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Switching from Pre-Medicare Retiree Health Insurance to Medicare During the Year
Old 10-16-2017, 09:30 PM   #1
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Switching from Pre-Medicare Retiree Health Insurance to Medicare During the Year

I have the pre-Medicare retiree health insurance through the retirement system of my last employer. Next year I have to switch to Medicare. The retirement system uses a private exchange for Medicare supplement policies during the annual open enrollment window. I know Medicare eligibility starts the first day of the month in which I turn 65, but I don't understand how to make the switch to a private exchange supplemental policy in the middle of a year or to decide to purchase an unsubsidized policy outside their exchange. Because I am not 65, I can't get access to the exchange to look at the current policies. There is no information on the changeover in the booklet that is sent out every year.

I would like to know what I'm up against now so I can start researching and planning. Has anyone been through a similar process? Any clue as to what supplement policies are sold on these private exchanges? Calling these folks is not helpful, as the answer is to call back when I need to make the switch.

TIA!
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Old 10-16-2017, 09:57 PM   #2
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The supplements on the exchange should be similar to ones sold in the outside market.
They have the same plan letters: e.g. F, G N etc. although the exchange might not have the full set available to you. Try browsing here and see what they offer:
https://medicare.oneexchange.com/
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Old 10-16-2017, 10:00 PM   #3
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About 3-4 months before I turned 65 I received TONS of mailings with regard to my upcoming Medicare selections....from a company (OneExchange) hired by my former employer that offered a limited selection of plans, from Medicare itself providing a booklet with an overview of the system and random other Medicare Advantage and Medigap supplemental plans. It made my head spin. I spent quite a bit of time researching before I finally figured out how the Medicare system works.

I found that the plans offered by OneExchange were not the least expensive. (FWIW, by law, all Plan "Xs" have to offer the same coverage, so it makes sense to shop for the least expensive Plan that meets your needs.)

In the course of my research I lucked-out in finding a guy who sells supplemental (Medigap) plans in something like 38 states. His name is Christopher Westfall. He has a number of excellent YouTube videos on Medigap plans (well worth watching) plus a website https://www.seniorsavingsnetwork.org/

Like you, I wanted to get a feel for the Medigap costs before I actually had to make my selection. I also had a few critical questions I needed answered as well. I set up an appointment for Christopher to call. I explained that I was "window shopping" at the moment. He was very patient in answering my questions, plus he entered my age and zipcode into his system. It spit out the least-expensive Medigap plans for me, so I had a sense of what the cost of the plan I would be choosing when it was finally my time to make a selection. A few months later at selection time, I called Christopher, we verified which plan* I wanted & the pricing and I signed up for it through his company. Easy peasy.

*Plan G which is a sort of a less expensive "sleeper" version of the more popular Plan F.

omni
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Old 10-16-2017, 10:29 PM   #4
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The supplements on the exchange should be similar to ones sold in the outside market.
They have the same plan letters: e.g. F, G N etc. although the exchange might not have the full set available to you. Try browsing here and see what they offer:
https://medicare.oneexchange.com/
Thanks! They use OneExchange. No UHC, so I will look at the AARP plan for comparison. Because medical underwriting is involved, it seems critical to pick the right plan the first time, even if it costs more.
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Old 10-16-2017, 11:00 PM   #5
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I'm less concerned about the cost than the quality. I want a broad network of quality doctors and a generous drug formulary. Any Medicare Advantage plan information that makes it into the mail box will go straight to the recycling bin, as will solicitations from the witch doctors of Kaiser. I have a feeling the recycling bin will be extra full for a few months.

The way the system is set up, I will get a monthly reimbursement for the lowest level of Part B premium, which was a pleasant surprise. There is a monthly medical allowance that can be applied to the supplement premium and co-pays. These generous gifts are not vested, but the system has the money to pay them for now. No complaints about that!

Not sure what the quality of care will be under the new regime. UHC has been easy to deal with as a pre-Medicare plan participant. The players on the exchange are the less reputable companies.

Overall, it looks like I should save money with Uncle Sam kicking back my contributions to pay some of the bills and the various allowances from the retirement system. My job will be to pick the best supplement policy because of the medical underwriting elephant in the room.
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Old 10-16-2017, 11:33 PM   #6
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Can't remember all the details for sure but I believe my experience was similar to yours. Had UHC pre-medicare but it was not on Exchange. Went directly to AARP-UHC to get details but signed up through Exchange to simplify reimbursement process. Now I get reimbursed monthly automatically but I believe that if I bought it on my own, I would have to submit reimbursement requests monthly.................so you might want to find out how your plan would work.........whether you could get it thru Exchange and what would happen if you bought it on your own.

You will have the quotes from UHC so will know if the Exchange charges you the same amount. They did , in my case. My experience has been fine....never have had to call them for anything. Between Medicare and UHC, all expenses have been paid (plan F which going away in a few yrs. so most recommendations are for plan G).
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Old 11-27-2017, 05:04 AM   #7
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Sorry to dredge up this thread, but it struck a nerve today when I filled out my company pre-65 health care enrollment. Reading ahead to when I need to switch over, I landed on the OneExchange private exchange site that all MegaCorps seem to be using.

I was a little put off by the fact that my MegaCorp joined all the others in pawning off their retirees to this for-profit company. What's in it for me? I read some of the material and watched an introductory video. I know they had to dumb it down for the masses, but it still seemed condescending, and somewhat hard-sell. Sort of reminded me of some of the scams that target seniors.

This all might change by the time I actually have to enroll, but it's good to hear there are other options, and that doing a little research can either help me find a better deal on my own, or maybe OneExchange really will be helpful.

I assume the business model is that the exchange or broker gets a commission. After a bad experience with a "retirement planner" whose mission in life was to maximize his commission by selling annuities, I'm a little gun-shy.

Am I missing something? Any other suggestions?
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Old 11-27-2017, 05:33 AM   #8
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My understanding of OneExchange, it is really a way for employers to offer an untaxed retirement health care benefit and control their contribution to the total cost.

Because health care insurance is an untaxed benefit, if they give the retiree some cash to pay for Medicare, it would be treated as taxable income. If they offer to pay for a retiree’s Medicare policy they are on the hook for future price increases ad also have the cost of administering a health care policy. By using a private exchange and benefits manager (Tower Watson) the employer can contribute to some of the cost, and the retiree has (in theory) access to the same policies.

It should be pretty simple to find out how OneExchange prices and policy availability compare with the “no exchange” options the rest of us have. Medicare has excellent tools that list the policies and prices available by zip code.
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Old 11-27-2017, 07:55 AM   #9
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....................................
It should be pretty simple to find out how OneExchange prices and policy availability compare with the “no exchange” options the rest of us have. Medicare has excellent tools that list the policies and prices available by zip code.
I've never seen Medicare give prices for supplemental plans. If you know something I don't, please consider sharing.
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Old 11-27-2017, 08:03 AM   #10
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I've never seen Medicare give prices for supplemental plans. If you know something I don't, please consider sharing.
Let me rephrase. The find a MediGap tool will list all the policies offered by zip code and give a list of insurers and price range for each category. The Medicare Plan D finder gives a price for each policy.
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Old 11-27-2017, 08:43 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by CaptTom View Post
Sorry to dredge up this thread, but it struck a nerve today when I filled out my company pre-65 health care enrollment. Reading ahead to when I need to switch over, I landed on the OneExchange private exchange site that all MegaCorps seem to be using.

I was a little put off by the fact that my MegaCorp joined all the others in pawning off their retirees to this for-profit company. What's in it for me? I read some of the material and watched an introductory video. I know they had to dumb it down for the masses, but it still seemed condescending, and somewhat hard-sell. Sort of reminded me of some of the scams that target seniors.

This all might change by the time I actually have to enroll, but it's good to hear there are other options, and that doing a little research can either help me find a better deal on my own, or maybe OneExchange really will be helpful.

I assume the business model is that the exchange or broker gets a commission. After a bad experience with a "retirement planner" whose mission in life was to maximize his commission by selling annuities, I'm a little gun-shy.

Am I missing something? Any other suggestions?
Actually in my case when this was done the cost of the supplemental insurance went down compared to the company plan and the drug plan I selected was better. While by visiting the web sites you can shop the medigap plans the main shopping issue is price because all the plans with the same letter are identical. (Check how the price changes with increasing age as some plans are much steeper than others).
At 66 with the company payment the cost went down about $80 a month, all be it that it no longer included vision (but that costs an additional 17 for what IMHO is a bad deal)
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Old 11-27-2017, 08:45 AM   #12
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My understanding of OneExchange, it is really a way for employers to offer an untaxed retirement health care benefit and control their contribution to the total cost.

Because health care insurance is an untaxed benefit, if they give the retiree some cash to pay for Medicare, it would be treated as taxable income. If they offer to pay for a retiree’s Medicare policy they are on the hook for future price increases ad also have the cost of administering a health care policy. By using a private exchange and benefits manager (Tower Watson) the employer can contribute to some of the cost, and the retiree has (in theory) access to the same policies.

It should be pretty simple to find out how OneExchange prices and policy availability compare with the “no exchange” options the rest of us have. Medicare has excellent tools that list the policies and prices available by zip code.
One exchange just offers the same plans that you can subscribe to directly, the only reason to do it thru one exchange is the company reimbursement. The premiums are the same, so shop outside and when you call tell them what policies you want.
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Old 11-27-2017, 09:56 AM   #13
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Are you saying I can get the AARP UHC plan through OneExchange, even though it's not on their list? Because they offer plans from insurance companies that I would be uneasy using.
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Old 11-27-2017, 10:00 AM   #14
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Are you saying I can get the AARP UHC plan through OneExchange, even though it's not on their list? Because they offer plans from insurance companies that I would be uneasy using.
Yes, that's what I did (though quite a few yrs ago) . That way my HRA reimbursement is automatic instead of me having to file a claim every month. Suggest you get a quote directly from UHC AARP so that when you get OneExchange quote, you will know it is the same price. If you don't have a reimbursement plan, is there a benefit to using the exchange instead of just getting it directly from insurer?
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Old 11-27-2017, 10:05 AM   #15
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There is substantial reimbursement, so it makes sense to go through them.

From what I see on the Medicare site, most policies in my zip code are age rated, while the AARP plan is not. I would think that's an advantage as you get older. Is that correct?
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Old 11-27-2017, 10:24 AM   #16
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There is substantial reimbursement, so it makes sense to go through them.

From what I see on the Medicare site, most policies in my zip code are age rated, while the AARP plan is not. I would think that's an advantage as you get older. Is that correct?
In principle,yes, in the sense that you should not be penalized for being older in the pooled community. But does that mean that you are paying more when you are younger to subsidize the older ones in the community? https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy...paying-medigap

Not sure how it all works out but you'd have to look at the other plans compared w/ AARP over the long haul. Hard enough to find comparative figures for multiple companies so not sure I made the right decision but AARP seemed as good as others when I signed up .

Seems like AARP UHC likes to remain in the shadows......no prices on the Exchange. My state insurance board has prices for different ages and various insurance co. supplement plans but nothing for AARP UHC. To add to the puzzle, AARP UHC gives this nice discount when you first sign up.........30% off list if you are 65; the discount decreases 3%/yr so when you are 70, the discount is 15%; and when you are 75, the discount disappears. That means during these your effective rate of increase is double what it might be in other plans. If you assume root increase is 3%/yr and the discount is decreasing 3%/yr, your effective increase is 6% for the first 10 yrs.
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