowed to have a HSA once on Medicare. I wrote several Congressmen about this but got zero response.
My physician crabs about his level of reimbursement and the insane expenses his group must pay to remain compliant. The greater the complinace with government regulations the greater the reimbursement. The whole system is a diaster unless, of course, you can't pay then you get a free ride. And we pay for it.

In 10 years I'll be in the same position as you and I have no desire to sign up.

Have they come to your door with a gun yet?

Looks, so far, from what has been posted that I'll sign up for A at 0 cost and 0 value...my wife is not happy with that idea though.

Medicare became primary insurance payer, Tricare secondary, patient becomes hind tit sucker.

at your age you will need some sort of medical insurance. You paid into medicare, so you might as well use it. You have NO other choice actually.

The system is stacked against people without some sort of insurance. Medical care is priced at astronomical rates for private patients, and then discounted substantially for the insurance companies.

stop working and get rid of all monies that you have as in becoming indigent. then you will be getting medicare for free.