maw7815 Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Can this be done with the US consulate at LCS or in Guad? I checked online and this is what I found out. Instructions 1 Call and schedule an interview with the Social Security office. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires a personal interview whenever possible for those seeking to terminate their services. 2 Sign a request for termination, using form CMS-1763. This must be done either in person or on the phone. This is to ensure that the persons wishing to terminate Medicare Part B understand the consequences, such as possibly having to pay a surcharge in order to re-enroll at a later date. 3 Sign the letter a Social Security representative will send you after the interview that outlines the outcome of termination. You retain the right to withdraw your termination request until your coverage ends. Once this form is returned and the Social Security representative places it in your file, you have canceled Medicare Part B. Termination begins the end of the month following the month you filed your termination request. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gringal Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 For what it's worth: I called the SS telephone number years ago, and the rep sent me the form. Advised me that after signing it, it would probably take up to three months to take effect. It did, but it worked. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kindred Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 When I became eligible, I just opted out by checking a box on a form that I was sent. Easy as that, but sounds like you have had Part B, and now want to opt out....verdad? Did the monthly fees go up yet? I had heard they were going to increase by quite a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gringal Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 The monthly fees go up every year, usually in excess of the "increase" in the benefits. lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonhill Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Since my husband never received the card and other info in the mail, he simply called SS, somehow got transferred to the right person, explained where he lived and answered a few questions. They had already deducted the first months premium from his SS check, so they immediately credited it back to him. That was exactly one year ago and they've never tried to charge him since, so I think it's safe to say he's officially opted out with a phone call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryPat Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Be sure if you cancel your Part B that you will never want it again. We cancelled ours when we lived in Mexico thinking we would never come back to the U.S., but guess what, here we are. We have to pay a penalty of $150 a month EACH to buy back into Part B. They will penalize you back to the date that you were eligible for Part B, not from the date you cancelled it. The current Part B charge is $104 a month. Also, there is a law in the States now that says you have to have Part D prescription insurance. There is a penalty for buying back into that one too except we were able to skirt that penalty by documenting that we lived out of the country since that saw was passed. All we had to do was call Social Security and they sent us the form to opt out, just be careful when you do that because it's costly to get back in to Part B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickS Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 The monthly fees go up every year, usually in excess of the "increase" in the benefits. lol. While I realize that this is way off the OP's question, the above statement is not factual. The Part B fees don't always go up from year to year (didn't rise from 2013 to 2014 as well as other years). And my fee increase has never been more than my benefit increase. As an example, for the last 10 years my Part B fees increased only $320/yr but my SS benefit payment has increased by $2,832/yr. So, dramatically more benefit increase than fee increase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gringal Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 While I realize that this is way off the OP's question, the above statement is not factual. The Part B fees don't always go up from year to year (didn't rise from 2013 to 2014 as well as other years). And my fee increase has never been more than my benefit increase. As an example, for the last 10 years my Part B fees increased only $320/yr but my SS benefit payment has increased by $2,832/yr. So, dramatically more benefit increase than fee increase. That may have been your experience. There are other factors involved in getting a large SS increase. One of them is that they automatically recalculate your benefit it you have been reporting income, but that's off the subject. When we had Part B some years ago, we were bemused that the increase in Part B was larger than the SS increase that year. Not much, but a few dollars. I don't mean to mislead anyone, however. Those who would be willing to return to the States to use Part B should keep paying, since the penalties for dropping it and taking it up again are heavy. Each case is different. In our case, multiplying the number of years we haven't been paying for it by the amount of the cost of Part B has given us a "medical savings account" large enough to cover just about any kind of medical cost, and there is no way we would go through what would be involved in returning to the States for medical care under Medicare. But.......YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVGRINGO Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Yikes! I have paid about $100 USD for part B for 11 years now. That adds up to about $13,200.00 USD and I cannot use Medicare here. Yet, we keep on paying, just in case we ever live long enough to end up in an old folks home in the USA. What a racket! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gringal Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Yikes! I have paid about $100 USD for part B for 11 years now. That adds up to about $13,200.00 USD and I cannot use Medicare here. Yet, we keep on paying, just in case we ever live long enough to end up in an old folks home in the USA. What a racket! Amen. My worst nightmare would be ending up in one of those "storage facilities" in the U.S. in my declining years. Hopefully, it won't come to that and I will either croak first or be able to find a caretaker to come and live with me. The lady who had the apartment built on the grounds of the Nueva Posada, looking out at the lake and with meals available downstairs......she really got it right!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVGRINGO Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Those thoughts have crossed our minds. Our home is now for sale on Chapala.com, as we really need to downsize; however, it does have a complete casita for the use of a future caregiver, if needed. So, that is always an option, and we really hate the thought of moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gringal Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Those thoughts have crossed our minds. Our home is now for sale on Chapala.com, as we really need to downsize; however, it does have a complete casita for the use of a future caregiver, if needed. So, that is always an option, and we really hate the thought of moving. Well........you do the best you can with what you have to work with. Nothing wrong with a little planning ahead, even though none of us like to think about being old and disabled.......but we know for certain that none of us is getting out of this alive. Ulp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVGRINGO Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Very true, but my departure will leave someone behind and I want to plan ahead for that, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traderspoc Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 heres alink to what Part B covers http://www.medicare.gov/what-medicare-covers/part-b/what-medicare-part-b-covers.html part B covers nursing care home. for 120 days part B is not long term care policy. I canceled my Part B, as with any insurance if you are not using it why pay for it. a 10% fee for renewing you Medicare when needed is a very low penaltly. to pay to save not Paying part B for twenty.years. if you are really broke and did your spend down of all assets in the USA can qualify for Medicaid. then nursing home care is covered. I chose to opt out of Part B and use the money to buy a insurance policy in a group called boomers in paradise and pay about the same as medicare part B for a Worldwide health insurance policy with a $5000 high deductible policy. with Best doctors. part B $1200 Best doctors $1125 my savings from not paying Part B pays my health insurance here in mexico it would probably pay if I had medicare the $5000 cost in co-pay travel costs etc o the usa. plus hotel cost for my spouse. a friend just had to be go back to the USA/ one cost they did not take in consideration, was the local emergency costs to stabilize them, before they traveled back to USA to use Medicare. Local hospital in Guad was $80,000 pesos CASH. they were in luck and are staying with there children to cut costs in the USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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