Here is a video suggesting that with all the states passing legislation requiring insurance companies to offer plan G to people outside the signup window that insurance companies are raising rates faster on plan G. Any thoughts?
I was highly skeptical at the start of the video...he's a salesman after all, LOL!
I did not know that there were government mandates that pushed people from the various categories into the Plan G pools and not into Plan N pools. I did not confirm that, and I don't know how big of a problem that is, and if that is what is driving / will drive the historical and future rate hikes of Plan G policies. But it sounds plausible. And I didn't hear anything in the presentation that set off my spidey-sense.
Here's a grab from the transcript. Sorry for the formatting.
9:11
since 2020 we started following maer in 2018 when that bill was passed and that's when they made Plan G the dominant recipient of all guarantee issue business all the people with special election periods when they're dumped from other plans like Medicaid Care Advantage they lose those plans through no fault of their own they're allowed to get one plan now without any underwriting whatsoever what does that mean it means that your insurance company is going to take it on the chin by a government mandate that says that they've got to take these people they're not new to Medicare by being 65 and no they're not going through underwriting questions so know that they're going to be healthy to join you in that risk pool no they're having to take these people they just have to take them and where are those people dumped into that you can benefit from whether they're healthy or not most likely not they're dumped in to plan G what does that mean to you it means long term the rates are going to go up based on the experience of the people in that plan so if you're looking long term uhoh you better look at the other options out there
That makes me glad I picked Plan N. In the video, he mentions the reason why I picked Plan N...a "speed bump" for going to the doctor. I'm in a group that will think a beat about going to the doctor because it's gonna cost them a $20 copay. It's chump change for me, but his historical rate increase figures, if accurate, are quite telling (Plan G's going up 18% and the same company's Plan N's going up 0% to 5%).
Also, is the whole "closed risk pool" issue something you worry about?
Absolutely. If you're turning 65, I'd say the worst thing you could do would be buy Medicare Advantage, but the second worse thing would be to buy a cheap Medigap policy from a company with a history of "closing the book". If you buy strictly by this year's price, your chances are high that you'll get an "attained age" policy that's likely to have bigger price increases, and huge price increases if they close the book. Because of the inability to switch policies (presuming you can't pass underwriting at some point), your Medicare purchase decision horizon is not for this year or the next, but all the way from age 65 until "the end". If you get stuck in a "closed risk pool" (aka "sick duck pool") those people will be high utilizers and rates are going to go through the roof.
