Sadly, living in NJ makes our Medigap plans more expensive, yet I'd rather start out (turning 65 in less than 2 months) with a Plan N than deal yet again with Insurance Networks. My Plan N monthly premium + Medicare Part B premium is still a bit lower than what I pay now for a health plan under the ACA.
Thanks very much, Stephanie! I live in upstate NY and fine the Medigap premiums are sadly high. I started looking at the Advantage plan options. I am not concerned about the in-network requirement, but rather the potential high rate of claim denials and the hoops you have to jump through to appeal them. It seems that you are at the mercy of the insurance company's profitability. That said, I think I would either need to move to a state with lower Medigap rates, or lower my budget in other areas just to meet the high premium costs. I really think this country makes it too difficult for seniors to manage through all this, but at very least we have champions like you.
I don't know why but I always thought you were in Florida. I follow you, Erik at Retirement Nerds, (I actually sent him my son's cookbook) (we comment a lot) and Marven at Medicare School. All 3 of you are awesome. Oh and Dr. Ed Weir who is a retired district manager for the social security administration .He knows all about social security and he is in Texas too .But with that being said Erik is in Utah, Marven is in Kansas, and you are the closest in Texas as I am in Louisiana. I never wanted to be Medicare eligible but who does lol. I do love the "G" plan just for the peace of mind aspect. But then you have to look at a part D plan, dental and vision too. When I was younger I just thought we all went on the same plan when we were eligible but leave it to the government to make it complicated for us. Like we need that. Well thank you so much for what you do!
Stephanie, you are extremely informative...thank you! We are both mid 70's and have had plan F since age 65 and am very pleased. However, most carriers are raising their annual rates by quite a bit. My wife and I have changed carriers twice for better rates but hate to give up our "F" availability. If we switch to "G" can we ever go back to "F" or once we give it up there is no going back?
You can always apply to get it back, as you’ll always be eligible for it… but if you switch away from Plan F then you may need to pass through medical underwriting to get it back again.
We live in Troy MI and use the Henry Ford clinics/hospitals for our medical needs. Please tell us which supplement plan is better than our current Blue Medicare Advantage plan? Thanks
I’m 68 and on Medi-medi here in California. I’m about to get back into the working world as an independent contractor so I will be losing my Medicaid coverage. Doesn’t that mean I will qualify for a SEP GI Supplement plan? As such carriers would not be able to charge me a higher premium?
It seems the idea is to push all of us into (Dis)Advantage Plans. The older we get the more health problems will arise, which will prevent us from passing underwriting. So we cannot change plans and premiums will increase to the point of being unaffordable. I am 77, my wife is 78, in Texas we pay now 223.00 for my plan and 404.00 on hers. We can still manage, but the increases are getting bigger each year.
When selecting a Medigap insurer in say plan N , does one just go with the lowest cost insurer? How do I select the insurer company? In my area there are a handful of companies that offer offer the insurance, does it pay to select more expensive premium?
@@darylolson8499 great question. You want to look at a variety of factors including insurance company stability and rate increase history. This is where an independent agent (like us!) can really come in handy. The lowest cost plan isn’t always the best - but neither is the highest cost option!
Stephanie, I live in Massachusetts. The Medicare Supplements Plans here are unusual and somewhat confusing. Do you think you could do a video for me and the other folks from Massachusetts explaining our options? Love your videos and have learned a lot from them, just not exactly what need to know in my situation. Thanks.
If you have a pre existing medical condition are you effectively "locked" into the company you initially chose for your supplement plan? Can they charge you a much higher premium the second year when you go to renew? If you switch companies during open enrollment do you go through medical underwriting even though you currently have a supplement plan?
Great questions! You may or may not be "locked in" - it depends on your state (see video linked in description with state specific details), and what type of preexisting conditions you have. Medigap insurance companies never raise your rates based on *your* claims or medical usage alone, so rates cannot be raised based on your preexisting conditions and once you are enrolled in a plan they can never cancel you due to anything other than non-payment of premium...so you never have to medically qualify again to keep the same coverage you have. I hope this helps!
One other clarification - Under a supplemental plan, you *must* ask when looking for physicians and specialists, is _Do they accept _*_tradional_*_ or original medicare._ Some physicians, specialists, and clinics may tell you NO. In our initial search, we seemed to be hitting dead ends, as Advantage plans seemed more prevelant than traditional Medicare (original) +Medicare w/ Supplemental plans. Once I found one I liked, they then pretty much know a lot of referrals to specialist that accept traditional medicare with supplemental plan.
That's exactly backwards. On Medicare.gov look at Find a Provider in your area. Very few with contracts with medicare Advantage are Advantage providers ONLY.
Depending on your medical conditions they MAY find a carrier that doesn't ask about your condition or after a period of time the carrier sets, it may no longer affect your ability to change. Go for it. Underwriting isn't the End it could be the Beginning.
Plan N, but my plan in MS will increase 13% and my Part D supplement will increase 268% (!). For us on Social Security, this will become an issue and we will probably be forced onto Medicare Advantage. Age 68
Stay away from managed Care (Advantage) stay away from the guaranteed issued supplement G. Choosing N or HDG is a good way of preventing a $500 a month supplement cost at age 85.
