Medigap Plan G high deductible

I think the High deductible is a great deal, at 76, I've still never met my deductible. My monthly premium of $104 for my HD Plan F is a bargain for the coverage I now get, while having security of full coverage should my health care needs increase.
I realize supplement premiums can vary significantly based on a number of factors, but $104 for a HD Plan F seems very high when at age 77 I pay $105 for Plan N.
 
One thing your missing with an HD plan. You get to do all the bill paying yourself. So if something happens to your health,you need someone to take care of the billing. 2 1/2 years ago I racked up 190K bill,I have F HD, I paid all the hosp bills to my deductible I guess 2400 back then. But hosp billing is such a mess,they put me in collection for 30 bucks for a bill I never got. LOL Never the less at 67/month still a good deal,saved a lot over the past 11 years.
If you paid your deducible, the insurance kicks in at 100%. You do not need to see the bill the health your insurance carrier was responsible, I would have let the hospital have it. Yep, you saved a lot of money, great job.
 
I realize supplement premiums can vary significantly based on a number of factors, but $104 for a HD Plan F seems very high when at age 77 I pay $105 for Plan N.
WOW, 105 for a N at age 77 is the best rate I have heard. What company offers that?
 
In your example if you paid the $150 I doubt that they would fix unit after getting paid :)
Agreed, which is why I recommend waiting until the all the claims from a provider are processed correctly by insurance before paying anything. My BIL just pays when the bills come, and, as you suggest, the provider was not interested in correcting a mistake he noticed after the provider had been paid off.

It's pretty easy if the services are all done in a narrow window, but gets more challenging when additional services are keep getting added. This results in some claims that are done and are legit, and other claims that aren't legit, but one single balance. So if you send a payment, they might apply it to the non-legit claim. With this case, unless their system allows you to select where you want to apply the payment, you'd need to get someone on the phone to make sure your payment cleared the legitimate, completely processed, claims.
 
One thing your missing with an HD plan. You get to do all the bill paying yourself. So if something happens to your health,you need someone to take care of the billing. 2 1/2 years ago I racked up 190K bill,I have F HD, I paid all the hosp bills to my deductible I guess 2400 back then. But hosp billing is such a mess,they put me in collection for 30 bucks for a bill I never got. LOL Never the less at 67/month still a good deal,saved a lot over the past 11 years.
Good point. I’m wondering how if Medicare works like my current health insurance where I can see the explanation of benefits online.
 
One of the best selling points of a standard plan G is you pay your $240 and any bills after that "ain't your problem, period." Anybody tries to bill you, you say "I thought you accepted Medicare assignment", they say "we do", then you say "well you better sharpen your pencil on those claims because I already paid my $240 and I have a plan G super payer". It's almost as good with plan N, but you need to pay the $20 for each doctor visit. That, as opposed to an HD plan, where you're paying all kinds of stuff, and who knows if they've got the claims complete. Anything they don't file right will be shown as your responsibility, even though it's because they didn't file it right.

I think most of us have seen the enormous difference in price between what they bill and what Medicare pays. So they "make a mistake" and leave off one service of a 10 service claim. So say the billed amount on that forgotten service is $150 and the Medicare amount is $20. But they "forget" to file it, so along with your 20% that you're paying on the other 9 (working on your Plan-G High Deductible), they toss-in the $150, and hope you don't notice.

Hospitals have a ton of money flowing through, but the margins are narrow. I'm not saying I know for a fact they do this on purpose, but I've seen a lot of these mistakes, and didn't get any mistakes where the patient got the benefit. It almost certainly depends on how shady the corporate hospital chain is... I'm sure some are better than others.
This could be where the perception arises that traditional Medicare is more wasteful than private insurance.

I think the High deductible is a great deal, at 76, I've still never met my deductible. My monthly premium of $104 for my HD Plan F is a bargain for the coverage I now get, while having security of full coverage should my health care needs increase. The higher premium of plain plan G guarantees I'd pay more annually. Most of us can afford a onetime pay out of the deductible, but more commonly it's paid in smaller amounts over months.
In my NY location, the out of pocket expenses add up to about the same for the high deductible G vs the regular G IF I were to reach the deductible.

I would need to incur about $14K of Medicare Approved Amount expenses to reach the deductible.

Since I can switch at any time in NY, I’m thinking why not “gamble” on the HD since the worst case costs will be about the same.

Now I’m research which companies in NY have good customer service and rate history. The history is very short on the high deductible G..
 
Yes, it would take a LOT of medical bills where the added 20% amounts add up to to be larger than the deductible. It can be confusing to calculate because people will say "just one set of CT scan was $14k". What they should have said "was billed at $14K", but that's the fictitious price that only sheiks from outside the US pay. Maybe even they negotiate! The Medicare price on that same set of scans is $350, so you pay $70. I'm not sure those are perfect numbers, but roughly right. So divide the insane billed price by 200 is probably ball park accurate. It's kind of doubtful you'd get to $2.8 million in billed charges in one year!!
 
Yes.

N: $431 /month

G: $404/month

G: HD $71/month community rated too

I’m guessing you don’t live in NY state?

I think it’s related to the fact that we are one of four states that prohibit underwriting on supplement plans. Even after initial enrollment, you can switch plans each year without medical questions……

Only 6 plans offered by Excellus. They clearly want to sell Medicare Advantage.

I checked my son’s zip code in Florida. They have 30 plans ��*♂️

I will continue my shopping in 2024 as I need to enroll in December.

Since you can change without underwriting, I would go with the Plan G-HD plan because 12 months of G-HD premiums plus the deductible are less than 12 months of Plan G premiums. If it ever reverses and you are routinely paying the full deductible then just switch.
 
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