Strange Medicare Supplemental products
01-27-2021, 09:33 AM
#1
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Central NM
Posts: 1,596
Strange Medicare Supplemental products
So with our Aetna supplemental we get $50.00 (total $100.00 for both of us) each month for OTC (over the counter) products. Interesting list. Toothbrush/paste, denture products, incontinent products male/female, refreezable ice packs, lots of other usable products and DRUM ROLL PLEASE... tampons and pregnancy test! OMG...if I needed these products at my age I would drop dead of a heart attack! 
01-27-2021, 12:21 PM
#4
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: maine/washington
Posts: 1,572
exercise program
My supplimental ins (Blue Cross of Maine) supports Silver Sneakers. You go to the SS web site and put in your Ins Co name. It will tell you if you are eligible. It also includes Gyms -- when they re-open. They have lots of video exercise programs as well as on line ones.
01-29-2021, 10:22 AM
#6
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 2,525
We do not get the additional OTC money. Quarterly DH and I both get $65.00 for anything in the produce department. What that means is that we get 50% off all produce purchases, up to $65.00. For us, that is $130.00 per quarter. Our supermarket has a lot of things they consider product. Any salad dressing that needs to be refrigerated, croutons, spices, and all the bulk bins count. We also get special grocery offers for $$ off. Silver sneakers is available also. It does sound like some editing may be in order!
Last edited by Anniedeb; 01-29-2021 at 10:25 AM.
01-31-2021, 11:31 AM
#8
Power Poster
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Long Island
Posts: 24,820
everyone, use th OTC stuff. when i didn't need to order, i'd make a list of a madicine cabnet items. bandages, bandaids, eye drops, ointment. it all added up, and this dec was my last list of thigs to get. we no longer have it on my n ew plan, but i do miss all the free goodies.
02-08-2021, 07:18 AM
#9
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Manassas, VA
Posts: 2,009
My Medicare insurance carrier started offering OTC products this year. We are allowed $30 per quarter, and the amount does not carry over into the next quarter. One must only order through their website. I got $25 worth of their products for free. If I bought the same thing at the grocery store it would have cost me $4.32.
What a ripoff... I suspect Medicare is paying the insurance company $30 per person, and they get to keep anything that is not used that quarter. Plus the exorbitant markup on the products make it a real money maker for the insurance company.
What a ripoff... I suspect Medicare is paying the insurance company $30 per person, and they get to keep anything that is not used that quarter. Plus the exorbitant markup on the products make it a real money maker for the insurance company.
03-03-2021, 09:26 AM
#10
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: New Hampshire & Maine
Posts: 3,300
Some of us have been on Medicare because of disability. Mine began when I was 34 and I did need the tampons and pregnancy tests then, (although pregnancy tests were only done at the doctor's office or clinics back then). If you check the Part D drug formulary, a lot of Medicare plans even include birth control pills. I guess if the plans don't include these things, they would be accused of age discrimination by the young folks who need them. On the face of it, it seems funny to include these things, but the reality is not everyone on Medicare is 65 or older.
