saydiver
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Posts posted by saydiver
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On 10/2/2019 at 7:29 PM, Twotoes said:
I have had United of Omaha for a year now. Found out on my Welcome to Medicare physical that I am diabetic. UofO has paid every claim promptly. When Medicare started it was UofO that set up the claims process for the Federal Government. When I was doing my due diligence last year I saw nothing but bad reviews about Humana. Don’t know anything about Asuris. AARP is an organization that I choose not to be a member of. United Health Care does seem to be the most popular however.
The Federal Government has never processed Medicare claims. Since the beginning of Medicare, the claims processing has been contracted out to private insurance companies. MoO may have been one of many private insurance companies processing claims. Nowadays rather on a state level, the claims are processed by MACs, who handle the claims for a geographic region.
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20 hours ago, DanZemke said:
Linda and Kirk,
I did a bit more research and I think a Mea Culpa is due. You have it.
The description of who will be able to buy a 2020 Plan F is ambiguous for current Medicare, on many websites. But I found some that say anyone currently on Medicare in 2019 will be able to choose a Plan F for 2020. So, from several sources saying you can, versus several ambiguous sources - the "you can sites" seem more probable.
It appears that I was wrong. I apologize.
However, it's not clear to me why anyone would want to sign up for a Plan F (or Plan F HD) in 2020. Plan G (or Plan G HD) seems to me to be a better option.
I am currently on a Plan F and am hoping to change to a Plan G in 2020. Why? Because future younger folks won't be able to sign up for a Plan F. Over time, the risk pool for plan F subscribers will be older. Older folks, in aggregate, have higher medical expenses. I'd rather be in an insurance pool that accepts younger folks. That's why I would like to switch to a Plan G. In my case, a Plan G HD seems best.
Why would someone want to stay with Plan F-HD even if the plan is closed to younger members? Because 1. Plan G will now be a guaranteed issue plan so rates will go up faster from now on. 2. From the rates I've seen so far for Plan G-HD on a senior insurance forum they are considerably more than Plan F-HD. 3. In order for Plan F-HD to be adversely impacted by any changes, the average person on the plan will have to have almost $12,000 in annual medical bills year in and year out. The current average for all of Medicare is $800 according to my Medigap insurance broker, although I see a slightly higher average on kff.org. 4. Plan F-HD definitely saves someone money when they are healthy and even when someone is in their 80s, the Plan F-HD rate plus deductible will likely be cheaper than the other rates.
Here's a good article on why a high deductible plan may be good for some people:
https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/newsletters/2018/mar/high-deductible-medigap-plan.html
Medicare Supplements
in Health Issues and Medical Insurance
Posted · Edited by saydiver
Because some insurance companies are notorious for closing blocks of Medigap business every few years to keep rates low for new entrants. As long as you're healthy and can pass underwriting it's not an issue, because you can change insurance companies, but at some point you will be denied and then stuck with a closed block of business and future sky high rates.