Medicare Insurance Opinion

[CentralNYer]

Any observations/opinions out there regarding "United American" Medicare Supplements plans ???? Plan F and/or Plan F with High Deductible specifically.:blahblahblah:

[champion6]

As far as I know, the terms of every Plan F are identical. Find the company that has the lowest premium.

I'm not sure if every Plan F with High Deductible is identical.

[jojo]

Plan N, which is similar to Plan F was recommended to us if you have no chronic or major health problems.

[Miles42]

I have a plan F no deductables and recently had rates raised to 419 a month from 2576.56 that is a huge increase with a BS explanation of increasing HC cost.

[KayakerNC]

I have a plan F no deductables and recently had rates raised to 419 a month from 2576.56 that is a huge increase with a BS explanation of increasing HC cost.

Wouldn't that be a lower rate?

[gerryann]

Wouldn't that be a lower rate?

Re-read the post

[CFrance]

I have a plan F no deductables and recently had rates raised to 419 a month from 2576.56 that is a huge increase with a BS explanation of increasing HC cost.
Switch plans. My husband's Medigap plan F (Mutual of Omaha) went up every six months based on ageing, while mine went up very little. He switched to United Healthcare, and no problems with that BS since then.

[CFrance]

Re-read the post
Re-read the post too! His post said his rate went from $419 to $2576+ change.

It was just a little joke on kayaker's part.

[Chi-Town]

I have a plan F no deductables and recently had rates raised to 419 a month from 2576.56 that is a huge increase with a BS explanation of increasing HC cost.
What did it go up from? If it's just for you $410 sounds high.

[gerryann]

Re-read the post too! His post said his rate went from $419 to $2576+ change.

It was just a little joke on kayaker's part.

Guess I misunderstood.

[gerrysherman]

There's no such thing as a "United American" Medicare Plan F . . . . . there's only "Medicare Plan F". All plans are designed and regulated by the federal government - companies cannot offer anything else; so Plan F would be the same exact plan regardless of which company you choose as a provider. Also, the costs should be almost identical since there is a federally mandated loss ratio imposed on all insurance companies offering Medicare Supplements. In other words, pick the company based upon what you think of the agent and the company, not what you think of the plan - because Plan F is Plan F regardless of what company is the actual provider.

Having said that, the only plan you should consider is Plan F. It covers all the regular gaps plus covers extra charges when you have to go to a doctor that does not accept Medicare assignment. "Assignment" means that the doctor has an agreement with Medicare to accept whatever percentage of the actual bill they approve - so if the doctor bills $1,000 and Medicare approves $400 (a typical situation, by the way), Medicare will pay 80% of $400 and your med sup will pay 20% of $400 . . . . but a doctor who does not accept "assignment" from Medicare can then bill you directly for the remaining $600 that Medicare did not approve. Most doctor's do accept assignment but not all, especially the better specialists, so it's worth the difference in premium to cover this huge possible gap. Also, Plan F covers you for up to $50,000 for sickness or injury suffered while out of the United States (Medicare will not pay benefits for outside of the US medical events). So if you travel, it's an important feature of Plan F.

Only a few companies offer the high deductible Plan F. I don't think the premium savings are worth the much higher deductible but, of course, that depends upon your budget.

[gerrysherman]

There's no such thing as a "United American" Medicare Plan F . . . . . there's only "Medicare Plan F". All plans are designed and regulated by the federal government - companies cannot offer anything else; so Plan F would be the same exact plan regardless of which company you choose as a provider. Also, the costs should be almost identical since there is a federally mandated loss ratio imposed on all insurance companies offering Medicare Supplements. In other words, pick the company based upon what you think of the agent and the company, not what you think of the plan - because Plan F is Plan F regardless of what company is the actual provider.

Having said that, the only plan you should consider is Plan F. It covers all the regular gaps plus covers extra charges when you have to go to a doctor that does not accept Medicare assignment. "Assignment" means that the doctor has an agreement with Medicare to accept whatever percentage of the actual bill they approve - so if the doctor bills $1,000 and Medicare approves $400 (a typical situation, by the way), Medicare will pay 80% of $400 and your med sup will pay 20% of $400 . . . . but a doctor who does not accept "assignment" from Medicare can then bill you directly for the remaining $600 that Medicare did not approve. Most doctor's do accept assignment but not all, especially the better specialists, so it's worth the difference in premium to cover this huge possible gap. Also, Plan F covers you for up to $50,000 for sickness or injury suffered while out of the United States (Medicare will not pay benefits for outside of the US medical events). So if you travel, it's an important feature of Plan F.

Only a few companies offer the high deductible Plan F. I don't think the premium savings are worth the much higher deductible but, of course, that depends upon your budget.

[Snowshoes]

My husband has Plan F with US Healthcare with no problems whatsoever. I am also getting ready to sign up. Plan to go into US Healthcare office downtown SS with questions.

[llaran]

if you are talking about a Medigap plan , they are regulated by the government and all plans... i.e. ,A,B,C,D,E,F, etc are the same; as someone else has said. the monthly fee can be different depending on the company.

[KayakerNC]

if you are talking about a Medigap plan , they are regulated by the government and all plans... i.e. ,A,B,C,D,E,F, etc are the same; as someone else has said. the monthly fee can be different depending on the company.

They may be all the same, but....I would still go to the billing/insurance person at my primary physician and check on which plan works best with them. Prompt payments and no history of lots of denials are what I would look for in plan.

[ukbill70]

Not sure about these huge premium increases mentioned.

My wife and I had BCBS of Illinois plan F and premiums DID increase with age. When we moved to The Villages 3 years ago we switched to BCBS of Florida ( Florida Blue) plan F and now the premiums DO NOT INCREASE WITH AGE but are subject to a general increase which would be the same for every one regardless of age. 2015 our premiums increased by $5.65. Yes that's right 5 dollars and 65 cents per month.