Katsmeow
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2009
- Messages
- 5,308
I am going on Medicare in April so am starting to look at medigap plans. I will be sticking to traditional Medicare. I am particularly interested in any thoughts on Amerigroup which is significantly less expensive than the other options.
I am on my own to determine this since I am one of those using Via Benefits (previously One Exchange). I get about $2100 to contribute to costs. I am use this solely on medigap supplement or Plan D bought through Via Benefits or reimbursement for Part B premiums. Theoretically I could get only the Part D through Via Benefits and the part B premium reimbursement. But I would leave money on the table. I take only 1 Tier one prescription so my Part D premium options are very low in cost.
I am going to do Plan G. There are 6 Plan G providers through Via Benefits.
These are the costs. All of them are attained age rating except AARP/UHC which is community rated (with a discount for age the first 12 years). DH bought his supplement on his own and is with AARP/UHC. It has been fairly consistent in price increases over the year with about a 3% increase each June (along with the slow reduction of his age discount). When it started it had Silver Sneakers but they discontinued it last year to instead give a 50% discount at some gyms. Not nearly as good a benefit.
Amerigroup - $116
AARP/UHC - $139.04
Humana - $142.37
EPIC Life Ins. - $143.98
Cigna - $170.45
Mutual of Omaha - $180
The last 2 I am going to reject just on cost alone. Amerigroup is significantly less and says it includes Silver Sneakers (they do stress they can get rid of it any time so I don't expect it to continue long term).
The next 3 are all close enough together to be basically the same. I've never heard of EPIC.
I had never heard of Amerigroup but did some research. It is an Anthem subsidiary. Apparently for a long time it basically mostly handled Medicaid and is known for that. At some point it started offering Medicare Advantage plans geared to the person who is dual Medicaid/Medicare eligible. Several years ago Anthem bought them. They now offer traditional medigap supplements in two states: Arizona and Texas. I think they are new to doing this year in Arizona and either this year or last year in Texas.
So, obviously my concern is that they have no history of rate increases and that they came up with a really low premium to entice people to sign up and that they will increase premiums substantially in future years when they lose money. So, I wonder if it is safer to go with either AARP/UHC or Humana.
Typically the knock on AARP/UHC is that it is more expensive in the earlier years due to the community rating (even with the discount) but is less expensive after age 77. But - on the plans through Via Benefits it is the 2nd cheapest. The knock is that it doesn't have Silver Sneakers any more. But, for those that do offer it (and not all supplements do), they all make it clear that it is a benefit they can drop. Humana apparently does include it, but again there is no guarantee it would continue.
My other option is to get my part D through Via Benefits and get reimbursed for Part B premiums. To fully use the money, at current rates I could get a Part D that had premiums of about $40 a month. In actuality I am looking at a plan that has a premium of $10.40 a month (the cheapest since I only take the one med). If I did that then I could get a medicap plan through anyone offering one in this area (DFW area). Not sure if there are any that are significantly less expensive than AARP/UHC or Humana.
I am on my own to determine this since I am one of those using Via Benefits (previously One Exchange). I get about $2100 to contribute to costs. I am use this solely on medigap supplement or Plan D bought through Via Benefits or reimbursement for Part B premiums. Theoretically I could get only the Part D through Via Benefits and the part B premium reimbursement. But I would leave money on the table. I take only 1 Tier one prescription so my Part D premium options are very low in cost.
I am going to do Plan G. There are 6 Plan G providers through Via Benefits.
These are the costs. All of them are attained age rating except AARP/UHC which is community rated (with a discount for age the first 12 years). DH bought his supplement on his own and is with AARP/UHC. It has been fairly consistent in price increases over the year with about a 3% increase each June (along with the slow reduction of his age discount). When it started it had Silver Sneakers but they discontinued it last year to instead give a 50% discount at some gyms. Not nearly as good a benefit.
Amerigroup - $116
AARP/UHC - $139.04
Humana - $142.37
EPIC Life Ins. - $143.98
Cigna - $170.45
Mutual of Omaha - $180
The last 2 I am going to reject just on cost alone. Amerigroup is significantly less and says it includes Silver Sneakers (they do stress they can get rid of it any time so I don't expect it to continue long term).
The next 3 are all close enough together to be basically the same. I've never heard of EPIC.
I had never heard of Amerigroup but did some research. It is an Anthem subsidiary. Apparently for a long time it basically mostly handled Medicaid and is known for that. At some point it started offering Medicare Advantage plans geared to the person who is dual Medicaid/Medicare eligible. Several years ago Anthem bought them. They now offer traditional medigap supplements in two states: Arizona and Texas. I think they are new to doing this year in Arizona and either this year or last year in Texas.
So, obviously my concern is that they have no history of rate increases and that they came up with a really low premium to entice people to sign up and that they will increase premiums substantially in future years when they lose money. So, I wonder if it is safer to go with either AARP/UHC or Humana.
Typically the knock on AARP/UHC is that it is more expensive in the earlier years due to the community rating (even with the discount) but is less expensive after age 77. But - on the plans through Via Benefits it is the 2nd cheapest. The knock is that it doesn't have Silver Sneakers any more. But, for those that do offer it (and not all supplements do), they all make it clear that it is a benefit they can drop. Humana apparently does include it, but again there is no guarantee it would continue.
My other option is to get my part D through Via Benefits and get reimbursed for Part B premiums. To fully use the money, at current rates I could get a Part D that had premiums of about $40 a month. In actuality I am looking at a plan that has a premium of $10.40 a month (the cheapest since I only take the one med). If I did that then I could get a medicap plan through anyone offering one in this area (DFW area). Not sure if there are any that are significantly less expensive than AARP/UHC or Humana.