Medicare Suppliment policy Part F

[Chuckanut]

I am thinking of changing from a very good/inclusive/flexible insurance plant to Medicare Supplement Plan F. The costs for my current plan will go up gain in 2018 to about $335 a month (including Rx coverage). Deductibles $250 with a stop loss at $2500. Of course I also pay for Medicare Part B.

Is there anything I should know about Part F before I make the change? Any 'gotchas' or unexpected items that you may have experienced with it?

About what are people paying for Part F these days. I see prices from about $120 a month to over $200.

[rodi]

I went through the analysis for DH last fall (he turned 65 in January). We did not have retiree health insurance available to us.

We chose an Fplus plan. It has all the flexibility of an F plan but there is a small deductible. The deductible is different than pre-medicare deductibles where you pay from the first dollar... because Medicare Part B already covers 80%... so the deductible is only applied to that 20% left over. So far this year DH has had to pay $58 towards the deductible... and the premium savings compared to a part F plan were more than that per month... so we've come out ahead.

[omni550]

I chose a Plan G, which is sort of a "sleeper" cheaper version of Plan F.

I've been paying 118.89/mo in 2017. It just went up to 126.03/mo for 2018.

Details here: https://plangisbetter.com/

omni

[MBSC]

In most markets, the total cost of Plan G (premium + $183 Part B deductible) is less than the Plan F premium. Plan F is closing to new enrollees in 2020 which may cause premiums to increase at a faster rate as those left behind get older and sicker.

The current plan sounds like a retiree plan. Retiree plans are community rated, meaning all ages pay the same premium. Some individual supplements are attained-age rated, meaning the premium increases each year for both age and inflation. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

If you are voluntarily leaving the retiree plan, you may be subject to medical underwriting by the individual supplement unless you live in NY or CT.

Dropping a retiree plan with drug coverage also means enrolling in a Part D plan with a donut hole and no cap on cost sharing.

[FIRE'd@51]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBSC Dropping a retiree plan with drug coverage also means enrolling in a Part D plan with a donut hole and no cap on cost sharing.

This is an important point that many people overlook. With medicare Part D, you pay 5% of the cost of the drug once you come out of the donut hole and enter the catastrophic coverage phase (after out-of-pocket costs of about 5K). If you are taking an expensive drug (e.g. a cancer drug that costs over $100K per year), this 5% copay can still be a very significant monthly expense. This is unlike the ACA in which prescription drug costs count toward the overall OPM.