@bluebayo That’s interesting info -definitely different than what I would have expected. I guess the problem is that the community rated plans are picking up costs for the over-80’s.
Medicare is a federal program, so the rules are going to be the same for the part the government runs (parts A & B) in all states.
But states regulate insurance, so each state is different-- Parts C, D & Medigap (Medicare supplement) are all different forms of private insurance, so the states get to set the rules for how those companies operate in their state.
This is a broad generalization -- I'm really not an expert of all the regulatory ins and outs There is probably overlap -- for example, the federal government has set rules about what each type of letter policy must cover (F, G, N) and what can be sold-- I'm just trying to give you a general guideline as to when you can assume that info from a resident of another state applies to your situation as well, and when you should assume the opposite.
Interesting about the price variances. We were surprised my plan F was lower than what my H is paying - must be the age related as he is 76 to my 65.
I have to say plan F is great. I ummed and ahhed about whether to take plan F when I became Medicare eligible in May as I’m generally fairly healthy (it was a no brainer for DH when he went on Medicare as he has all sorts of health problems). Whew, so glad I did as I injured my foot and had to have surgery & a plate and screws and there will be a lot of follow ups with I think some PT once I’m finally out of my boot. Out of pocket so far - $0. Big difference from my previous private insurance with it’s $3000 deductible and 20% after that up to a cap. I’d have been several thousand out if pocket - much more than plan F cost me. (And the 3 Medicare premiums combined come to less than what I was paying for the private insurance - a retiree benefit from my H’s job).
I think Medicare can be a bit stingy about PT but think I will probably need quite a bit with this so hope it covers it. I did read that they lifted some caps on PT in 2018 so that is making me optimistic.
Hi all. OP here, thank you all for so much information. I did some preliminary research and discovered I basically have 3 choices when it comes with a plan to stay with present medical group where I live. I did not realize I needed to sign up for Medicare and then sign up for the Medical plan. I did meet with a local agent yesterday who confirmed most of what I had learned these past months. I am holding off on collecting SS and also keeping COBRA for my H ( another yr).
Thanks. I will be more prepared when H signs up.
I’m in CA and have Anthem supplement plan F. In 2017 I noticed that in 2018 Anthem was going to offer a brand new “Innovative” Plan F that included new hearing and vision benefits for a lower premium. Insurance companies offering more benefits at lower premiums is the stuff of fantasies. So I called agent I deal with and was told that it’s true about new Plan F. I asked about how new Plan F applied to birthday rule and was told it would be considered a lateral move and not an upgrade and so birthday rule applied and I would not be subject to medical underwriting. I applied and was denied. Info broker had given me was incorrect as the new Plan was considered an upgrade. As such I was subject to medical underwriting and because I have a long medical history got denied. The broker followed up with Anthem rep who had presented new Plan to brokers. The Anthem rep had also been told new Plan F wouldn’t trigger medical underwriting as per birthday rule. I was told Anthem California would be phasing out original Plan F in favor of new Plan F, I and others with existing Plan F would at least be grandfathered in.
Plan F is being phased out by the Feds, in favor of Plan G. (I guess the Feds decided 100% coverage was not a good thing.) All folks currently in F can remain.
But what that means is that the young 'ens (65) will no longer be able to buy into F starting Jan 1-2020. Overtime, the average age of F will become older, and rates should climb faster than they will in G.
I’ve been reading about F+, which I guess is what Anthem is offering. I guess the question is whether they’ll still offer it to new enrollees starting 2020. If not, it will have the actuarial issues as regular F.
@bluebayou – I used your link to start comparing rates in my zip code, but unfortunately found pretty quickly that info was inaccurate when I could get quotes directly from the provider site. So a good starting point, but thats all it is. Anthem Blue Cross rates were correct, but the others are all either quoting higher rates or simply are not offering new policies in my region despite inclusion in the database. Best rates for a G Plan seem to be about $120 a month in my area.
So far, the lowest priced F plan in my area runs around $144 a month, also with Anthem. So that is almost +$290 paid out to avoid paying the $183 Plan B deductible. So as far as I can figure, the F plan is for people who can’t do math.
There are some companies that reduce their own differential between F & G to less than the $183 deductible…but basically they are doing that by selling you an overpriced G plan (compared to whatever lower priced plans are available on the market).
Thanks for cross-checking the state website info, calmom. I’ll do the same for a few providers in my zip and see how they come out. Grrrr. I thought I had found the one-stop shop!
I also found a HICAP information source locally, so I’ll check that out this week.
@calmom I’m actually quite good at math, but have just accepted options given to me over the years without fully investigating what other options may have been available to me.
@bluebayou thx for your post, it was quite enlightening especially with W turning 65 in 2019
fwiw: I looked up 4 large carriers of medicare supplements, and found two of the rates to match the State’s and the other two were not far off. But the difference was likely the fact that the State website still has some older rates; for example, I found Aetna’s supplement online and they just updated thier rates as of 9/1/18. The state website has a rate schedule from 7/1/17.
@Jugulator20 – I didn’t mean my math comment to be directed at you, just new buyers coming in for the first time. I think the G plans are relatively new and certainly weren’t offered by all companies – and I don’t know what state you are in, so the switching around is only an option in states with the birthday rule or some sort of other open enrollment provision. Otherwise, it would be a lot more important to focus on finding a company that is reliable and will have consistently lower rates, rather then coming in on a teaser rate.
@bluebayou – the main problem I ran into was that a lot of carriers that were listed for my zip code on the state site and seemed to have low rates don’t seem to be selling new policies in my area. So it could be that their rates seem lower because they haven’t actually written a new policy in years… but they would still need rate approval from the state for existing customers. I noticed that with at least one carrier that had an issue-age premium … it looked very low, but for all I know the last time anyone could lock that in might have been years ago.
Also, the state list didn’t include all carriers – the conspicuous absence from my list was the UHC/AARP plan… which I am 99% sure is available here. (Otherwise why would they be sending me so much paper mail? Obviously they have to know my zip code before sending out brochures and flyers).
calmom: under the state website, you can click on Individual or Group for Policy Type. Did you check the latter? The UHC/AARP plan shows up under Group in my zip code. (Stupid place to put it IMO.)
I have read this entire thread. I thank God every single day that my husband is retired military so we have Medicare and Tricare for Life. We pay a small amount for prescriptions and that is about it. We are also fortunate to both have pretty good health. I would go crazy trying to figure all of this stuff out.
Two years ago when I signed up for Medicare I chose Plan F. I guess I didn’t do my research thoroughly enough; I didn’t realize that Plan F was going away or that the deductible was only $183. So now I’d like to switch to G but may have to go through underwriting. Although I read in a couple of places that you can change within insurance companies without the underwriting. I guess I’ll call AARP next week.
One thing I know I’m going to do in open enrollment is choose something other than Silverscripts for my Part D. I don’t care if it costs more. Silverscripts is the worst. They think they’re my mother. They call me to tell me to refill my prescriptions. Yeah, I don’t need the help, thanks anyway. Yesterday my pharmacy called to tell me that Silverscripts called them to tell them to call me to tell me to ask my doctor if I should be on statins. Goodbye Silverscripts.
I am grateful H has private family insurance that he is allowed to keep for his lifetime and mine if I survive him. The portion of the premium we pay and annual cap is reasonable and hasn’t changed much in the decades we’ve had the policy. It’s also accepted by nearly all the providers in our state and everywhere in the US. We use the family plan as an alternative to a supplement or a Medigap policy. It also is better than Medicare D.
I agree that this Medicare stuff is VERY confusing. I’m glad the office on aging will have staff at my event next week so patients can talk with them and get answers on their Medicare Qs. They’re very helpful.
@bluebayou – no, I didn’t think to check the group plan link – and yes, I should have realized that AARP is a group. I’ve now run the check again just out of curiosity, and you are absolutely right - rates are consistent with what is on the insurer’s website.
So the main problem with the state site is simply that just because a company is listed doesn’t mean that they are going to sell policies to new customers. I guess I needed to pay more attention to the notation about “effective date”.
I had been set on signing up hubby for the AARP plan F. Now rethinking the issue. Many good points made - especially about potential rate hikes for F if there are no new members after 2020. Sure does sound like G is a better option…
And apparently I need to re-think Silverscripts also - based on #174.
I know I can stay on F but there is a strong possibility that the premiums will go up as the population on F ages. So maybe I should switch to G while that is possible. If it’s possible.
I’ve now run the check again just out of curiosity, and you are absolutely right - rates are consistent with what is on the insurer’s website.