Monthly charge for medicare

[ivinsfan]

I would never do business with a broker that called me out of the blue. How does he have all your information?

I am required to use Via Benefits because my former employer provides a subsidy for the supplement and the Part D drug plan. If your employer subsidizes any of your Medicare premiums, they will have someone you are required to use.

If you are ready to shop, many people here use Boomer Benefits. Worth a call as a place to start. Do more research before you make any decisions.

I guess that depends on what all the information consists of its pretty easy to find out when someone is turning 65 and their address and contact number.

 

[Rianne]

I guess that depends on what all the information consists of its pretty easy to find out when someone is turning 65 and their address and contact number.

This is the company that called me:
https://eliteinsurancepartners.com/products/

I was pretty confused about Medicare. It is way more expensive than ACA. We got away with an average of $2500 approx. per year (includes both of us) for the last 5 years for medical. Of course, had a high deductible plan but our health has been pretty good.

The salesman explained everything in minutia detail. I get it now. But I'm not signing with them until I look into a few other companies.

So much depends on your zip code!

 

[bmcgonig]

If free gym membership etc is of interest to you, then your choice of Medigap providers is important. I have AARP United Healthcare G plan and my friend has some other G plan, and my choice of facilities is much better than hers. I have Renew Active and I believe she has Silver Sneakers.

 

[Sunset]

This is the company that called me:
https://eliteinsurancepartners.com/products/

I was pretty confused about Medicare. It is way more expensive than ACA. We got away with an average of $2500 approx. per year (includes both of us) for the last 5 years for medical. Of course, had a high deductible plan but our health has been pretty good.

The salesman explained everything in minutia detail. I get it now. But I'm not signing with them until I look into a few other companies.

So much depends on your zip code!

It's per person, so you don't have to have the same plan as your spouse.
Drug plans are the most intense, as a drug plan is good or bad for you depending upon if it covers your drugs and how well it covers them.

I got:
Part A: free for most folks
Part B: $170
Part D: $11.70 per month (as I probably won't even use that), Can switch every year, and know next year will switch to a $20 plan. I loaded up on my rarely used prescriptions on regular plan so good for rest of the year.
Plan G: Mutual of Omaha $115 (male)
Dental: Didn't bother as many people say it's not worth it and I can sign up at any time no penalty.
Vision: Again, didn't bother at this time.

 

[Rianne]

It's per person, so you don't have to have the same plan as your spouse.
Drug plans are the most intense, as a drug plan is good or bad for you depending upon if it covers your drugs and how well it covers them.

I got:
Part A: free for most folks
Part B: $170
Part D: $11.70 per month (as I probably won't even use that), Can switch every year, and know next year will switch to a $20 plan. I loaded up on my rarely used prescriptions on regular plan so good for rest of the year.
Plan G: Mutual of Omaha $115 (male)
Dental: Didn't bother as many people say it's not worth it and I can sign up at any time no penalty.
Vision: Again, didn't bother at this time.

Similar to what I might do. My brother said Mutual of Omaha is a very good company.

 

[anethum]

Similar to what I might do. My brother said Mutual of Omaha is a very good company.

Some of us, myself included, have had bad experiences with Mutual of Omaha. If you do a search on ER Forums, you can read some other opinions. I started with them for my Plan G but after 1 year on Medicare, Mutual of Omaha significantly increased my monthly premium. So I contacted Boomer Benefits and switched to AARP United Healthcare. (I had to pass underwriting but fortunately I am in good health.) In my area, Mutual of Omaha's premiums have continued to go up at a much faster rate than those of UHC. I'm very glad that I switched insurers.

Also, I personally wouldn't deal with a cold caller for what is an important decision lasting possibly until the end of your life. At a minimum, it's worth seeking an agent/broker of your choosing, and finding out which insurers they deal with, and what they can tell you about any individual insurer's rate increases in recent years. Different agent/brokers are licensed to offer plans with different insurers. All of them get paid by commissions from the insurance companies. Personally, I'm a little suspicious now about Mutual of Omaha's practices.

 

[Telly]

...My brother said Mutual of Omaha is a very good company.

Ugh. MoO. Never again.

MoO has a very good AM Best rating. A snip from wiki:

AM Best issues financial-strength ratings measuring insurance companies' ability to pay claims. It also rates financial instruments issued by insurance companies, such as bonds, notes, and securitization products.

There is more to a health insurance company than their AM Best rating. Like their business practices. Transparency, or lack thereof, etc.
Never again.

Just like investing, I would recommend that people learn about Medicare well before their 65th birthday. I started reading when I turned 64. A good starter book is "Get What's Yours for Medicare" by Philip Moeller. I got my copy on Amazon. A cheap good hard-backed book. After that, will know enough to scale the Medicare website. When looking at the Medicare website, I found that using an external search engine like the Duck was better than using the in-website search tool.

 

[shotgunner]

I started Medicare on 4/1/22. Prior to that I had HI through the Exchange. I started to try and learn as much as I could about it last summer and came to the conclusion that I did not want an Advantage plan and I would need a Medicare Supplement policy. Historically I am a very light user of healthcare services but understand as I age that will most likely change. I decided that Supplement Plan G would be my choice. I opted to go with a Plan G high deductible from Humana for $62 a month. A "full" plan G from Anthem which I also considered was $162 a month. In a good year I expect to see some out of pocket savings with G high deductible plan. In a worst case scenario my additional out of pocket with the G high deductible would currently be $1057 more than the full plan G from Anthem ($2490 annual deductible -$233 Part B deductible - $1200 in premium savings = $1057). I can handle that financially and time will tell if I made the correct choice.

For my Part D I opted for the Humana Value Rx plan for $22.79 a month.

Total monthly premiums $170.10 for Medicare, $62 Plan G HD supplement and $22.79 Part D = $254.89.

More than I was paying a month through the Exchange but much better if something happens to me given the Exchange plan $6500 annual deductible.

I am also waiting to hear if I will be approved for VA health benefits. You can't be on a policy through the Exchange and have VA medical benefits at the same time, you can be on Medicare and have VA medical benefits at the same time. I qualify by income and the income limits are generous IMO for where I live. A single person is $54K a year and under for Priority Group 7 and $60K a year and under for Priority Group 8. VA copay for drugs is a great benefit Tier 1 $5, Tier 2 $10 and Tier 3 $15 for 30 day supply. They also provide some long term care coverage with a maximum copay of $97 a day. The VA also provides some eye, hearing and dental care as well and there is a VA clinic near where I live.

 

[Rianne]

Ugh. MoO. Never again.

MoO has a very good AM Best rating. A snip from wiki:

There is more to a health insurance company than their AM Best rating. Like their business practices. Transparency, or lack thereof, etc.
Never again.

MoO offered $92 for Plan G and $29 for High Deductible G. Following "shotgunners" calculations for my premium/monthly:
HDG $29 + $11 + 170.10 = $210.10
G $92 + $11 + $170.10 = $273.10
Plus whatever dental/vision I might want to add on, not sure about that.

The red flag went up when you said premiums go up considerably. Who do you trust to tell you premiums won't go up so much. What insurance company is truly transparent?

Edit: Do insurance companies have to stand by the prices they quoted? They can't just change their promise, can they?

 

[anethum]

Rianne, I suggest you read the following thread from last year, especially posts 8 thru 17.
https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/medigap-questions-110218.html

I second Telly's suggestion of reading the book "Get What's Yours for Medicare" by Philip Moeller. I read his suggestion a few years ago (thank you, Telly) before I signed up for Medicare, and the book was helpful at explaining all things Medicare. I got it from my library.

You owe it to yourself to do more research, and seek out an agent of your choosing, not some cold-caller who wants his/her MofO commissions and perhaps bonuses. And if you call an outfit like Boomer Benefits and don't like the agent, ask for a different person and/or try a different company. My 1st BB agent wasn't good, but my 2nd one was excellent. I also spoke with an independent agent in my area who had access to some different insurance companies, but I decided against them.

 

[REWahoo]

FWIW, I am a test case for MoO and their notorious "closed book" strategy for their Medigap policies. (See Telly's posts #8 and #9 here for an explanation.)

I went through underwriting at age 71 and switched from a BC/BS high deductible Plan F to a United World (MoO) Plan N. MoO closed the book on United World two years later and I'm doing an ongoing comparison of my premiums vs. what MoO is charging for a new policy for someone my age. My monthly premium, including the 12% household discount, is $116.84. MoO quotes the discounted rate for new insureds my age at $111.75. So, after two years, my rate in my "closed book" pool is 4.5% more than is being offered to new insureds.

The difference isn't significant to my way of thinking as the monthly premium is still a bargain compared to UHC/AARP. Of course the big unknown is how much my premium will increase in the future. I'm looking at my total cost of premiums over the years, knowing the savings so far vs other insurers will offset some relatively steep future premiums - should I live long enough to have to worry about it.

EDIT: After trying to figure out the Medigap rate strategy game, I came to the conclusion that you can pay now or you can pay later, but you will definitely pay.

 

[Rianne]

FWIW, I am a test case for MoO and their notorious "closed book" strategy for their Medigap policies. (See Telly's posts #8 and #9 here for an explanation.)

EDIT: After trying to figure out the Medigap rate strategy game, I came to the conclusion that you can pay now or you can pay later, but you will definitely pay.

Thanks for that 2019 discussion about MoO. There were a couple of posts in there that liked MoO.

My takeaway is how healthy can you stay throughout RE. Just a thought, insurers might look at long-term health issues vs a knee replacement for instance. Does the disease or condition get worse? Then your premium goes up. After much thought, I'm grateful to have Medicare and we have a large HSA to get us through OP costs. The dance comes when we're figuring out tIRA to Roth conversions and staying within the income level.

I feel like "whew" I made it. I do have a few more months to go but it is a light at the end of the tunnel. I won't have to worry about traveling and out-of-network B.S. anymore. If my premium goes up $20, so be it. I can go to Mayo Clinic Right now, I'm confined to my little network of Drs.

 

[Sunset]

...

I second Telly's suggestion of reading the book "Get What's Yours for Medicare" by Philip Moeller. I read his suggestion a few years ago (thank you, Telly) before I signed up for Medicare, and the book was helpful at explaining all things Medicare. I got it from my library.

....

I picked up this book and 2 others from the library, because of this thread. Reading now.
If nothing else I'll be better educated.

 

[Sunset]

Thanks for that 2019 discussion about MoO. There were a couple of posts in there that liked MoO.

My takeaway is how healthy can you stay throughout RE. Just a thought, insurers might look at long-term health issues vs a knee replacement for instance. Does the disease or condition get worse? Then your premium goes up. ....

People can correct me, as I'm still learning, but I don't think that is how medicare works. A person can suddenly get cancer (that's expensive) and their premium's will only go up as fast as everyone else that signed up that year at the same age.

 

[REWahoo]

People can correct me, as I'm still learning, but I don't think that is how medicare works. A person can suddenly get cancer (that's expensive) and their premium's will only go up as fast as everyone else that signed up that year at the same age.

Basically correct. Premiums are based in part on the "pool" of insureds signed up by an insurer for a particular plan, and the health status of the pool, not of an individual, impacts the premiums of everyone in the pool.

 

[CRLLS]

The State of Illinois publishes the various insurance companies licensed to offer supplement insurance, their policies they offer and the rates for those policies by age in 5 year increments. One can easily see which companies use bait and switch to get people in early and make it up later. I'm not certain which other states do this. Illinois is also a state where underwriting is done when changing companies later. It may not be an economical option for many to do switch later on. We switched to the only community based Supplement (UHC/AARP) in Illinois early while we were still healthy and could pass underwriting.

 

[youbet]

The State of Illinois publishes the various insurance companies licensed to offer supplement insurance, their policies they offer and the rates for those policies by age in 5 year increments. One can easily see which companies use bait and switch to get people in early and make it up later. I'm not certain which other states do this. Illinois is also a state where underwriting is done when changing companies later. It may not be an economical option for many to do switch later on. We switched to the only community based Supplement (UHC/AARP) in Illinois early while we were still healthy and could pass underwriting.

I'm having trouble finding that site. Clues?

Nevermind........found it. https://www2.illinois.gov/aging/ship/Documents/ChicagoMedSupWeb.pdf

 

[CRLLS]

I'm having trouble finding that site. Clues?

Nevermind........found it. https://www2.illinois.gov/aging/ship/Documents/ChicagoMedSupWeb.pdf

That's the one. I should have linked it. I found it good to get beyond the entry level pricing and see how various companies adjust pricing by age. I hope it helps you.

 

[youbet]

That's the one. I should have linked it. I found it good to get beyond the entry level pricing and see how various companies adjust pricing by age. I hope it helps you.

Yeah, very useful. Thanks!

 

[Sunset]

The State of Illinois publishes the various insurance companies licensed to offer supplement insurance, their policies they offer and the rates for those policies by age in 5 year increments. One can easily see which companies use bait and switch to get people in early and make it up later. I'm not certain which other states do this. Illinois is also a state where underwriting is done when changing companies later. It may not be an economical option for many to do switch later on. We switched to the only community based Supplement (UHC/AARP) in Illinois early while we were still healthy and could pass underwriting.

Great site,

I looked but cannot tell which ones are community based Supplement, how do you tell ?

 

[MBSC]

I looked but cannot tell which ones are community based Supplement, how do you tell ?

None of the Illinois plans are community-rated. C-R means everyone age 65+ pays the same premium. The UHC plans use a hybrid method consisting of attained-age increases in the early years followed by community-rating later. This link provides more details on the formula.

https://www.aarpsupplementalhealth....t/StatePlanVariations/SA25873S4_SA25731ST.pdf

You can see which plans are issue-age and attained-age on this Medicare website.

https://www.medicare.gov/medigap-supplemental-insurance-plans/#/m?lang=en&year=2022

The rate chart in a community-rated state looks like this (Washington):
https://www.insurance.wa.gov/sites/default/files/documents/medicare-supp-plans_54.pdf

 

[CRLLS]

Great site,

I looked but cannot tell which ones are community based Supplement, how do you tell ?

In the fine print below the AARP/UHC chart, it reads:

AARP/United Healthcare utilizes a two-tiered community rating, which offers a lower premium for people who apply for a Medigap policy within the first 36 months of their enrollment in Part B
of Medicare.

We switched to AARP for our 2nd(or was it our 3rd?) Medicare year. We are paying a bit less than the shown price. The chart doesn't include auto pay and household discounts. From my research elsewhere, AARP was the only one community based in Illinois. The way I t worked was to be competitive, for younger members, there was the same price but applied an ever decreasing discount over the 1st 10(ish?) years. I think it was something like 3% per year? Since we are planning to 100 years of age, future premiums were important to us.

 

[sengsational]

It seemed to me that being in a pool that's always getting new young people in the pool (issue age) is more like insurance than an attained age product would be. Pure issue age is expensive at the beginning, but the UHC/AARP hybrid addresses that with the defined price ramp.

DW turned 65 last month, but no huge hurry (healthy), as long as we get in before underwriting is required. I figured applying with a May starting date.

 

[grayv]

DW turned 65 last month, but no huge hurry (healthy), as long as we get in before underwriting is required. I figured applying with a May starting date.

why put it off?

 

[Dash man]

why put it off?

+100
I don’t see any reason to put it off. Heathy today, but we don’t know about tomorrow!