Did you get Medicare thru Boomer Benefits? Are you Happy

[Time2]

I'm going through all the research before signing up for Medicare.
I'll probably get Plan G and a cheap Plan D.
I've found United Health Care the cheapest Plan G.
I'm looking at Wellcare RX or Silver Select Choice for plan D.
I put in a call to 'Boomers Benefits' and was sold on the services they provide
if you have any burps in coverage. I don't expect much of that, but they are there
and don't cost additional, so why not?
That's my question why not?
Did you buy through Boomer Benefits and are you Happy.

btw, there first choice was for me was United Health Care.

[travelover]

Do a search here for Boomer Benefits. Lots of folks happy with 'em.

[harllee]

DH wants to change from a Mutual of Omaha Medicare supplement to United Health Care Medicare Supplement (he is age 69) but he has a preexisting condition. He is using Boomer Benefits to help him through the underwriting and so far they have been very helpful. DH is still waiting for approval to see if he can change to United Health Care. The reason DH wants to change is that his Mutual of Omaha premium is going up substantially on his birthday.

[DektolMan]

I have been contacting Boomer Benefits also as I turn 65 in a few months. They seem very helpful and have answered all my questions so far. Their YouTube channel is worth looking at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA1...POeRVneHpaQiGQ


I'll keep following this thread also.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harllee The reason DH wants to change is that his Mutual of Omaha premium is going up substantially on his birthday.

Are you comfortable sharing what Plan he has, what he is paying now and how much it is increasing? I also have MoO Medigap insurance and am very interested in learning about future increases.

[harllee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Are you comfortable sharing what Plan he has, what he is paying now and how much it is increasing? I also have MoO Medigap insurance and am very interested in learning about future increases.

We are in North Carolina, DH has the Mutual of Omaha Plan G. I think he said it was going up about 20% on his 69th birthday. The United Health care plan will be less expensive for DH if he is approved plus we will get free membership at the YMCA. We would have probably gone with United Health Care originally but at that time the did not offer a Pan G. I have already switched from M of O to United Health Care but DH is caught in underwriting so he has asked Boomer Benefits for help. In a state like North Carolina you can be stuck with your original supplement if you can't pass underwriting.

[ShokWaveRider]

Yes.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Time2 I'm going through all the research before signing up for Medicare. I'll probably get Plan G and a cheap Plan D. I've found United Health Care the cheapest Plan G. I'm looking at Wellcare RX or Silver Select Choice for plan D. I put in a call to 'Boomers Benefits' and was sold on the services they provide if you have any burps in coverage. I don't expect much of that, but they are there and don't cost additional, so why not? That's my question why not? Did you buy through Boomer Benefits and are you Happy. btw, there first choice was for me was United Health Care.

We just went through signing DW up for Medigap through Boomer Benefits. In short, very satisfied with their service so far. We had some unique issues changing residences in 2020 and they recommended a good solution that fits our needs and timeline... in short DW will have an affordable Plan N for March to August and then shift to a Plan G in Florida for September onwards... and I'll start my Medigap in November, at which time we'll get a 7% discount since we are both with Cigna.

[Telly]

Did I? Yes; Am I happy? Hmmm, the charring of being toasted hasn't quite worn off yet. I had updated my newby to Medicare thread with the details late last year. So glad I wised up in time, before I had any health event that wouldn't have allowed me to pass underwriting, or underwriting to the best class level.

My advice, FWIW, to those seeking help from ANY broker:

Remember, it's a business. Repeat that to yourself.
You are very unlikely to know as much about what goes on behind the scenes as the broker does (think about the whole financial advisor or not discussions that have gone on here).
What you may not know, but the broker does, can hurt you. Will they share it?
Some insurance companies have perpetual $ incentive programs to brokers to sign up the sheep with them, Baaaa.
Some insurance companies are involved in practices like "the book game" that brokers are aware of. Oh yes, low rates, looks great, until some unit of time goes by and you are now in a closed book with no new blood coming in, and rates go up up in your caged book. Will the broker tell you and explain what it may mean to you in the future with a company that does that in your geographical market?

It may sound like I'm swinging a wide brush around, throwing tar all over every insurance brokerage. But remember, most of us, even after quite a bit of independent research, are just beginners in this insurance biz. The choice you make at guaranteed issue at age 65 better be a good one, as if you have any major health problems (sure to come with age), you aren't going to be able to change providers easily, or at all.

I have now mentally separated BB into two separate business parts. The Sales side, that you deal with initially. The Support side, that you deal with after the sale. The Support side is very good. When I figured out what was going on with my Medigap plan, I called them (BB) up and wanted out. I had a ins. company that I wanted to go to, far from one of their favorites in my geographical area. If they had not or would not write policies for that company, I would have said goodbye and gone elsewhere. But they did, and after just a little bit of "don't you want us to research rates for you, XXX you want is not the lowest?" They complied with my request and faithfully with expediency went through all the steps correctly without any problems, so that part was very good. So I am still a customer of theirs.

The Sales side... well, read the advice three paragraphs up.

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

This is the first time for me to here of 'boomer benefits'.

[Time2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Telly Did I? Yes; Am I happy? Hmmm, the charring of being toasted hasn't quite worn off yet. I had updated my newby to Medicare thread with the details late last year. So glad I wised up in time, before I had any health event that wouldn't have allowed me to pass underwriting, or underwriting to the best class level. My advice, FWIW, to those seeking help from ANY broker: Remember, it's a business. Repeat that to yourself. You are very unlikely to know as much about what goes on behind the scenes as the broker does (think about the whole financial advisor or not discussions that have gone on here). What you may not know, but the broker does, can hurt you. Will they share it? Some insurance companies have perpetual $ incentive programs to brokers to sign up the sheep with them, Baaaa. Some insurance companies are involved in practices like "the book game" that brokers are aware of. Oh yes, low rates, looks great, until some unit of time goes by and you are now in a closed book with no new blood coming in, and rates go up up in your caged book. Will the broker tell you and explain what it may mean to you in the future with a company that does that in your geographical market? It may sound like I'm swinging a wide brush around, throwing tar all over every insurance brokerage. But remember, most of us, even after quite a bit of independent research, are just beginners in this insurance biz. The choice you make at guaranteed issue at age 65 better be a good one, as if you have any major health problems (sure to come with age), you aren't going to be able to change providers easily, or at all. I have now mentally separated BB into two separate business parts. The Sales side, that you deal with initially. The Support side, that you deal with after the sale. The Support side is very good. When I figured out what was going on with my Medigap plan, I called them (BB) up and wanted out. I had a ins. company that I wanted to go to, far from one of their favorites in my geographical area. If they had not or would not write policies for that company, I would have said goodbye and gone elsewhere. But they did, and after just a little bit of "don't you want us to research rates for you, XXX you want is not the lowest?" They complied with my request and faithfully with expediency went through all the steps correctly without any problems, so that part was very good. So I am still a customer of theirs. The Sales side... well, read the advice three paragraphs up.

I'm a little confused, but I understand you're not happy with the sales dept. Did they sell you the wrong policy to start? Are you unhappy that the

policy they sold you had a large increase in price?
Is that the only thing?

Those are two things the agent sold me on is getting a policy that is cheapest and that had not had large yearly increases. He also said they would review every year to make sure. I still had the best company.



Did they sell you something other than Plan F or G?


I'm going with Plan G because it seems to cover almost everything.
Thanks, for your input

[CRLLS]

Did I use Boomer? No. Not to sign up or to change plans later on, and not because they are bad in any form. After lots of research, I was sure what I wanted. I felt no need for Boomer and I bought direct. 1st from BCBS and then after 1 year, from AARP/UHC for supplement (Medigap). Boomer does come highly rated from other members here.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Telly The choice you make at guaranteed issue at age 65 better be a good one, as if you have any major health problems (sure to come with age), you aren't going to be able to change providers easily, or at all.

Telly, I think it is important to point out that even if you do have major health problems and you fall victim to "the closed book game" and untenable rate increases, you CAN make a one-time change to another provider by using your guaranteed issue rights discussed here: Medigap underwriting loophole?

Yes, it would be a bit of a PITA to have to switch to a Medicare Advantage plan for a short period before you could exercise your guaranteed issue rights and go back to a Medigap plan, but likely worth the trouble if the premiums you were paying under the closed book insurer were way out of line.

The fact I have a one-time "get out of jail free" option has greatly reduced my concern about becoming a victim of the closed book premium strategy so many insurance companies apparently use to boost sales and profits.

[Time2]

I have noticed most people are happy with them. I'm still curious to get an answer from Telly, he had some criticism.
After all my research I'll probably get Plan G, as I see it if you can afford it, How can you go wrong with it?
As to Part D, I'm looking at buying the cheapest plan and using GoodRX and a Drug Companies Cash program to buy my meds. It is cheaper than going through any plan D I see. I have all tier 3 meds.
What is odd to me, as the price of the Plan D polices go up, the total cost to me also goes up. There is never a plateau where my total cost at least levels out. I would like to think, If you buy an expensive Plan D your cost for meds would drop to start to level the increasing policy cost. In all my filling out forms and getting cost, that never happened.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Time2 I have noticed most people are happy with them. I'm still curious to get an answer from Telly, he had some criticism.

I can't speak for Telly but since it doesn't look like he is online at the moment, I'll venture an educated guess. I think that he is unhappy BB did not disclose the insurer they recommended to him as having the lowest rates was known to use the "book game" strategy in their Medigap insurance business.

He will be along later to correct me if I'm wrong.

[Telly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo I can't speak for Telly but since it doesn't look like he is online at the moment, I'll venture an educated guess. I think that he is unhappy BB did not disclose the insurer they recommended to him as having the lowest rates was known to use the "book game" strategy in their Medigap insurance business. He will be along later to correct me if I'm wrong.

REW, you are absolutely correct!

Additional -- Simultaneous with that insurance company closing the book on my cohort, they opened a new book under a different name, with "new competitive rates". Yeah, and their new competitive rates were significantly cheaper than what I had originally. So maybe their new book will be open for a shorter period of time to make up for the even more lost up-front premium revenue. Or they could jack the rates up at a sharper ramp when they close that book. So many ways...

Low rates, no or small increases recently, even if no increase is planned next year, is not enough information to rule out a book game going on. In fact, those parameters can synch nicely with a book game in it's "round up the sheep" phase.
A broker would know that a book game is going on, by the history of the insurance company changing "company" names, instructing brokers that after date xxyy they will no longer accept policies written against the old name, coming out with new signup materials and rate schedules, and touting the advantages of writing the new policies.

In my opinion, it is the duty of a broker to watch out for their customers, starting right at the beginning. I've heard the "we'll review your rate every year to see that you have the best" before. For a Part D drug plan, sure, you can change every year if you want, no penalty or impediment to doing so. Same with a MA plan. Not the same at all with a Medigap Plan!
Oh wait, yes you can! You can change Medigap plans every year, even if you don't live in one of those few states with the special rules! You just have to make sure that you never acquire any health issue ever, that would make you fail underwriting, or would put you into a higher rate class. And if you had a preexisting condition when you came in guaranteed at age 65, well, you just need to back yourself back in time to an earlier age, and not get it!

I'm thinking that I'm a lot smarter now than I was before about all this. But I may not be smart enough.

[Time2]

Hmm... The 'Book Game' strategy. Is there anything I can do to look out for this, or is it just info the broker would get a few months notice in advance of it happening. Making me reliant on them to clue me in.
I just read this, about half way through, it starts mentioning the expected
increases in Plan G costs.
https://www.barrons.com/articles/alt...il-51579015698


Article Quotes;

"Some insurance experts are warning people who are already in Plan F and its closest cousin, Plan G, to brace themselves for price increases."



"Prices aren’t expected to soar immediately. In fact, some insurance companies have been cutting premiums recently in both Plan F and Plan G to lure customers in advance of changes. But insurance experts warn retirees that as insurance companies adapt to government-imposed changes after 2020, people in both Plan F and Plan G could be shaken by rate increases."


Scary, a broker after I said I wanted United Health Care Plan G, "They have cut their prices recently" Reel me in with your low prices so you can raise them later!
I have an existing BCBS policy and could go with them, but their Plan G is more expensive. I'm still mad at them for the 75% increase in 3 years they gave me after Obamacare started. ($4300 to $7525)
But, I could find paying a little higher now, will result in lower increases later.
And if I get sick, and my company raises prices, I can't switch companies without an underwrite which would probably disqualify me.

More information, makes this whole thing suck even more!

[golfnut]

$7,525 annual for just plan G for 1 person? Ouch! I'm turning 65 later this year and and going up the learning curve.

[audreyh1]

DH starts shopping next month and we will probably use Boomer Benefits. I expect he will use plan G supplement and the cheapest Plan D available as no prescriptions.

I well remember Telly’s cautionary tale about having the book closed on him/her and seeing a large jump in premium right off the bat. Based on that I’m inclined to avoid “inexpensive” Mutual of Omaha as I don’t like that practice.

It seems like UHC if you have a AARP membership is a good option - fewer surprises and no close the book game - and if both spouses ultimately get the supplement and are on the same AARP membership, there is a household discount.

From what I’ve read over the years, BCBS Medigap policies are quite a bit pricier compared to the others.

But the first step 3 months ahead of birthday month is to apply for Medicare and get the number before calling Boomer Benefits, and then you have a few months to get the supplement straightened out.

Anyway, that’s what I have figured out so far.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfnut $7,525 annual for just plan G for 1 person? Ouch! I'm turning 65 later this year and and going up the learning curve.

They are referring to their BCBS ACA policy cost, not the Plan G cost.