Retirement Healthcare Coverage Workbook: Choosing and Budgeting Your Medicare Plan

Choosing a Medicare plan is not a passive process. Comparing a Medicare Supplement plan to a Medicare Advantage plan, selecting a Part D formulary that covers your specific medications, and projecting total healthcare costs for a retirement that may last thirty years all require structured analysis. This course provides the templates and step-by-step process to make those decisions with confidence. By the end of this course you will be able to compare at least two Medicare coverage approaches using a standardized total-cost template, select a Part D plan based on your specific medication list, project an annual healthcare budget for retirement, and evaluate whether long-term care insurance is financially appropriate for your situation. What you will learn: - How to create a personal Medicare decision profile: health status, current medications, preferred providers, and geographic flexibility - A total-cost comparison template for Original Medicare plus Medigap versus Medicare Advantage: premiums, expected out-of-pocket costs, and network trade-offs - Part D plan selection exercise: using the Medicare plan finder tool methodology to compare plans based on your actual drug list and preferred pharmacy - IRMAA planning: how to project your income in the two years before Medicare enrollment and estimate whether income-related premium adjustments will apply - Annual healthcare budget worksheet: estimating premiums, expected out-of-pocket costs, dental, vision, hearing, and over-the-counter expenses not covered by Medicare - Long-term care cost worksheet: researching local care costs and estimating the gap between your expected income and care costs - Long-term care insurance evaluation template: comparing a traditional LTC policy to a hybrid life/LTC product on cost, benefit, and flexibility dimensions The course uses seven worksheets introduced sequentially, each with a worked example and a blank version. Short reading segments explain the analysis rationale before each worksheet. A final healthcare planning summary exercise asks you to consolidate your coverage choice, annual budget, and long-term care approach into a single documented plan. This course is designed for adults within five to ten years of Medicare eligibility who are beginning to make coverage decisions. Suitable for those with no prior experience comparing insurance products. This course is educational and does not substitute for advice from a State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) counselor, licensed insurance agent, or financial advisor.