Can you afford Medicare supplement insurance? Can you afford to NOT have it? How much does it cost? (Less than you think). Which plan is best? How do I find the lowest rate? Should I buy Medigap plan F like all my friends or something different?
Shop and compare GA Medigap plans. Instant rate quote. No hassle. Your information is never sold.
Medicare open enrollment is just around the corner. Others are just now turning 65 and will soon be navigating the Medicare maze.
You can get rates anywhere, but what most people want is information and solid advice without the hype and pressure. You get the benefit of my 40 years experience at no extra cost.
Post summary.
- How much does Medicare pay for serious illness?
- Is Medicare Advantage, with the lower premiums, better?
- $0 premium or $0 copay and $0 deductible?
- Finding the plan with the best rates and overall value
- Why avoid Medigap plan F?
Table of Contents
Can you afford Medicare supplement insurance?
Here are the facts. You decide.
Original Medicare covers about 80% of your medical costs and none of your prescription drug costs. Your remaining 20% share (after Medicare pays their portion) can run into the hundreds in an average year and thousands in a bad year. The 20% you pay is not capped. Your treatment continues until you run out of money.
Many Medicare Advantage plans have $0 premiums. Advantage plans have moving parts, doctor and hospital networks (most are HMO’s), deductibles, coinsurance and copay’s. The plan you buy this year probably won’t be offered next year and you will have to switch plans …… and possibly doctors as well.
Next year you will start this process over again, and then again the year after that. At least the Advantage plans have a cap on your out of pocket costs. Most of them limit your share to $6700 for the year. Then next year you start all over again.
If you are turning 65 and live in Georgia, you can buy our most popular Medicare supplement insurance plan for around $100 per month. About $3 per day.
The one I bought is $104 per month. Beyond the monthly premium my out of pocket cost is limited to the Part B deductible ($147 in 2015) and after that a $20 doctor visit copay.
If I had to go to the hospital my out of pocket cost would be $0.
Sure, I would rather have a $0 premium plan. Who wouldn’t? But I would also rather have to come up with $147 and an occasional $20 than dig into my savings to fork over $6700.
But that is just me.
You may feel differently.
Which Medicare supplement plan is best?
That’s simple.
The best plan is the one that fits your needs and budget.
If you are in good health, and don’t care which doctor you use, those $0 premium Advantage plans might be just the ticket. But when your health changes you won’t like them very much. And by then you won’t qualify for a Medicare supplement plan.
If you are turning 65, this may be your one and only chance to buy a Medicare supplement plan.
So is the Medigap plan a better option?
If you can afford $100 per month and find it easier to budget for a fixed premium vs. several hundred or thousand for out of pocket medical expenses, then the Medicare supplement might be what the doctor ordered.
Choose wisely.
Whatever you decide today might have to last you the rest of your life.
How do I find the lowest Medigap rate?
That part is easy. Just ask.
Sure, you can go online and shop. Plenty of places to compare rates, including my site. But you will only see a dozen or so plans, even on my site.
And some of the rate comparison sites are just a come on. They take your information and sell it to a bunch of agents who will call and pester you until you stop answering the phone or buy.
That won’t happen here.
I never sell your information. You will get one call from me and that’s it. After that it is up to you if you want more information or not.
Including the lowest rates in your area.
There are over 170 Medigap plans in Georgia but you will never see more than a dozen or so. The rest are available offline. Heck one of my competitors only shows you plan F from 4 different carriers. What good is that?
Most people want more than just a rate. They want information. They want to know that the decision they make will be the right one, just in case they have to keep their plan for the rest of their life.
But go ahead and shop now. It won’t hurt and your phone won’t ring off the hook. Because I will only call you once.
When we talk I will ask a few questions and give you a straight answer to your questions. If you just want the lowest rate I will give you that by phone and follow up with an email.
But if you want to really learn how Medicare works, I will give you all the time you need to feel comfortable with whatever decision you make.
It really is that simple.
Should I buy Medicare supplement plan F?
Probably not.
Your friends that bought plan F didn’t talk to me. If they talked to an agent at all they probably don’t even know plans other than F existed.
And the probably paid too much for that plan.
If they bought from AARP (United Healthcare), Blue Cross or Mutual of Omaha I can almost guarantee they overpaid.
You see, all the Medigap plans with the same letter are identical in every way …….. except the price.
So it doesn’t matter if they pay United Healthcare $166 per month, or Blue Cross $191 monthly or Colonial Penn $277 per month, they get the same coverage.
When you pay more you don’t get more, you simply paid too much.
That’s me on the right. My daughter took that picture at the Chop House. We went to a Braves game a few years ago and she wanted a picture.
Current plan F rates are expected to increase at least $20 per month in 2016, and probably even more.
By 2020 when plan F is discontinued anyone with plan F can keep it but the premiums will rise at a faster clip than now.
Which sounds better to you?
Buying Medicare supplement plan F that is being yanked off the market in a few years or saving $800 per year (and more) by enrolling in a plan you can keep as long as you live?
Shop and compare now. When I call, give me 10 minutes to educate you and then decide if my advice is worthwhile or not.
#MedicareSupplementInsurance #MedicareSupplementPlanF #MedicareOpenEnrollment #MedigapRates
