Yes, indeed!
Hear, hear, @JohnT!
It is literally nothing but political will. Somehow, someway, Louisiana has decided that insurance is something better regulated by the State than by the Market. And… given it’s Louisiana… I wonder if Huey Long had it in for insurance companies?
When I was doing this, the period was just 6 months. Looks like Biden extended it.
Really? Thank you Biden. Is that a permanent change?
Another potential feature of such alignment is that the pharmacy could prepackage your daily medications into single-day packets. My daughter’s meds were processed that way for a while when she first went to another state (the place she was staying required it). I’m on enough medications right now that I have to fill a daily organizer (two, actually, one for AM and one for PM) every week, or deal with the hassle of having my hands on 3-6 bottles at a time.
On another topic: Any hints on moving from one state to another? A family member is going be moving in the next month or so. She currently has a standard Medigap policy; is she guaranteed a similar policy in the other state? Would she be put into a different “age group” due to the difference in attained age now versus when she got her original policy a decade or two ago?
And a related question (not relevant to our family situation, and perhaps it’s covered up-thread): If you are in a MA plan in one state. and move to another, do you have to go through the full underwriting process if you try to get a Medigap policy there?
Her premiums may change, yes. She has a 6 month window to get a new Supplement (Medigap) plan w/o underwriting once she moves, after that she loses her guarantee and would have to pass underwriting.
The MA plan recipient would have to go through underwriting to get a MS plan, regardless whether or not they move. IIRC, they can apply today, get approved, and get rid of that MA plan once they have qualifying coverage. Then, if they move, they also get the 6-month window to keep their MS plan w/o underwriting.
I’m coming over here by leapfrogging from the Countdown To Retirement thread, as I don’t want to continue my Medicare saga there.
We’re in a holding pattern. We just applied for Part B by my going to the social security office and standing over them while they scanned in our applications. I had faxed them, but apparently the office never received the faxes. Beware, everyone! Don’t assume that just because you received a confirmation receipt that your fax went through.
So today, when I look at our MySSA.gov websites, I now see under the “Enrolled” heading, a line about Part B and that our coverage starts July 1, 2023. So there’s progress there.
I emailed our insurance broker to ask if we now can proceed with the Part C - Medigap Supplemental that he and I discussed, but I’m not getting any emails back from him to help me. I know that a clock starts ticking between the time you’re enrolled in Part B and the time you apply for Part C, so I’m a bit peeved that he’s not responding. If this goes on for a day or two more, I’ll have to look up another insurance broker. JohnT, know any in the San Jose, California area?
Try askariana.com. They were fantastic with helping me with Covered California. They did all of the paperwork for me.
There’s a contradiction here: Part C is Medicare Advantage, which replaces B (and often D), but runs under different rules. Medicare Supplement / Medigap — the most common is probably Part G — does not add any coverage, but takes care of most costs that Part B doesn’t. You may want to re-examine what you’re signing up for to make sure you’re getting what you want.
(Apologies if this sounds like you’re less than fully competent, but the SHIBA rep I was working with when I retired was full of horror stories about people who got roped into plans that were suboptimal for them.)
Use this locator to find your state health insurance assistance provider. They’re trained navigators and can help you navigate all the choices. No cost or obligation to you and have no profit or gain motive, unlike insurance brokers.
The feds require every state to provide this unbiased assistance and it’s paid for by the feds and each state.
My link a few posts up is exactly this. They were a godsend.
I’m going to share my recent experience with supplemental insurance. I’ll try to keep it as brief as possible.
As you may or may not know, supplemental insurance (Medigap) Part G insurance is essentially the same policy, no matter which company offers it. This is what I was told when I was about to turn 65, back in 2018. I enlisted the services of an agent; she did a good job of getting me signed up with Cigna; my premium was $117 per month. She (the agent) told me that premiums would rise slightly each year.
13 months later, my wife turned 65, and the agent signed her up, using Cigna’s ‘family discount’. Wife’s premium was 96 bucks each month. At the time, my premium rose about 3% to 121 bucks.
Fast-forward to 2023. In the interim, my premiums have gone up each year: 8%, 12%, 13%, and this year 16%. The total increase is 65%. Wife’s premiums have risen 12%, 12%, 11%, and 14%; total increase is 59%.
Two weeks ago, I did what I should have done 2 or 3 years ago: I contacted our agent. I asked her if these were normal across-the-board increases, and she said it most definitely was not. She did a bit of research and found that Cigna no longer sells that policy in my state, so evidently they are increasing the premiums exorbitantly to shed their customers?
Anyway, our agent had us on another plan within 24 hours. Our underwriting consisted of answering about 30 questions presented by the agent, and I was asked a few more questions by a rep of the new company. We were approved within 7 days and received our cards today. Coverage starts June 1.
And our new premiums? Mine is 127 bucks each month, and my wife’s is 111 bucks each month.
Bottom line is if your premiums are being increased by double-digits percentage each year, go shopping as soon as possible. I waited at least two years too long.
ETA: Because of HIPAA, our agent wasn’t privy to those rate increases. She wasn’t aware of them until I contacted her.
Very good to know! Thanks!
That’s true of ANY insurance, I’ve found: our home and car insurance were both astronomical. A call to the insurer got a “rate review” and both were slashed.
Could another insurer have refused to cover you? or charged you a lot more due to preexisting conditions?
Yes, I believe so, at least as I understand it. An insurer MUST accept you when you initially sign up for Supplemental, but if you ever switch, as I did, you are subject to underwriting. We were fortunate in that neither my wife nor I have had any serious medical issues in the past 24 months, which seemed to be the period of time toward which the questions were geared.
A replacement health insurance broker, whose website claims expertise in Medicare, is also not responding to emails and requests for a consult. I’m fed up.
I’m new to purchasing health insurance, having always been covered through an employer. You don’t need a broker in order to purchase a Medigap plan, do you? I thought you had to do it through a broker. Can’t I just go directly to Anthem or Aetna and purchase a Medigap Plan G? If I seem naive, that’s because I am. I’m just trying to figure it all out and I’m getting minimal help from brokers. Maybe an Anthem agent will provide the guidance I need.
I believe what you need is an advocate rather than a broker. Did you try the one that I linked?
I’ll try. I looked her up and she seemed to be more about Covered California, in addition to running a yoga studio. What does she charge for advice?
It’s free.
In order for an insurance company to be part of the Covered California network as well as Medicare, they have to pay into a fund that pays the advocates. @BippityBoppityBoo described it upthread. You can Google around for another one who is more to your liking but getting an advocate is the way to go. They will tell you your options and do all of the “paperwork” for you.
Edit: As I understand it, the advocates need to be licensed and tested in the same way as a normal insurance agent.
Thanks, hajario. Teleconsult booked.