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I will be turning 65 in September and I am going nuts looking at plans. I am in reasonably good health and only go to the doctor for yearly checkups and prescription updates. I do have high blood pressure. I know I will need a prescription plan, but I have not been making my deductible on my current ACA plan.
But I want to be prepared for an emergency. I also travel across the U.S. in my motorhome so I will need something that will work in other states besides Alabama. Several of my friends recommend the "F" plans, but it seems like overkill to me. But what do I know??? One of them noted that certain Advantage plans will not work out of my home area.
I have been checking into Blue Cross, Humana and AARP-UHC. I am thinking the Walmar/Humana plan may be the best for the prescription. But again what do I know!!!
I will be turning 65 in September and I am going nuts looking at plans. I am in reasonably good health and only go to the doctor for yearly checkups and prescription updates. I do have high blood pressure. I know I will need a prescription plan, but I have not been making my deductible on my current ACA plan.
But I want to be prepared for an emergency. I also travel across the U.S. in my motorhome so I will need something that will work in other states besides Alabama. Several of my friends recommend the "F" plans, but it seems like overkill to me. But what do I know??? One of them noted that certain Advantage plans will not work out of my home area.
I have been checking into Blue Cross, Humana and AARP-UHC. I am thinking the Walmar/Humana plan may be the best for the prescription. But again what do I know!!!
Your friends are correct. If you travel, Advantage is not an appropriate choice unless it is a PPO which allows out-of-network service. That said, your copays will be higher anytime you use out-of-network - and Advantage plans have a maximum out-of-pocket of $5-$7k. Should disaster strike, your expenses could easily exceed two or three times the cost of a Medigap F. If you choose Advantage, be sure your drugs are in that plan's formulary - and you will need to review that annually as tiers and pricing changes annually.
Another low-cost alternative which many people choose is the high-deductible Medigap F plan - which caps your 20% Medicare copays at $2,180 - and, in some states, can be bought for 25% of the cost of a Medigap F. After you've paid the deductible (which you won't unless you have a serious health issue), the hd-F plan pays 100% of what Medicare doesn't, just like a regular Medigap F. Keep in mind, you'd need to do a lot of doctoring to reach $2,180 deductible in any one year as 20% of any Medicare-allowed charge is usually quite small.
For a healthy person, an hd-F should be a serious consideration. You can still see any Medicare doctor anywhere if you travel. In some states, for someone your age, premiums can be as low as $35-$40/mo.
With an hd-F, if you only incur the occasional medical expense, it is quite possible the plan will not pay a dime for years - but you have the peace of mind knowing your maximum copays for Medicare-approved services in any one year cannot exceed $2,180 should disaster strike.
You would also need a Part D plan. Medicare.gov has a tool which should help you determine which plan best suits your needs. Again, you will need to review that annually, as drug plans change tiers and copays often.
This may also interest you - an analysis of pros and cons of Medigap v. Advantage:
and a list of Medigaps, including hd-F, should populate. Click on the link at far right of page for hd-F which says "view companies that offer," and you will find companies offering the hd-F.
A 67 y/o male AZ resident on this board, last year, found an attained-age hd-F in AZ through Standard Life for $33/mo., which is a reasonable price for a plan that won't be paying out for, probably, years.
All plans are required to pay the same basic benefits - but there can be quite a variance in premium. All things being equal, community-rated policies may begin with a higher premium but remain more stable in pricing long-term, attained-age policies have a lower starting premium but will show premium increases as you age, issue-age policies are more middle of the road on pricing which means premiums won’t change as you get older but may go up because of inflation and other factors.
OP's location says Pearl River LA. USPS says Zip is 70452
Medicare lookup for Medigaps in that ZIP says "No Policies were found for your search criteria."
1st I've seen an area with no Medigaps :-(
Looking up Advantage plans with Rx (MA-PD) , there are 9 plans from 6 insurers. None of which are AARP/UHC. And none with the Nationwide Coverage indicator (N in blue circle)
OP's location says Pearl River LA. USPS says Zip is 70452
Medicare lookup for Medigaps in that ZIP says "No Policies were found for your search criteria."
1st I've seen an area with no Medigaps :-(
Looking up Advantage plans with Rx (MA-PD) , there are 9 plans from 6 insurers. None of which are AARP/UHC. And none with the Nationwide Coverage indicator (N in blue circle)
There's a problem with the Medigap search function. I tried earlier today for my zipcode and got the same result - which I KNOW is wrong.
Further, I don't think OP is in LA anymore, as his post mentions Alabama.
Be that as it may, looking for hd-F in Mobile area, there are many. Checking his 70452 earlier today, hd-F's were listed there, as well.
So, if OP gets "no policies found" - he needs to exit the site, reenter, and try again. It works - but it's squirrely today.
Update: Just tried 70452, again. First got "no policies." Tried again and all Medigaps populated, with 14 offerings for an hd-F. So, he needs to keep trying. Again, I don't think that's the correct zipcode anymore, anyway.
Someone said earlier this week or last week, the Part D tool wasn't working well. So, when I got the "no policies," I just figured it was a glitch. But, yes, for the newbie - they might take that info as gospel.
OK, zipcode for Elberta, Alabama lists 14 insurers. In my experience with the Medicare site, not all of these companies will be offering the hd-F product.
I have some familiarity with some of these companies, so will comment where appropriate.
American Continental Insurance Company Company Information
(800) 264-4000
101 Continental Place
Brentwood, TN 37027
Recently acquired by Aetna. A reliable provider. Should be offering the product at a fairly reasonable rate. My sister has a full Medigap F with this company at a low rate. She has heart issues, so hd-F isn't appropriate for her. Definitely investigate this company. Although attained-age rated, this company doesn't get too aggressive with rate increases as one ages and at age 85, in WI, still offers rates lower than United Healthcare. Not sure if the new affiliation with Aetna will change that.
*****
American Republic Corp. Ins.
Company Information
(888) 755-3065
11808 Grant Street
Omaha, NE 68164
A highly-rated insurer, average hd-F premium rates. At one time I considered purchasing from this company. Would do so again. Check them out, too.
****
Bankers Fidelity Life Insurance Co
Company Information
(800) 241-1439
4370 Peachtree Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30319
Not the highest rated company financially, last I looked.
Colonial Penn Life Insurance Co (formerly Conseco Direct Life Insurance Co)
Company Information
(800) 800-2254
399 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19181
A subsidiary of Bankers Life, also not the highest rated company financially. Very, very low rates. Good payer according to comments on internet.
*****
Humana Healthy Living (dba Humana Insurance Company)
Company Information
(888) 310-8482
500 West Main Street
Louisville, KY 40202
Attained-Age-Rated
Humana Insurance Company
Company Information
(888) 310-8482
500 West Main St
Louisville, KY 40202
Probably not the lowest price, investigate. Humana is reliable.
******
Liberty National Life Insurance Co
Company Information
(800) 331-2512
P.O. Box 2612
Birmingham, AL 35202
Medico Insurance Company
Company Information
(402) 496-8234
P.O. Box 10386
Des Moines, IA 50306
Don't know anything about Liberty or Medico - but since Liberty is an Alabama company, check it out.
****
Physicians Mutual Insurance Co
Company Information
(800) 228-9100
P.O. Box 3313
Omaha, NE 68102
Community-Rated
I had an hd-F w/Physicians Mutual. Excellent company, but it tends to overprice its policies, imo. For me, age 74, annual premium was $900. For that reason, I have since dropped Physicians Mutual and have a somewhat unique plan - Medicare Medical Savings Account Advantage (no networks), shown here:
*****
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Company Information
(800) 847-4836
4321 North Ballard Road
Appleton, WI 54919
Excellent Wisconsin company. Will definitely be higher priced - if they offer the product at all. Thrivent provides Medigap F in WI but does not provide an hd-F. Therefore, I think this listing for Alabama is incorrect. Further, Thrivent's prices are high.
*******
Globe Life & Accident Insurance Company
Company Information
(800) 801-6831
3700 South Stonebridge Drive, P.O. Box 2440
McKinney, TX 75070
Attained-Age-Rated
United American Insurance Co
Company Information
(800) 331-2512
3700 S. Stonebridge Drive, P. O. Box 8080
McKinney, TX 75070
Issue-Age-Rated
United American Insurance Co
Company Information
(800) 331-2512
3700 S. Stonebridge Drive, P. O. Box 8080
McKinney, TX 75070
Attained-Age-Rated
All in TX, all at the same address. Clearly, the same company offering three different products w/different pricing. Don't know anything about any of these, but check them out. TX insurers tend to have lower rates.
*****
United Healthcare Ins. Co. Secure Horizons
Company Information
(800) 768-1479
P.O. Box 29675
Hot Springs, AR 71903
I don't think this is a correct listing. Afaik, Secure Horizons is an Advantage/HMO type plan. Medicare site can often not be current - i.e., exclude current providers and also include those not offering coverage. You may want to call to verify.
*****
In the end, it would appear of the fourteen, there are, in reality, probably only seven insurers you need to evaluate:
American Continental
American Republic
Colonial Penn
Humana
Liberty
Medico
Globe/United American
Good luck.
Last edited by Ariadne22; 04-28-2016 at 09:51 PM..
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Yikes....
