Cannot find reviews on Aetna supplement

[Steve s]

Shopping for my supplement plan.
At age 65 Aetna F hd is $665 vs $835 Iowa BCBS
At age 70 Aetna $753 vs BCBS $1316
At age 80 Aetna $1070 BCBS 2054

The simple choice would seem to be Aetna. Especially the older I get.
Have trouble finding reviews on Aetna or individuals that have it. Regular insurance there is all kinds of information but not on their supplement plans.
Does anyone have their supplement through Aetna and are you satisfied?
Thank you for any information you can offer....

Steve

 

[Steve s]

Never mind. Just called Aetna to check on the enrollment process. During the conversation she gives me their price for the F HD at $823.20. BCBS is now pretty competitive.
Aetna's site has the 2017 price as of 4/1/2017 at $665. So that must mean their price went up $173 since 4/1/2017 or bait and switch to get people to call? Iowa SHIP also has Aetna's price at $665 to compare to other plans in Iowa. Hard to compare if prices are not correct. Medicare insurance process is confusing enough!
They are going to send me an application with price so will see if I maybe misunderstood. I also priced the G plan and the price went from $1329 to $1447. So I think I understood.....
Venting a little sorry!!! steve

 

[REWahoo]

Those are annual rates, correct?

The reason I ask is at age 70 I pay $65/mo ($780/yr) for a Plan F HD policy from BCBS.

 

[OldShooter]

When turning 65 we found that there were a lot more differences between plans than just price. Fortunately through DW's former megabank employer we found an agent who could lay out all the costs and the plan details. The big difference for us was to select a supplement that gave us coverage outside the country, since we travel a lot. And, of course, a plan that had a big network that included the clinic system that we use.

So ... the short version is: Policies are far from standardized. Don't forget to compare features. TANSTAAFL.

 

[NoMoreJob]

I'd suggest finding a reputable broker (don't ask me how, I just lucked into one I think).

The point is that a broker often has the experience and knowledge base with regard to plans and procedures that you cannot accumulate on your own. For example, I was going to sign up for plan F but talked to my broker about what I saw as the benefits of plan G if the pricing was right (lower premiums more than paying for plan B deductible, a younger insured pool due to F going away soon and my concern that in trying to reduce Medicare costs in the future Congress may reduce reimbursement rates which could cause more doctors to charge 'excess charges' making coverage for that which both F and G have more valuable). It turned out that when I became eligible our state had no good plan G so I went with the broker's recommendation for the best plan F (AARP/UHC). I soon got a call from him to say that a new plan G from my company was becoming available in the second month of my coverage and that premiums were dropping as well. He asked me to call and ask that if I stayed on their plan F would I get the lower plan G premium if I switched to it the next month (when the price went down). I called and they denied knowledge of the change. As a result I re-applied with another company (BCBS) for my first month and then changed the second month to the original company plan G and guess what? Yep, he was right about the reduced rate and I am saving $24/month! I could have found the original plan F with no problem but would never have known about the price decrease or likely the companie's addition of plan G which I really wanted.

This agent more than earned his keep and it doesn't cost me a cent more - he gets a commission from the insurance company but my rate doesn't change (if they were to sell directly to me that would go to pay for their in house rep). It is extrememly unlikely that I would have been able to dig up this information on my own and the agent helped me work my way through the cancellation, alternate enrollment, second cancellation and final enrollment.

I know this is probably not a common example but it's a real example.

I'm generally a very DIY kinda guy but there's no reason to not to use a broker to provide information about what can be a confusing topic (do your own research to and use the broker to triangulate information). You aren't obligated to buy through the broker but he/she can be a very valuable resource.

 

[Car-Guy]

I had Aetna for 25+ years before I retired and before I went on Medicare. (my policy was very heavily subsidized by my MegaCorp) I now have them as my supplement provider. (still subsidized)

I could write volumes about the problems/challenges I've had with them over the years. I could write all the good things on the head of a pin and in large font.

 

[John Galt III]

A friend told me that local Social Security offices will offer counseling on Medicare for free. If true, I wonder if the advice there would be as good as advice from an insurance agent.

 

[kaneohe]

When turning 65 we found that there were a lot more differences between plans than just price. Fortunately through DW's former megabank employer we found an agent who could lay out all the costs and the plan details. The big difference for us was to select a supplement that gave us coverage outside the country, since we travel a lot. And, of course, a plan that had a big network that included the clinic system that we use.

So ... the short version is: Policies are far from standardized. Don't forget to compare features. TANSTAAFL.

Are you sure you are talking about Medicare Supplement plans? All Supplement plans w/ the same Plan letter are standardized = same.
No networks.........as long as Medicare accepted.

 

[haha]

When turning 65 we found that there were a lot more differences between plans than just price. Fortunately through DW's former megabank employer we found an agent who could lay out all the costs and the plan details. The big difference for us was to select a supplement that gave us coverage outside the country, since we travel a lot. And, of course, a plan that had a big network that included the clinic system that we use.

So ... the short version is: Policies are far from standardized. Don't forget to compare features. TANSTAAFL.

You might be talking about Medicare Advantage. Because in fact Medigap plans are absolutely standardized.

Ha

 

[Steve s]

Thank you for the replies!
REWahoo yes the prices are annual. If I was 70 it would cost me $1316 in Iowa compared to your $780. Both BCBS. That's quite a difference! See you are from Texas. Every thing is bigger in Texas (apparently not you premiums).
Thanks again