Compare first-time Medicare options with Gemini alongside a human advisor
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- by Jeff Hall (Miscellaneous Ramblings of a Curmudgeon)
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Evidence: Described by posterThe person describes what happened in words, without screenshots or video.
Outcome
Facing a first Medicare sign-up, Jeff Hall used AI (Hall calls it Gemini Notebook) to work out which options to choose, alongside an advisor from LeClair Group. The goal was to minimize out-of-pocket costs. Running simulations on the shortlist, Hall found the options 'almost net out the same or within a few hundred dollars of each other', and the results came out entirely different for Hall's spouse. Hall's takeaway: Medicare plans are like a balloon, and anyone who tries this alone 'is a fool'. The post doesn't say which plan Hall picked.
AI tool
Prompt Recreated prompt
The source didn't share its exact prompt, so we wrote this from what it describes.
We're signing up for Medicare for the first time. Here's our shortlist of options and our usual medical costs. Simulate what each option would cost us out of pocket in a year, separately for me and my spouse, and tell me how they compare.
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Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.
Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about the details below and wait for my answers. Once I've answered, confirm the plan in one line and run the whole task start to finish. Goal: Compare my shortlisted Medicare options by likely yearly out-of-pocket cost, so I can discuss them with my advisor. Questions to ask me first: - Which plans or plan types are on the shortlist, and for whom (me, my spouse, both)? - What are our usual doctors, prescriptions and expected care this year? - Is anything more important to us than cost (keeping a doctor, travel, dental)? Inputs (fill in or confirm): - Shortlist with each plan's premium, deductible, copays and out-of-pocket maximum, copied from the official plan documents: [PLAN DETAILS] - Our prescriptions and doses: [PRESCRIPTIONS] - Our doctors: [DOCTORS] - Expected care this year: [VISITS AND PROCEDURES] Rules: - Use only the plan figures I give you or that you can show from an official plan document; never fill gaps with guesses. - Work out each person separately, then the household total. - Show a low-use, typical-use and high-use year for each plan. - Flag anything you can't check, like whether a doctor is in network or a drug is covered. - Don't recommend a plan; lay out the trade-offs for me and my advisor. Checkpoint: Show me the plan details table before you run the numbers, so I can correct anything. If you get stuck: If a plan's numbers are missing or unclear, list exactly what I need to look up instead of estimating. Verify before you finish: Recalculate each total once and check that no plan's out-of-pocket cost exceeds its stated maximum. Output: A comparison table per person and for the household, plus a short list of questions to ask my advisor. Done when: I can see how the options compare in a bad year and a normal year, and know what to confirm with my advisor.
Source
https://jeffhallinmn.substack.com/p/why-is-medicare-so-damn-complicated
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