Medicare Supplement Insurance: How to Win the Pricing Game

When you’re looking for the best way to protect yourself from the gaps in your Medicare coverage, there are four things you need to know.

First, there’s a big difference between Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare Supplement plans. Even though both are provided by private insurance companies, Medicare Advantage plans replace Original Medicare while Medicare Supplement plans expand Original Medicare. Here’s an even more important difference. Because Medicare Advantage plans cost the government more than Original Medicare, poorly performing Advantage plans will see cuts to their government subsidies. To make up for that loss, many are expected to raise premiums. That’s not true for Medicare Supplements, which are also called Medigap plans.

Second, every Medigap plan with the same name, such as Plan A, has the same benefits and coverage. You won’t get anything more from a more expensive Plan A than you’ll get from a lower priced Plan A.

The third thing you need to know is that Medigap plans are priced by what is known as “attained age,” “issue age” and “community rated” strategies. Attained age policies may start out offering the lowest prices (especially when you’re 65), but their premiums rise steadily so they can turn out to be the most expensive plans over time. Issue age policies (based on your age when you apply) don’t automatically charge more as you age. Their rates are based on health care inflation.

Community rated policies don’t reflect your age at all. Everyone in the same location (community) gets the same price and your premiums won’t go up simple because your age does. While issue age and community rated policies may cost more initially, their premiums won’t rise as aggressively over time.

Fourth, you can get the best price of a lifetime on Medigap plans during your open enrollment period. That’s because insurers cannot use medical underwriting to evaluate your health during that special six-month period. They cannot exclude any pre-existing problem, cannot charge you more than normal, and cannot refuse to insure you regardless of your health.

Find out when you can take advantage of that special six-month deal and other ways you can win the Medicare supplement pricing game. Visit MediGap Advisors online at www.MediGapAdvisors.com/ or call their friendly receptionist at 866 323-1441. You can get the answers you need – including professional assistance to compare plans to your situation - all at no charge and with no obligation. MediGap Advisors believes that the best customers are educated customers so you get all the help you need with none of the sales hype.