Almost 65 and pondering medicare supplement/advantage policies

[Nova]

I highly doubt this also but like Ha, I can be convinced w/ some reference link. My conclusion following a rushed transition this yr is that we are like old
salmon........we can swim easily downstream from Supplement to Advantage but we are likely to get beat up quite a bit if we try to navigate the other way.

I did have to login to get to this website:

https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/insurance_medicare_solutions_supplement

I got to this point on the web, then I called USAA and asked for more information. That's were I got the scoop on their plan F...and their Advantage plan (through Humana) in my state. I think you can get the info even if you are not currently a member...they have relaxed membership requirements, but if you are not military/ex-military or if you don't live in Bexar, County, TX you may not be able to participate...don't know the answer to that question.

 

[haha]

Ha Ha,
You are correct and I am in error. Changing supplements does involve underwriting. A possible way out of this is to opt for a Medicare advantage plan instead of a supplement. No underwriting. The following year, I think you can opt back out to a supplement again with no underwriting. Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks to you and REWahoo for clarifying this.

Ha

 

[kaneohe]

I did have to login to get to this website:

https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/insurance_medicare_solutions_supplement

I got to this point on the web, then I called USAA and asked for more information. That's were I got the scoop on their plan F...and their Advantage plan (through Humana) in my state. I think you can get the info even if you are not currently a member...they have relaxed membership requirements, but if you are not military/ex-military or if you don't live in Bexar, County, TX you may not be able to participate...don't know the answer to that question.

It is not clear to me what question you were answering or what pt of view you were supporting from the reference here.

 

[Nova]

It is not clear to me what question you were answering or what pt of view you were supporting from the reference here.

Sorry. I must have grabbed the wrong post to respond to. I intended to respond to the post I thought was questioning whether USAA offered Medicare Supplement insurance. Didn't mean to step on your toes.

I agree with your statement "........we can swim easily downstream from Supplement to Advantage but we are likely to get beat up quite a bit if we try to navigate the other way," with a few aforementioned exceptions.

 

[haha]

This morning I talked to my insurance broker. As of 1/1/2012 in Washington state, anyone who has a type F Medigap can switch to another carrier. This is likely true of other alphabet designations, but I wasn't interested in the overall thing, just how it affects me. In this state, premiums are based on community rating, so that your premium will not increase based on your age or health.

As I understand it, this will not affect those who might like to switch from Medicare Advantage to Medigap, only those who have an existing Medgap policy of a given level.

This will save me $100/month out of the gate, as my Medigap insurer had somehow managed to hive off people who joined prior to a certain date into a separate pool. Thanks to our excellent insurance commissioner that fiddle is over.

Ha