Telly
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2003
- Messages
- 2,395
Well, I didn't expect this.
Last year, I conducted an investigation to determine who to go with for Plan G. The prime possibility was AARP/UHC, but I wanted to learn more, see what else was out there, etc., as I documented in this thread: http://www.early-retirement.org/for...r-selection-a-medicare-newbys-path-94740.html
Forward to this month... I get a letter from MoO (United World in TX) telling me that my premium will increase to $134 from present $116, a 15% increase!
So, I started to do a lot of digging. Found that MoO United World was raising Plan F & G rates 15% here in TX, and Plan N 6%. This was after NO increases for a few years (I joined late last year).
But I found something REALLY disturbing. MoO has ceased to write Medicare Supplement plans under the MoO United World name in TX around Sept. 1. Instead, they are now writing Medicare Supplement plans in TX under a new name, MoO Omaha Supplemental Insurance Company (OSIC). And I found rates for this new Plan G with OSIC in my area... significantly cheaper than what my new rate will be, and it is even cheaper than what I signed up for last year, with the same 12% HouseHold discount.
So methinks that MoO may have just pulled a "close one book, open another" insurance routine, where no new people will be added to the closed book, so prices will rise faster for those folks like me, as no new blood will be coming in. And the new folks will be dumb and happy buying into the new OSIC book, where the rates won't change for the first few years! I had heard a little of this kind of book game last year, I think I mentioned it in a post as a possible future landmine.
Maybe it was too much to expect, but I would have thought that the independent insurance agency I went with that recommended MoO UW to me, could have seen previous MoO book games, and that should have been factored into any recommendation from them.
I went with MoO UW rather than AARP/UHC, which I figured was the one to beat. By the way, I found AARP/UHC new rates for my area in TX, they are slightly cheaper than what I could have gotten last year. So is AARP/UHC NOT pulling a book game too, and their rates dropped a bit? Or what? If they aren't pulling a book game, then I probably should have gone with them instead. MoO's 15% increase one time would be one thing, but if I'm now in a growing-older book of theirs that is going to skyrocket premium-wise as years go on, maybe I should be thinking of trying to move to a different Plan G provider, while I can still pass underwriting!
But who do I trust? Am I going to trust what an independent agent tells me? I don't want to go through the trouble of changing providers with underwriting, and all the setup stuff, to be back in the same position in a couple years, when I may NOT be able to pass underwriting! I sure could use a magic genie about now...
I'm not an insurance industry person, but I could use some unbiased experience of one.
Last year, I conducted an investigation to determine who to go with for Plan G. The prime possibility was AARP/UHC, but I wanted to learn more, see what else was out there, etc., as I documented in this thread: http://www.early-retirement.org/for...r-selection-a-medicare-newbys-path-94740.html
Forward to this month... I get a letter from MoO (United World in TX) telling me that my premium will increase to $134 from present $116, a 15% increase!
So, I started to do a lot of digging. Found that MoO United World was raising Plan F & G rates 15% here in TX, and Plan N 6%. This was after NO increases for a few years (I joined late last year).
But I found something REALLY disturbing. MoO has ceased to write Medicare Supplement plans under the MoO United World name in TX around Sept. 1. Instead, they are now writing Medicare Supplement plans in TX under a new name, MoO Omaha Supplemental Insurance Company (OSIC). And I found rates for this new Plan G with OSIC in my area... significantly cheaper than what my new rate will be, and it is even cheaper than what I signed up for last year, with the same 12% HouseHold discount.
So methinks that MoO may have just pulled a "close one book, open another" insurance routine, where no new people will be added to the closed book, so prices will rise faster for those folks like me, as no new blood will be coming in. And the new folks will be dumb and happy buying into the new OSIC book, where the rates won't change for the first few years! I had heard a little of this kind of book game last year, I think I mentioned it in a post as a possible future landmine.
Maybe it was too much to expect, but I would have thought that the independent insurance agency I went with that recommended MoO UW to me, could have seen previous MoO book games, and that should have been factored into any recommendation from them.
I went with MoO UW rather than AARP/UHC, which I figured was the one to beat. By the way, I found AARP/UHC new rates for my area in TX, they are slightly cheaper than what I could have gotten last year. So is AARP/UHC NOT pulling a book game too, and their rates dropped a bit? Or what? If they aren't pulling a book game, then I probably should have gone with them instead. MoO's 15% increase one time would be one thing, but if I'm now in a growing-older book of theirs that is going to skyrocket premium-wise as years go on, maybe I should be thinking of trying to move to a different Plan G provider, while I can still pass underwriting!
But who do I trust? Am I going to trust what an independent agent tells me? I don't want to go through the trouble of changing providers with underwriting, and all the setup stuff, to be back in the same position in a couple years, when I may NOT be able to pass underwriting! I sure could use a magic genie about now...
I'm not an insurance industry person, but I could use some unbiased experience of one.
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