Plan G Annual Increases?

[audreyh1]

I need some clarification about the discount schedule at AARP/UHC.

When I go to medicare.gov or AARP/UHC website, what they quote me for premiums is what I'll pay - right?
The discount schedule shows me how the "age related" component of the premium will increase each year.

Yes, that’s correct. What you are shown is your premium, with probably an autopay discount and the household discount if you checked that in the initial Medicare.gov comparison search.

The enrollment discount schedule shows the age increases. At what age they start and end and the age-related % increase each year.

 

[walkinwood]

Plan G HD from Globe Insurance is $37/mo. Attained age pricing.
Plan G from AARP/UHC is 187/mo. Community Pricing.

I am in good health now. We have an HMO plan through Kaiser (ACA plan) so are used to paying a high monthly premium and an very high deductible & Max Out of Pocket (Bronze Max Out of Pocket is $7500/person, $15,000 per family. Deductible is $6500/$13000. We've never come anywhere near the deductible.

It is very tempting to go with the HD plan, but the 85 year old me may not like it.

I'm not looking for advice. The details & tradeoffs are very clear to me (thanks to the many medicare threads). Now, it is a decision I have to make in 3 months.

 

[dixonge]

My Dad turned 93 in November. Jan. 1 his MoO Plan G was going to be over $500. Switched him to a UHC Medicare Advantage plan. Premiums to zero.

 

[Dash man]

Plan G HD from Globe Insurance is $37/mo. Attained age pricing.
Plan G from AARP/UHC is 187/mo. Community Pricing.

I am in good health now. We have an HMO plan through Kaiser (ACA plan) so are used to paying a high monthly premium and an very high deductible & Max Out of Pocket (Bronze Max Out of Pocket is $7500/person, $15,000 per family. Deductible is $6500/$13000. We've never come anywhere near the deductible.

It is very tempting to go with the HD plan, but the 85 year old me may not like it.

I'm not looking for advice. The details & tradeoffs are very clear to me (thanks to the many medicare threads). Now, it is a decision I have to make in 3 months.

Take a look at Plan N. Its premiums are less than Plan G. You do pay up to $20 for doctor office visits.

 

[stedmakr]

My Dad turned 93 in November. Jan. 1 his MoO Plan G was going to be over $500. Switched him to a UHC Medicare Advantage plan. Premiums to zero.

I don't know. As a beneficiary ages premiums go up. The claims payouts from medigap insurers to providers also increase as the beneficiary ages. If the beneficiary gets to the point that he feels he can't afford to pay the medigap premium and cancels his insurance he also saves the medigap insurer from future potentially large claims payouts.

You are right that the premium from an advantage plan might be zero for the beneficiary but the provider can start the delay and deny cycle. The result is that the beneficiary may not get the medically necessay care that he had with a medigap plan. The insurer can deny and save big bucks.

My mom is 82 and has a UHC advantage plan. She has had 4 denials in the last two years.

Health insurer denials for a medically necessary potentially life saving procedure can be extremely emotional.

 

[dixonge]

You are right that the premium from an advantage plan might be zero for the beneficiary but the provider can start the delay and deny cycle. The result is that the beneficiary may not get the medically necessay care that he had with a medigap plan. The insurer can deny and save big bucks.

Rather a moot point - they literally can not afford an extra $500/mo

 

[HFWR]

AARP/UHC Plan G ~$215/mo

Was $130 in 2020. Too lazy to go back further.

 

[audreyh1]

AARP/UHC Plan G ~$215/mo

Was $130 in 2020. Too lazy to go back further.

Interesting. DH started in 2020 at ~$116 at age 65. He had gotten up to $167, but dropped back to $146 when I started due to the multi-insured discount.

 

[Yipper]

High Deductible G plans look like a good compromise between Advantage and top-of-the-line G plans. Lower premiums for some additional deductible responsibility but still control of selection of providers and no "permissions" and "denial" risks.

 

[audreyh1]

High Deductible G plans look like a good compromise between Advantage and top-of-the-line G plans. Lower premiums for some additional deductible responsibility but still control of selection of providers and no "permissions" and "denial" risks.

It’s certainly much cheaper. The main tradeoff is dealing with a lot more bills and tracking your deductible when you do start needing a lot of medical care. Which certainly might not happen for many years. You can’t switch to Plan G without underwriting. Except for NY, other states, even ones with a birthday rule, don’t let you switch to a plan with more benefits without underwriting.

Folks who chose the regular plan G are probably like us, not wanting to deal with tracking a higher deductible anymore and concerned about the burden (for us or loved ones) when we are much older or get very ill.

 

[Yipper]

It’s certainly much cheaper. The main tradeoff is dealing with a lot more bills and tracking your deductible when you do start needing a lot of medical care. Which certainly might not happen for many years. You can’t switch to Plan G without underwriting. Except for NY, other states, even ones with a birthday rule, don’t let you switch to a plan with more benefits without underwriting.

Folks who chose the regular plan G are probably like us, not wanting to deal with tracking a higher deductible anymore and concerned about the burden (for us or loved ones) when we are much older or get very ill.

I agree with you. My elderly mom passed a few months ago and was in very poor health the last several years. The Plan G was the "easy button" for her (me) and the rest of our family during that time.

 

[teejayevans]

It’s certainly much cheaper. The main tradeoff is dealing with a lot more bills and tracking your deductible when you do start needing a lot of medical care. Which certainly might not happen for many years. You can’t switch to Plan G without underwriting. Except for NY, other states, even ones with a birthday rule, don’t let you switch to a plan with more benefits without underwriting.

Folks who chose the regular plan G are probably like us, not wanting to deal with tracking a higher deductible anymore and concerned about the burden (for us or loved ones) when we are much older or get very ill.

Why do you have to track the medical expenses to see if you reach the deductible, seems to me the insurance company will handle that.

 

[FIREchief]

Why do you have to track the medical expenses to see if you reach the deductible, seems to me the insurance company will handle that.

Bingo!! We have a winner. All a person needs to do is pay the bills that come in (along with the electric bill, cable bill, etc). If a person becomes suspicious, they can check their on-line account with the Medigap insurer. Isn't this what we have all done for decades?

 

[Pluperfect]

Does senior65.com provide anything that Medicare.gov doesn't?

No. I've always used it because I somehow never found the quotes on the Medicare.gov site, despite I don't know how many hours working on understanding Medicare. But thanks to your question, I tried again, and found them!

I remember seeing some ranges for premiums for different plan letters, and at one point a list of companies that offered supplements in Texas that didn't include premiums but did have links that weren't all that helpful (like www.transamerica.com) (the latter might have been on the Texas Department of Insurance site, now that I think about it). But never something that listed specific premiums for all companies offering supplements.

But I went to medicare.gov again, and found exactly that. I had somehow missed it, and want to thank you for asking.

 

[MBSC]

...We haven't been notified of an increase in DW's premium for 2025, that may come.

In North Carolina, Omaha Insurance Co., the open book for MOO that she is in, will have a 25% rate increase on Plans F/G the next policy anniversary date. This doesn't include the age increase, so the total will be closer to 28%. Plan N will increase 10% plus the age increase.

The document also includes upcoming MOO open book increases for DE, ID, OH, UT and WV.

https://blogs.mutualofomaha.com/express/files/2025/03/3.14.25-April-Rate-Release.pdf

Additional open book increases for MOO:

Arkansas: 20% for F/G; 14% for N
South Dakota: 25% for F/G/N

https://blogs.mutualofomaha.com/express/files/2025/02/2.12.25-March-Rate-Release.pdf

 

[AudiDudi]

Just got the notice that effective May 1, my Plan G with Pan American will increase to $220/mo (72 yrs old). That's a 23% increase over the current rate. It was $146 before 22% in 2024 or up 50% in 2 years. It may be time to look for a new provider.

 

[sengsational]

Why do you have to track the medical expenses to see if you reach the deductible, seems to me the insurance company will handle that.

If you go only to providers that accept Medicare assignment and those providers file everything perfectly, then yes, the Medicare Supplemental policy will make it so the bills that you get will never add-up to more than your deductible.

The reality is that things don't always go perfectly. Maybe things are not filed right. Maybe your doctor did something that Medicare isn't liking. Maybe the provider did a service, but "forgot" to file it with Medicare. In all these situations, you are guilty until proven innocent. In other words, in the eyes of the provider's billing department, you're on the hook for whatever amount they say.

If your provider's billing office is responsive, maybe you can call and say "you're billing me more than my deductible," and they'll take care of it in one call, without you having to do anything else. But if they are not responsive, you might need to figure out what went wrong (i.e. track medical expenses). Was each service sent in on a Medicare claim? Did Medicare reject anything? From what a SHIIP councilor told me, if the bill amount isn't "too much higher" than the deductible, a majority of people in this situation just pay it, and put it behind them.

 

[Breedlove]

We had the Mutual Of Omaha plan G . It has almost doubled at 69 . It was over 400. Every three months and hers went to 297 . We have both went to the Advantage PPO with Aetna …..so far so good .. zero premium All meds and Dr visits paid with 35.00 copay.

 

[CRLLS]

Just got the notice that effective May 1, my Plan G with Pan American will increase to $220/mo (72 yrs old). That's a 23% increase over the current rate. It was $146 before 22% in 2024 or up 50% in 2 years. It may be time to look for a new provider.

For comparison, we are currently 72 and 73 YO with AARP/UHC, Plan G & Renew Active. It could be less if I were to drop the RA. We just got a premium change notice starting in July and then again in Jan 2026. Checking my records, from Feb 2024 ($142.58) to Feb 2025 ($169.92) it went up 18.2%. From Feb 2025 to Feb 2026 ($201.03) it will be another 18.3%. when that hits, it will be a 40% rise over 2 years. Here AARP/UHC does a mid-year increase, so the premiums I quoted are year-on year increases.

You may want to investigate switching insurers if you can.

 

[AudiDudi]

For comparison, we are currently 72 and 73 YO with AARP/UHC, Plan G & Renew Active. It could be less if I were to drop the RA. We just got a premium change notice starting in July and then again in Jan 2026. Checking my records, from Feb 2024 ($142.58) to Feb 2025 ($169.92) it went up 18.2%. From Feb 2025 to Feb 2026 ($201.03) it will be another 18.3%. when that hits, it will be a 40% rise over 2 years. Here AARP/UHC does a mid-year increase, so the premiums I quoted are year-on year increases.

You may want to investigate switching insurers if you can.

Agree - will be looking. I think I can pass underwriting.

 

[FIREchief]

From what a SHIIP councilor told me, if the bill amount isn't "too much higher" than the deductible, a majority of people in this situation just pay it, and put it behind them.

How would a SHIP employee know this?

 

[sengsational]

A good bit of the job is to advocate on behalf of beneficiaries to help them resolve Medicare issues. One would presume that people tell them that the appeals process sounds like too much trouble and say "forget it", or when they called to have the appeal letter interpreted, and it needed a 2nd level appeal, and they say "forget it."

 

[Dawg52]

My new plan G rate effective 7/1 increases to $215.67 up a little over 21% which seems to be the norm. I’ll be 71 in July. No chance for me to pass medical underwriting so will just grin and bear it.

 

[MichaelB]

I have UHC/AARP MediGap G and just received the pricing notice for 6/25, an 11.1% increase.

 

[Calico]

I also have the UHC/AARP MediGap G. I just checked online for the pricing notice for 6/25; it is increasing 11.5%.