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Thank you Lenora for the link to the Humana Sales Agent Field Guide (2014).
I am very surprised to learn (page 20) that the High Deductible Plan F is the lowest level, at least according to Humana. I thought HD F was on the same level as an F plan. It is apparently at the very opposite end. I don't understand why that is the case.
I was considering switching from my F plan to the HD F plan.
Thank you Lenora for the link to the Humana Sales Agent Field Guide (2014).
I am very surprised to learn (page 20) that the High Deductible Plan F is the lowest level, at least according to Humana. I thought HD F was on the same level as an F plan. It is apparently at the very opposite end. I don't understand why that is the case.
I was considering switching from my F plan to the HD F plan.
It IS the same plan as F - except you are responsible for the 20% Medicare doesn't pay up to $2,180. You'd need to incur $11,000 in Medicare-approved expenses to get to the point the plan begins to pay. That means you will probably be hospitalized, have a lot of tests, whatever. If you're healthy, you have all the catastrophic coverage benefits of an F without the high annual premium costs.
Humana is categorizing on first dollar exposure, and ranks it as "lowest level" in that it has the high deductible of $2,180 before the plan begins to pay. Most other plans don't require you pay $2,180 before the plan pays - but none of the other plans can be bought for $60/mo., either.
Don't worry about that "lower level" rating. I've had an hd-F. Many healthy people buy hd-F's - exactly because it offers the same protections as an F without year-in/year-out $2,400 annual premium cost.
Ariadne, I know it has been said before but you are so incredibly helpful to those of us on Medicare and Medigap plans.
It is really difficult to foresee the future and one doctor's appointment can change your health outlook.
I believe I read the Plan F was being discontinued in a few years due to the expense, but people on it already may be grandfathered in. Am I correct in this? It would become more expensive due to a sicker, older population.
I think I may switch to a low deductible plan as I certainly have not had 11k in medical expenses.
Ariadne, I know it has been said before but you are so incredibly helpful to those of us on Medicare and Medigap plans.
It is really difficult to foresee the future and one doctor's appointment can change your health outlook.
I believe I read the Plan F was being discontinued in a few years due to the expense, but people on it already may be grandfathered in. Am I correct in this? It would become more expensive due to a sicker, older population.
I think I may switch to a low deductible plan as I certainly have not had 11k in medical expenses.
Oops, I meant high deductible plan in the last sentence.
I believe I read the Plan F was being discontinued in a few years due to the expense, but people on it already may be grandfathered in. Am I correct in this? It would become more expensive due to a sicker, older population.
I think I may switch to a low deductible plan as I certainly have not had 11k in medical expenses.
Yes, you are correct. Plan F will no longer be offered in 2020, but people already covered should be grandfathered. For you, in good health, the high deductible F is certainly more cost-effective.
I believe I read the Plan F was being discontinued in a few years due to the expense, but people on it already may be grandfathered in. Am I correct in this? It would become more expensive due to a sicker, older population.
Ariadne is correct about the plans in 2020. As it was explained to me, all F plans will go away as of 2020. Anyone who has one will be grandfathered into them, but it will become a closed group and therefore as the group ages and the group gets smaller due to people passing, the costs will start to go up and the premiums will rise accordingly, probably rapidly, as you have mentioned. And because the plan isn't actually going away there will be no enrollment period without medical underwriting as would be if the plan was discontinued totally. This was told to us by an "official" Medicare person. The part B coverage of the deductible is going away. Apparently it is thought that if people have "skin in the game" they will not go running to the doctor for every little thing. Personally I think this is, of course, a "bottom line" move and we are going back to the ways when people won't go to the doctor until it is past when something minor turns into something major. This isn't a good idea. Although they are taking away one of the benefits you can bet that the premiums won't go down.
My DH is going on Medicare as of January 1st but isn't taking SS until next January 1st, so between the Medicare, Medigap and drug plan it is going to really hit our budget. Then when I do the same next July it will really hit us. My paltry SS check is going to take about a 30% (or more depending on the Medigap plan) hit. We get a fairly decent ACA subsidy, but our premiums for all plans and for the 2 of us will almost triple what we are paying now. Not the retirement we were hoping for when we both were college graduates.
For someone your age, $72/mo. is still too high for an hd-F, imo. It is very unlikely the plan will pay anything anytime soon. Some parts of the country, for someone your age, you can buy an hd-F from a solid company for about $35/mo.
What is your zipcode? Humana is tends to be higher priced. It may be possible you can do better than Humana. If Standard Life & Accident is on your list, look into that company, or United American Health. Others here (Alabama, AZ) have bought hd-Fs at very reasonable rates from both companies. Rates in your area would be higher, however. For some reason, rates for the southern part of US are lower than for the Upper Midwest and NE seaboard.
Medical history - from what others here have said - will be heart, cancer, stroke, ESRD issues. Based on what you've said, you shouldn't have an issue.
Thanks to Adriadne22 I found a high deduct Plan F for $32 month at age 67, just got my first renewal notice, now 68y.o. and premiun stayed the same.
Thanks to Adriadne22 I found a high deduct Plan F for $32 month at age 67, just got my first renewal notice, now 68y.o. and premiun stayed the same.
Thank you Ariadne22
lol... you're welcome. Thanks for the premium update. Dontcha' love it? $32/mo - almost the best thing since sliced bread. And, the deductible will mitigate to a large extent any future premium increases - plus healthier people generally choose the hd-F - which also keeps costs low.
It IS the same plan as F - except you are responsible for the 20% Medicare doesn't pay up to $2,180. .....
Don't worry about that "lower level" rating. I've had an hd-F. Many healthy people buy hd-F's - exactly because it offers the same protections as an F without year-in/year-out $2,400 annual premium cost.
Ariadne,
When I wrote: "I am very surprised to learn (page 20) that the High Deductible Plan F is the lowest level, at least according to Humana" I was referring to the ability to change from an HD F to another plan in the future. According to the document, with regard to someone from California:
"Current Medicare Supplement policyholders (with any carrier) are guaranteed issueinto a like or lesser Medicare Supplement plan (see plan comparison table on page 20) beginning 30 days prior to their birthday and ending 30 days after their birthday each year."
Current Plan ---Lesser
A ---High Deductible F, K, L, N
B ---A, High Deductible F, K, L, N
C ---A, B, High Deductible F, K, L, N
D ---A, B, C, High Deductible F, K, L, N
F ---A, B, C, High Deductible F, K, L, N High Deductible F ---None
If I'm reading this correctly, once a person signs up for HD F, they have lost the right of guaranteed issue into any other type of Medigap plan.
I thought a HD F plan could be exchanged into the same plans an F plan could switch into: A, B, C, High Deductible F, K, L, N.
It also appears an F plan cannot be exchanged for a G plan. Your thoughts?
I've read reviews which say Colonial Penn is a good payer on Medigaps even though it is a relatively weak company financially - a subsidiary of Bankers Life. Both are rated either C or D.
Don't take a plan at that premium with a $4,950 OOPs. That's way too much exposure. If you don't have health issues, stop worrying about the ease of switching. You shouldn't have a problem.
Did this involve its Medigap???? Provide a link to what you've found, if you can.
You will find thousands of nightmare stories all over the internet for United Healthcare, Humana, BCBS, CIGNA. These usually involve myriad issues for Advantage plans (UHC, Humana, BCBS) - nonpayment, claim denials, difficulty filling prescriptions, providers not in network, slow approvals for procedures, lousy customer service & runaround, lies, the list is long.
The Attorney General for the State of Minnesota filed a complaint against Humana for not fulfilling its Advantage obligations.
Medigaps are a whole different world. If you can find a complaint on a nonpayment on Medigap coverage for any of these companies - please provide a link. No one here has ever reported issues on Medigaps not paying.
One reason is PROFIT is the driver on Advantage plans - because Medicare pays these companies a per capita rate per insured and the insurance companies have to dole out benefits from that revenue. If the company pays out too much, the company's bottom line suffers. Whereas, Medigaps MUST pay the 20% that Medicare doesn't - no questions asked/no oversight. Medigaps have no say in allowing or disallowing a charge.
Also, Medigaps pay out only a fraction of premium revenue - 25% - and retain 75% of their premiums as profit. Further, Medigaps do not have anywhere near the risk exposure of an Advantage plan - only 20% of the cost of Medicare-approved services compared to 100% exposure for the Advantage plans.
You shouldn't have a problem with payment on a Medigap no matter which company you choose.
FWIW, I wasn't confusing Medigap plans with Advantage plans--what you're saying is just one of the reasons I went with a Medigap plan. Here's the link with complaints about United American. A lot of the complaints are about Plan D drug plans, some about other types of health ins., but some are about their Medigap plans. And basically just horrible, shoddy, customer service, playing games with people, etc. Cancelling Medigap policies on people for no reason, charging people a "crossover" fee of $6.95 a month to "coordinate benefits with Medicare" (huh?), & if people cancelled their Medigap policies with United American, continuing to take the $$ out of their bank accounts.
Are you saying there's no way for any company selling medigap policies to screw around with policy holders? That all companies are pretty much equal except for price? I just find it hard to believe that there aren't ever any problems, regardless of company (?).
But here's what's happened so far: I did call the main # for United American. (I first tried to do an online request on their site, but it kept re-formatting my phone # in weird ways & wouldn't let me put in the request for info). I finally got thru to someone who said he'd take my # & have someone call me. I asked him if he could give me a phone # for someone who could give me a quote & info, but no dice. Several days went by, & finally an agent in FL (?) called me, & did give me the price of $51/month for F-HD. Said if I had any problems with the plan, I could deal with him.
But before that, I'd given up on waiting for someone from United American to call me, & called Humana again, & went thru the process to apply for a plan F-HD; $71.66 a month. Wow, are there a lot of health questions. Some of which aren't on the list that someone provided here. High BP for one, which I have. And meds I'm on for that. And 5 or 10 warnings about how they can cancel the policy (for how long into the future, they didn't say) if I leave anything out in the application.
Next day, someone else from Humana called me. Another lengthy round of questioning, with new questions: am I on any other meds besides the BP meds? (I am, but none on that list). Have I been advised to get an operation w/in the past 2 years? Well, I saw a hand surgeon 2 years ago who could do an operation to improve functioning of my wrist, so more questions about that. Does it impede my daily life. Well it sort of does a little bit, but I said no--I felt like I was being grilled by the FBI, & the barrage of endless questions was making me nervous. Then the questions turned to any heart tests, & I've had 2 routine EKG's in the last 2 years; so more questions about that. I left out the 2 echo-cardiograms my Dr. forced me to get 3 or 4 years ago (that showed nothing wrong). Then 5 or 10 more warnings about how they can cancel the policy, & I should have asked questions about that; but I just wanted to get off the phone; all the grilling was getting intimidating.
I dunno. The $117/month I'm paying for the AARP plan N..........I love saving money, but I can afford it. And my late Grandmother had an AARP plan, & there was never a problem. I almost wish I hadn't started on this (trying to find a cheaper plan), it's just been a time consuming & stressful hassle so far.
So I still don't know what to do. But I thank Ariadne22 & others here for all the advice......
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And, the deductible will mitigate to a large extent any future premium increases - plus healthier people generally choose the hd-F - which also keeps costs low.
