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For those who have had UHC medigap insurance or Aetna, for several years. how much have your premiums increased yearly? It seems like they increase just a little the first few years, but wondering when you're approaching 80 how much they have gone up. Trying to decide between UHC and Aetna
My sister has Aetna and has seen about a $50/mo. increase in premium in the last three years - with no cap because the policy is attained-age. It was, of course, the lowest priced policy when she bought it.
Chances are there isn't much of a difference between rates for UHC and Aetna now - and if you live a long time you have a good chance of experiencing a much lower premium with UHC as you age.
I compared rates for people age 70, 75 and 80 in UHC, Aetna and Cigna. Aetna and Cigna still had lower rates, but I don't know if that's for people who have chaged plans.
Both DH and I have UHC Medigap in Delaware, so we do have a bit of a deduction since we are both on it. DH signed up in 3/17 at age 65 and I signed up 7/17 at age 65. Because of their "under 77" discount, we discovered that we will get hit with 2 extra rate increases once each one of us turns over a year in the system. Here is our payment history with Plan F (again this is in Delaware):
July, 2017 $269.37 for both of us.
January 2018 went up to $277.76 as a general rate increase.
April 2018 went up to $284.48 when DH turned over his first year with UHC.
July 2018 went up to $291.20 when I turned over my first year with UHC.
Apparently once we both turn 77 the second two increases will stop as we will be out of the discount period. We are considering transferring to a G plan around 2020 when the F plan goes away as we are concerned that the basic charges will start to rise much faster when there are no more "younger" seniors coming into the plan, even though we would be grandfathered into the F plan.
with UHC through AARP you start out with a large discount which decreases for the first either 3 or 5 years, I forget which, it is also community based and though it does go up after those initial years it caps out at some point, It may have been 80.
I suggest you go on their website and see if you can't find those details there.
I compared rates for people age 70, 75 and 80 in UHC, Aetna and Cigna. Aetna and Cigna still had lower rates, but I don't know if that's for people who have changed plans.
It is for people who have changed plans. The rates you see TODAY are for new people entering the plan - not a long-term insured who is 85 y/o and whose book of business/risk pool has long been closed and whose rates, therefore, are different than those quoted a new purchaser.
Pricing matters. Again, community-rating if you are not in a guaranteed issue state and expect longevity will, in the long run, cap outlandish premiums as you age.
Notice how UHC rates don't change because of age between 75-85.
CIGNA hasn't always been in this market. I expect that company will be increasing its rates over time.
Lastly, even though Aetna rate filing for a 70 y/o female in WI is $1,977 ($164.75/mo.), my sister at age 69 is already paying an Aetna premium of $2,460, or $205/mo. - quite a leap in three years from the original $142.
Most companies do not use community-rating because it is too risky. Because of its large risk pool, UHC can afford to offer it - virtually nationwide. Again, with the exception of community-rated states, this is not true for other Medigap insurers.
Ariadne22, I want to give a shout-out to you. Your explanations of the various Medicare Supplements has been so thorough. You've been a tremendous help to a lot of us.
Yesterday I switched from Anthem Blue Cross to AARP United Health Care. I felt totally prepared and even the UHC rep was impressed with my grasp of the various approaches to rates and policies and coverages. I wanted to tell her that there's this great resource on C-D named Ariadne22 who is a wealth of knowledge!
I could have just repped you again, but wanted others to know how much I appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge.
Ariadne22, I want to give a shout-out to you. Your explanations of the various Medicare Supplements has been so thorough. You've been a tremendous help to a lot of us.
Yesterday I switched from Anthem Blue Cross to AARP United Health Care. I felt totally prepared and even the UHC rep was impressed with my grasp of the various approaches to rates and policies and coverages. I wanted to tell her that there's this great resource on C-D named Ariadne22 who is a wealth of knowledge!
I could have just repped you again, but wanted others to know how much I appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge.
I used to post here to be helpful but when Ariadne22 started in I stopped since she is so thorough...and more importantly CORRECT... it wasn't needed any longer.
A real asset to this community
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