Author Q&A: Here's how to navigate the complex world of Medicare

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

64% : Signing up for Medicare is top of mind for the 4.1 million Americans turning 65 this year -- a record number.
64% : The reality is that Medicare plans change substantially from year to year, and there's a terrific benefit to actually shopping for your plan.
62% : Secondly, it allowed Medicare for the first time to negotiate for the price of drugs with drug manufacturers.
56% : Every fall before open enrollment, Medicare loads all of the private plan data into this tool.
56% : I personally believe that traditional Medicare with the Medigap plan is the best coverage you can get in Medicare.
54% : Medicare is the primary health insurance for 67 million people in the US, including adults age 65 or older and younger adults with long-term disabilities.
53% : "Medicare provides great insurance, but it's not a 'one-size-fits-all' program," Philip Moeller, a Medicare and Social Security expert and author of the new book, "Get What's Yours for Medicare: Maximize Your Coverage, Minimize Your Costs," told Yahoo Finance.
52% : If you need that care, you either have to pay for it yourself, perhaps have a long-term care policy, or in many cases, people with these needs over time spend down their resources and qualify for Medicaid.
51% : Read more: What is the retirement age for Social Security, 401(k), and IRA withdrawals?
51% : Medicare is a very comprehensive program, but if you don't know what it covers and how to use it, its value to you is reduced.
51% : So if you go back to the first thing, you need to understand the various enrollment periods for Medicare, whether you are aging into the program because you're turning 65, or whether or not you've been working and decide to retire at age 65 or later.
49% : There are two traditional pathways into Medicare.
49% : The maximum out of pocket expense that anybody on Medicare on a Part D plan will incur has been set at $2,000.
48% : What's the biggest stumbling block for people shopping for Medicare during open enrollment?
48% : What this translates into is that Medicare doesn't cover long-term care in a nursing home.
48% : This is going to be particularly important for these miracle weight loss drugs because I expect them to be in the crosshairs of the drugs that Medicare wants to negotiate prices over.
47% : The most important advice is to not be cowed by the seeming complexity of Medicare.
43% : What does Medicare not cover that shocks people?It does not cover so-called non-medical custodial care.
34% : Here's what Moeller had to say about navigating Medicare, edited for length and clarity:Kerry Hannon: You say that there are three sets of decisions that, if properly handled, increase the odds of making Medicare work for people.

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