AUTHOR: rgscl on 9/2/2024 FIRST: David Lancaster on 9/2/2024 | RECENT: David Lancaster on 10/23/2024
Comments:
I agree with you that some folks might be happy with MA (and yes they are similar to the workplace but remember during our working year we are/were all a lot younger and hence likely in less of a need for medical care). There is no universal one-size-fits-all. I am glad it is working for you. But if you ever find it not working, you're kind of stuck (unless you're lucky enough to be living in one of 4-5 states that allow you to switch to original and get Medigap without underwriting). BUT I disagree with you re "govt control of expenses is the problem". I think (and this is backed by data) the problem is the need for the insurance companies to generate increasing quarterly profits and they do whatever it takes (from denying service to over charging the government). Like Dick said earlier, MA works really well until you really need it. Again just look at the empirical data and many articles written on this.
agree with you 100% on the "MA being a product of lobbying and folks wanting to privatize". re making MA the default, I am afraid of this too based on how the political winds are blowing.
As I research more on this, figured I would share any useful data that I find. Here is a table that has the historical premium increases across Plans G, G HD & N. https://www.csgactuarial.com/news/average-medicare-supplement-rate-increases-continue-trending-higher-in-2024/ Average 5Y increases are 6.14% for G, 4.84% for N and 1.98% for G HD.
Mark, thanks to you and few others for suggesting reaching out to our State SHIP, I managed to get the pertinent data. I am guessing a higher MLR - "medical loss ratio" indicates that "premium dollars that a health plan spends on medical claims and quality improvements, versus administrative costs" is a good thing? I also see 2 measures, one at the national level and one at the state level. One of the plans, for example, "Farm Bureau Health Plans – Member’S Health Insurance Company" has MLR of 96.7% at the national level and 56.29% at the state level. Do I then read this as, the state overhead is much higher than the national level? Thanks!
File this under FWIW https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/medicare/medicare-advantage-customers-face-shrinking-pool-of-insurers "Medicare Advantage Customers Face Shrinking Options - Medicare Advantage plan insurers are reducing their enrollments as profit margins shrink."
Jo Bo - I am trying to work with our state SHIP. The difference for me (between a Plan G vs. G HD) would be $963. I noticed that while Plans G & N here have a "community pricing" (which I view as arresting the annual premium increases with the exception of inflation) whereas G HD all have just the "attained age". Good perspective though, thank you!
Thank you Dan, that's one more nuance that I just learnt. My state also appears to have 2 companies that are "direct to consumer" and both are slightly higher than the AARP UHC plan. UHC is "community price" and is $126 whereas Transamerica (issue age) and Globe Life and Accident (attained age) are both offered direct and charge $158 & $179 respectively. These are for plan G.
Mark, thank you. AARP & UHC G or N is what I am considering as well. How has been your experience so far? In our state there are 2 variants of UHC (there is "UHC Insurance" with higher premium and there is "UHC Insurance of America" with a lower premium). I suspect this is "a version by a subsidiary" that Liz was referring to. I like this AARP UHC offering since they are the only company offering a "community" pricing. BUT UHC insurance of America has a "Company complaint Index" of 5.03 [The National Complaint Index is always 1.00. This means a company with a complaint index of 2.00 has a complaint index that is twice as high as expected in the market] per NAIC. Whereas UHC insurance's complaint ratio is 0.54. So the higher priced policy has a lower complaint score while the lower priced policy has 5.4x the index.
Comments:
I agree with you that some folks might be happy with MA (and yes they are similar to the workplace but remember during our working year we are/were all a lot younger and hence likely in less of a need for medical care). There is no universal one-size-fits-all. I am glad it is working for you. But if you ever find it not working, you're kind of stuck (unless you're lucky enough to be living in one of 4-5 states that allow you to switch to original and get Medigap without underwriting). BUT I disagree with you re "govt control of expenses is the problem". I think (and this is backed by data) the problem is the need for the insurance companies to generate increasing quarterly profits and they do whatever it takes (from denying service to over charging the government). Like Dick said earlier, MA works really well until you really need it. Again just look at the empirical data and many articles written on this.
Post: The Sickest Patients Are Fleeing Private Medicare Plans—Costing Taxpayers Billions
Link to comment from November 18, 2024
agree with you 100% on the "MA being a product of lobbying and folks wanting to privatize". re making MA the default, I am afraid of this too based on how the political winds are blowing.
Post: The Sickest Patients Are Fleeing Private Medicare Plans—Costing Taxpayers Billions
Link to comment from November 17, 2024
As I research more on this, figured I would share any useful data that I find. Here is a table that has the historical premium increases across Plans G, G HD & N. https://www.csgactuarial.com/news/average-medicare-supplement-rate-increases-continue-trending-higher-in-2024/ Average 5Y increases are 6.14% for G, 4.84% for N and 1.98% for G HD.
Post: Medigap pricing question
Link to comment from September 25, 2024
Mark, thanks to you and few others for suggesting reaching out to our State SHIP, I managed to get the pertinent data. I am guessing a higher MLR - "medical loss ratio" indicates that "premium dollars that a health plan spends on medical claims and quality improvements, versus administrative costs" is a good thing? I also see 2 measures, one at the national level and one at the state level. One of the plans, for example, "Farm Bureau Health Plans – Member’S Health Insurance Company" has MLR of 96.7% at the national level and 56.29% at the state level. Do I then read this as, the state overhead is much higher than the national level? Thanks!
Post: Medigap pricing question
Link to comment from September 20, 2024
File this under FWIW https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/medicare/medicare-advantage-customers-face-shrinking-pool-of-insurers "Medicare Advantage Customers Face Shrinking Options - Medicare Advantage plan insurers are reducing their enrollments as profit margins shrink."
Post: Which is better, traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage?
Link to comment from September 17, 2024
Jo Bo - I am trying to work with our state SHIP. The difference for me (between a Plan G vs. G HD) would be $963. I noticed that while Plans G & N here have a "community pricing" (which I view as arresting the annual premium increases with the exception of inflation) whereas G HD all have just the "attained age". Good perspective though, thank you!
Post: Medigap pricing question
Link to comment from September 15, 2024
A thought provoking question, thank you for this!
Post: How would you prepare for the staggering cost of in-home care if you ever need it?
Link to comment from September 15, 2024
Thank you Dan, that's one more nuance that I just learnt. My state also appears to have 2 companies that are "direct to consumer" and both are slightly higher than the AARP UHC plan. UHC is "community price" and is $126 whereas Transamerica (issue age) and Globe Life and Accident (attained age) are both offered direct and charge $158 & $179 respectively. These are for plan G.
Post: Medigap pricing question
Link to comment from September 8, 2024
Mark, thank you. AARP & UHC G or N is what I am considering as well. How has been your experience so far? In our state there are 2 variants of UHC (there is "UHC Insurance" with higher premium and there is "UHC Insurance of America" with a lower premium). I suspect this is "a version by a subsidiary" that Liz was referring to. I like this AARP UHC offering since they are the only company offering a "community" pricing. BUT UHC insurance of America has a "Company complaint Index" of 5.03 [The National Complaint Index is always 1.00. This means a company with a complaint index of 2.00 has a complaint index that is twice as high as expected in the market] per NAIC. Whereas UHC insurance's complaint ratio is 0.54. So the higher priced policy has a lower complaint score while the lower priced policy has 5.4x the index.
Post: Medigap pricing question
Link to comment from September 7, 2024
Liz, thank you very much. Very informative!
Post: Medigap pricing question
Link to comment from September 7, 2024