DH signed up for Medicare Plan G today!

[Scuba]

I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to posters on this forum. Without you, it would have been FAR more confusing to navigate the plethora of choices with respect to Medicare supplemental coverage. Also, we would not have known about the "closing the books" issues with Mutual of Omaha and some other carriers. One of the consultants we spoke with actually asked me how I knew about it because it isn't that easy to find it on Google. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

Anyway, in case anyone is interested, DH got the AARP/UHC Plan G traditional Medicare supplement for $197.41/month. The Part B decuctible is $240. He also signed up for Part D with the Wellcare Value Script Plan. This plan is completely free for him and based on the 2 meds he takes now, his out of pocket total cost will be $3/month. We live in FL. His coverage is effective on March 1.

This is so incredible to me! We have been paying almost $2K/month for private insurance for the two of us, and on top of that have had much higher deductibles, co-pays, and OOP max's to deal with. I'm sure there will be a whole new learning curve to make sure we aren't getting overcharged or incorrectly billed.

We will still have to pay a pretty high amount for my private coverage for another couple of years. I'm really looking forward to getting on Medicare myself, despite the fact that it means I have to get even older!

 

[Calico]

I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to posters on this forum. Without you, it would have been FAR more confusing to navigate the plethora of choices with respect to Medicare supplemental coverage. Also, we would not have known about the "closing the books" issues with Mutual of Omaha and some other carriers. One of the consultants we spoke with actually asked me how I knew about it because it isn't that easy to find it on Google. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

Anyway, in case anyone is interested, DH got the AARP/UHC Plan G traditional Medicare supplement for $197.41/month. The Part B decuctible is $240. He also signed up for Part D with the Wellcare Value Script Plan. This plan is completely free for him and based on the 2 meds he takes now, his out of pocket total cost will be $3/month. We live in FL. His coverage is effective on March 1.

This is so incredible to me! We have been paying almost $2K/month for private insurance for the two of us, and on top of that have had much higher deductibles, co-pays, and OOP max's to deal with. I'm sure there will be a whole new learning curve to make sure we aren't getting overcharged or incorrectly billed.

We will still have to pay a pretty high amount for my private coverage for another couple of years. I'm really looking forward to getting on Medicare myself, despite the fact that it means I have to get even older!

Since January 2021 I have had traditional Medicare, the AARP UHC Plan G supplement, and the Wellcare Value Script Plan D that your husband has, and I have never been overcharged or incorrectly billed by any of the plans for anything.

 

[Scuba]

Since January 2021 I have had traditional Medicare, the AARP UHC Plan G supplement, and the Wellcare Value Script Plan D that your husband has, and I have never been overcharged or incorrectly billed by any of the plans for anything.

Awesome! That's great to hear. I am so used to having to audit every medical bill and make sure what the medical office says we owe matches our EOB's and then working it out when it doesn't, which is often. This is going to be amazing.

 

[audreyh1]

Prices will drop significantly for us too. DH has been on since 2020, I start later this year.

Plus in terms of cash flow as each of us starts Medicare we are no longer socking away in the HSA (since 2013) and turning around and covering the Medicare Part B premium from the HSA instead. So it almost seems free.

You will still need to check your EOBs to make sure what the provider bills you matches what Medicare says.

And we didn’t catch a situation where Medicare should have billed our Medigap provider. We thought we were just paying against the deductible.

 

[Venturer]

Congrats to DH, WE weren't lucky enough to find out about MofO and so that was the one pushed to us by the local "Expert" that was recommended to us by our family Dr.s office assistant. He came to our house and we sat at the table while he explained things to us. At the time I could have gotten the F plan but he said it was about to go away and then my premium would probably go way up. So far the increase in premiums are not to bad. We go a discount when my wife also joined the next year but when I tried to change to AARP plan I didn't pass so here we will be staying.

 

[wdwwildbill]

I am searching different plans too. The wealth of knowledge here has been invaluable .
I am staying away from MOA Any other companies do this ? I'm looking at CIGNA as well.. Thanks

 

[MichaelB]

I'm sure there will be a whole new learning curve to make sure we aren't getting overcharged or incorrectly billed.

I had a similar concern when first going on Medicare (same policies as your DH) but have been pleasantly surprised. After 5 years I’ve spent much less time dealing with health care insurance issues.

 

[FIREd_2015]

I'm also planning to signup for the AARP/UHC Plan G traditional Medicare next year. I have a logistics questions for those that have this plan. Do I need to signup for AARP separately and then signup for UHC Plan G or will the UHC Plan G automatically enroll me into AARP and bill me for it?

 

[audreyh1]

You need to be an AARP member first.

 

[Luvdogs]

I have the same exact Medicare and prescription plan that Scuba has (FL also).
Last year I went to the ER, stayed overnight for observation and did not owe anything. The original bill was over 37K (for about 26 hours there). This is a great plan.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to posters on this forum. Without you, it would have been FAR more confusing to navigate the plethora of choices with respect to Medicare supplemental coverage. Also, we would not have known about the "closing the books" issues with Mutual of Omaha and some other carriers. One of the consultants we spoke with actually asked me how I knew about it because it isn't that easy to find it on Google. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

Congratulations on navigating a confusing mess. I, too, am thankful for the education and advice I learned on this forum. I ended up going with plan N, with Cigna and Wellcare.

 

[FiveDriver]

Good show, Scuba !! That is a big savings for your DH, and almost like a turbo-boost for your budget. My Dear Wife became Medicare eligible last February, and the cost savings from her Marketplace Plan to Medicare funded our purchase of a new car. Cha-Ching.

If you don't mind my asking -- how did DH determine Plan G was the best fit ?
Is the AARP/UHC the best price structure on Plan G ? or did he shop it around ?

 

[FIREd_2015]

I found a website a while back that showed a breakdown of how many people were enrolled in UHC original Medicare vs the other carriers for a given location. I remember UHC had by far the largest number of subscribers in my location. I was trying to find the website again but haven't been able to find it. Does anyone know what the website is?

 

[Jimmie]

I found a website a while back that showed a breakdown of how many people were enrolled in UHC original Medicare vs the other carriers for a given location. I remember UHC had by far the largest number of subscribers in my location. I was trying to find the website again but haven't been able to find it. Does anyone know what the website is?

Someone told me AARP/UHC has a ~50% market share for supplement plans in the US. One of the reasons I signed up with them figuring there's safety in large numbers when it comes to annual increases.

 

[Scuba]

Good show, Scuba !! That is a big savings for your DH, and almost like a turbo-boost for your budget. My Dear Wife became Medicare eligible last February, and the cost savings from her Marketplace Plan to Medicare funded our purchase of a new car. Cha-Ching.

If you don't mind my asking -- how did DH determine Plan G was the best fit ?
Is the AARP/UHC the best price structure on Plan G ? or did he shop it around ?

We wanted the best plan possible in terms of coverage and freedom to choose providers. That eliminated all Advantage plans. For traditional Medicare supplemental coverage, Plan F is no longer available so the next best plan was Plan G. We also considered Plan N as it is almost as good and the monthly premium is about $50 cheaper. We spoke with two different consultants and they both recommended the AARP/UHC plan. Due to the large number of subscribers, it has relatively stable rates. Plan N was about $50/month cheaper, but has a $20 co-pay for docs and $50 for the ER, plus it doesn’t cover any “excess charges.” We probably won’t break even on the copays vs the higher monthly premium, but not sure about the excess charges. Also, you can drop from Plan G to Plan N if you change your mind later, but you can’t go from Plan N to Plan G. And Mutual of Omaha was the Plan N carrier. For all of these reasons, we chose Plan G. The quoted monthly cost for both plans was the same from both consultants.

 

[Scuba]

I have the same exact Medicare and prescription plan that Scuba has (FL also).
Last year I went to the ER, stayed overnight for observation and did not owe anything. The original bill was over 37K (for about 26 hours there). This is a great plan.

Hope you are ok now. That is so amazing. It’s almost too good to be true after paying huge premiums for private insurance for so many years and still having massive deductibles and OOP max’s. I cannot wait until we are both on Medicare!

 

[Scuba]

I'm also planning to signup for the AARP/UHC Plan G traditional Medicare next year. I have a logistics questions for those that have this plan. Do I need to signup for AARP separately and then signup for UHC Plan G or will the UHC Plan G automatically enroll me into AARP and bill me for it?

Definitely have to join AARP first. If you have a partner who isn’t on Medicare yet, sign your partner up too. The first of you to go on this plan will automatically get a discount, and when the second one goes on, the discount increases.

 

[DrRoy]

What is the "closing the books" issue?

 

[MichaelB]

What is the "closing the books" issue?

The insurer stops accepting new policyholders. This is called closing the books. From that moment the current policyholders begin to see higher prices, as their group ages and suffers more illness that is not offset by new, younger and healthier policyholders. The sick cannot leave the group because insurers now underwrite and deny policies to sicker members. This group sees premiums rise much faster than the average and are stuck with no options.

 

[Marc]

We are with Mutual of Omaha with significantly less premiums than OP. Only been two years so I am going to bookmark this thread and see when my premiums rise such that they pass the OP.

Marc

 

[Donno]

We are with Mutual of Omaha with significantly less premiums than OP. Only been two years so I am going to bookmark this thread and see when my premiums rise such that they pass the OP.

Marc

I'm on a AARP/UHC plan G and my premiums are $60/mo less per month than the OP in my third year. Unless you are in the same zip code or state as the OP, you're not comparing apples to apples.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Since January 2021 I have had traditional Medicare, the AARP UHC Plan G supplement, and the Wellcare Value Script Plan D that your husband has, and I have never been overcharged or incorrectly billed by any of the plans for anything.

DW & I Also.

 

[MBSC]

We are with Mutual of Omaha with significantly less premiums than OP.

OP is in Florida where Medigap plans are "issue-age", meaning the age increases are baked into the initial premium. You can't compare it to your attained-age policy. Mutual of Omaha Plan G is $190-$230 for a 65 y/o male in Florida depending on location.

 

[wdwwildbill]

Anyone know if CIGNA does the close the book routine ?

 

[FiveDriver]

We wanted the best plan possible in terms of coverage and freedom to choose providers. That eliminated all Advantage plans. For traditional Medicare supplemental coverage, Plan F is no longer available so the next best plan was Plan G. We also considered Plan N as it is almost as good and the monthly premium is about $50 cheaper. We spoke with two different consultants and they both recommended the AARP/UHC plan. Due to the large number of subscribers, it has relatively stable rates. Plan N was about $50/month cheaper, but has a $20 co-pay for docs and $50 for the ER, plus it doesn’t cover any “excess charges.” We probably won’t break even on the copays vs the higher monthly premium, but not sure about the excess charges. Also, you can drop from Plan G to Plan N if you change your mind later, but you can’t go from Plan N to Plan G. And Mutual of Omaha was the Plan N carrier. For all of these reasons, we chose Plan G. The quoted monthly cost for both plans was the same from both consultants.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all my (all of our) questions. What I've learned from THIS WEBSITE outweighs everything out there on the internet.
The "close the books" issue was an eye-opener, and the large pool of AARP/UHC insured is an interesting angle too. The Medicare.gov website is the best place to get age-based, and zip code specific pricing for available Medigap Plans. I noticed a lot of "attained age pricing" there, only UHC was "community based pricing" for the available companies in my zip code.. Many of listed companies were outfits that I've never heard of before. I vacillated between Plan G and Plan N....the fact that a person cannot move up from N to G is a concern.

As a 74 year old non-smoker, I've been blessed with good health so far in my life. We had full MegaCorp Health care coverage for 30 years, that even paid for braces on Dear Daughter's teeth. I currently have Medicare Advantage from Humana which is free. But, it's time to get full coverage. I'll make the move to UHC during the enrollment next October.

They definitely don't make this stuff easy, with hidden gotcha's at every turn.