I’m trying to decide if I should switch from AARP to Humana for my mother’s Medicare supplemental. I’ve heard that Humana’s customer service is terrible as well as their other plans, but she’d be saving $38 a month.
Are there any gray areas where a certain carrier can screw you on the Medicare supplemental (not prescription plans) or are they administered exactly the same? Thanks.
There are several different plans within each company’s supplement. My understanding is that, in general, the two best are G closely followed by N.
FWIW, I have BCBS plan G and have been very satisfied, including with their phone support.
mmm
Yes, I’m aware of the plan differences. I’m speaking of provider differences between any given plan.
We’ve only ever had Humana (Part F) for our medigap insurance, for 8 or 9 years now, and I have never had a need to talk to customer service. In general, we don’t hear from them much, and I haven’t tried to question any coverage decisions. I frankly don’t know if we’re getting good service or a good deal from them, because I don’t have the patience to try to figure it out.
We also use their mail-in pharmacy, now called Centerwell, which generally also works okay. They have some annoying practices, like bugging us to re-fill a prescription as soon as we have less than a 90-day supply (they generally supply stuff 90-days-worth at a time). Interactions between the pharmacy and the doctor’s office sometimes go off base, and I never find out why, I suspect both sides are to blame, and that this is pretty standard with any pharmacy/doctor relationship. I’ve never suffered more than a little annoyance from it.
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Ref this the coverage for any given plan letter in any given state is the exactly same:
You talk about bad customer service then you talk about administered exactly the same. I think that’s the key issue.
Some plans are lazy about approving claims, lose (or “lose”) some, etc. Others are diligent about doing what insurance is supposed to do: pay promptly for everything they’re supposed to, erring in favor of the customer, not themselves. There are always “gray areas”. If you have medical practices Mom uses that you trust, it might be instructive to ask their billing departments about their experiences. Maybe Company “A” is easy, and getting money from company “B” is like pulling teeth for them. In one sense you / Mom don’t care, but eventually if the carrier is bad enough, you’re on the hook for whatever they refuse to pay.
Paying more is no guarantee of better service, but paying less sometimes is a guarantee of lesser service.
When considering actual coverage afforded by the policies on a plan by plan basis, there seems to be little if any difference in coverage between companies with the exception of cost and customer service. I have plan F and shop only price as I have experienced no negatives relating to policy service. Medicare pays, submits the balance to my carrier and they pay. My only involvement involves being advised the claim has been settled.
Quoting myself for context …
Its not quite that simple. As I thought I’d remembered, but couldn’t readily find a cite for yesterday.
Per the current 2024 official Medicare guidebook everyone got in the mail, Medigap plans of the same code letter must offer exactly the same minimum coverage. They can go beyond that in various ways and many do.
The differences tend to be mostly window dressing, but different window dressing. Made up example: one offers discount gym memberships and another offers no-cost on-call nurse services.
As a retired Federal employee I’ve got their BCBS Basic plan. I switched from Standard to Basic when I became eligible for Medicare. Outside of prescriptions, I haven’t had any out-of-pocket medical expenses since then. And considering all the doctor’s visits, ER visits, and hospitalizations I’ve had over the past five years, I’m definitely getting my money’s worth.
What I think I learned this past summer when I retired:
The minimum coverage is the same. Some companies offer extra coverage beyond the minimum, supposedly, but I didn’t find any examples in my particular search.
Prices are different.
Customer satisfaction is different, depending on how much they cheat and how sloppily they conduct their coverage transactions. By reports, this varies quite a lot.
As in so many other things, you’re paying a company, and their impact on the world isn’t exactly the same as the alternatives, so you may be feeding a more or less evil corporate being.
I had opted for Plan G, and the provider I chose was Mutual of Omaha. I’ve only had since August to evaluate them, but so far so good.
One more thing - check how they set rates every year. IIRC, from seven years ago, some plans hike rates with age more than others. Some set rates by the usage for that age, others group ages together which results in a slightly higher initial charge but lower increases over time.
We have AARP, which is provided by UHC, and have never had the slightest problem over seven years.
My understanding is that the minimum insurance (as others have mentioned) is the same. The extra benefits some offer have never benefited me. For my purpose, price is the only variable. I’ve been on Medicare for 5 years, and have switched my supplemental policy 3 or 4 times, based solely on the price. I’ve never noticed any difference in service from the supplemental insurers.
I use an independent Medicare insurance agent. He keeps up to date on the costs of the plans. Whenever my current plan announces a price increase, I contact him to see if there is a better deal available. If there is, he has all my info and submits the new application for me. He earns his commission from the insurance company - switching costs me nothing. I’ve found this to be very convenient. If you can find a trustworthy independent Medicare agent, I’d recommend going through them.
J.
I’ve wondered about that, the ability to change your supplemental provider. I’m assuming if say one has a supplemental plan G they pretty much have to stick with G but they can switch providers of G any year during open enrollment. Or does it depend on what state you live in?
My understanding is that you can change either your supplemental plan, or your provider at any time, PROVIDED the new provider accepts you. They make it sound scary that new providers won’t accept you, but I’ve never had a problem with it. Maybe if you have a serious, chronic, expensive condition they’ll turn you down. However, it never hurts to apply. All they can say is no.
J.