Are med sups doomed ?

[DonP]

How come you always ignore accesibility. Affluent people may be OK with the OOP but when you honestly explain to them the difference in accesibilty, they will choose to pay the monthly premium. No networks, no referrals required and go to any specialist they choose. Have cancer? Want to go to the #1 specialist in the country or the top rated facility in the nation? Just pick up the phone and make an appointment. No hassle and no hoops to jump through.

My friend just had cancer with a mapd zero issues . I was very sick 15 yrs ago . I went to the Mayo client for 1 week of tests . They did Jack shit . I was there a week . I felt like a #. A smaller hospital helped me .

 

[Midlevel]

How come you always ignore accesibility. Affluent people may be OK with the OOP but when you honestly explain to them the difference in accesibilty, they will choose to pay the monthly premium. No networks, no referrals required and go to any specialist they choose. Have cancer? Want to go to the #1 specialist in the country or the top rated facility in the nation? Just pick up the phone and make an appointment. No hassle and no hoops to jump through.

I guess because in my neck of the woods networks and accessibility is not a problem. I've had zero people go to Mayo in 24 years. I show them every one of their Drs are in network and tell them to call if they need to see someone else and I will look them up. There is 1 hospital within a 3 hour radius that won't take any MA. I honestly can't think of one Dr I have looked up that isn't in network. Guess I'm just lucky. Just can't believe it's that bad in some States but it must be. But it is easy for a Med Sup only agent to just say that and they will get scared into a Med Sup.

 

[Midlevel]

Until the next policy anniversary . . . then they are adjusted. This may vary by carrier and issuing state.



Probably because it is never addressed in the sales pitch.

If you have enough money to go anywhere there are no barriers to health care.

If you don't have money, or better coverage, you need to be content with what you can get with your plan.

And I'm guessing that's all that is addressed in your "sales pitch." You can go with MAPD but you will have nothing but problems with the network, PA, getting referrals, etc. Oh, I don't want any of that so I better go with a Med Sup. Poor clients never get to even see all the benefits they are missing out on. My clients see all 3 options in an unbiased way. Sounds like that might be better for the client but maybe I'm wrong. One size fits all I guess.

 

[selfgen]

Let me check my Funk & Wagnalls and get back to you on that . . .



I do get those calls plus a lot wanting to know why everyone that calls wants to talk about Medicare Advantage with all the "free" stuff and never bother to explain how these plans can get by without charging a premium. Most of these folks are smart enough to know if something is free there must be a catch.

They also seek us out because so far, no one has bothered to talk about Medicare supplement other than to say the premiums are really high.

That's pretty disgusting if you ask me . . . but on the other hand it opens the door to explain how Medicare supplement plans work as well as how MAPD really works.

Everyone is pitching benefits but never bother to explain how to use the plan.

It's like the EV sales pitch. The cars are priced on the high end but when you factor in the taxpayer subsidies some are affordable at least to the middle class.

Sales people talk about being pollution free but probably fail to mention the owner may need to install a 220 - 240v receptacle in their garage to charge the vehicle. That adds $1,000+ to the initial cost.

EV insurance is several thousand more than an ICE car. One article I read mentioned $3k - $5 more than traditional auto insurance.

And how about that trip from Atlanta to Chicago for grandma's funeral? You will probably have to stop 2 - 3x to "refuel". Good luck finding a charging station. Even more, finding a charging station that doesn't have a queue. Once you plug in expect to wait 2 - 4 hours before you can get back on the road.

If more people knew this they probably wouldn't be as quick to buy an EV.

When folks ask me what I think of MAPD I tell them they are great plans . . . until you use them . . . especially for something major . . . then you may not like them as well. Oh, and by that point you may not have an option to buy a Medigap plan because of this thing called medical underwriting . . . something most folks have not been exposed to if covered by EGH or at least since Obamacare came on the scene. Yes, they really do believe Obama made medical underwriting illegal . . .

And about those rate increases . . .

Most of my clients get single digit increases, $15 or less and some as low as $6. Pretty easy to budget for that. The Part B deductible changes have been nominal. And if they like their doctor they can keep their doctor . . .

So, are Med supps doomed?

No, and neither are MAPD plans . . . at least as long as CMS keeps promoting them, sending taxpayer dollars to carriers to help fund claims, advertising and bonuses. And as long as folks will buy into the idea of a free lunch, something for nothing pitch, MAPD will still be around.

"When folks ask me what I think of MAPD I tell them they are great plans . . . until you use them . "

you shouldn't tell people this; I can show you hundreds of EOBs from my MAPD clients. It shows how much the insurance paid and what the member owed. Very impressive. I have hundreds of clients that are enrolled in a MAPD and they are very satisfied. So they've been on the plan for years and they're very satisfied with how their plan is working. Several of these clients use their plan A LOT, you know, they have health issues. Yet, they are satisfied with their plan.
Why can't people just accept the fact that these plans DO work??? They may not be for everyone, but they work!!
THATS WHY 25 MILLION MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES ARE CURRENTLY ENROLLED IN MAPD PLANS!!

 

[goillini52]

I've had zero people go to Mayo in 24 years.

And you're in Minnesota?

 

[somarco]

Majority opinion isn't always best. Biden got 81 million votes and look how that turned out. Some of those folks will still tell you he is doing a great job . . .

 

[DonP]

"When folks ask me what I think of MAPD I tell them they are great plans . . . until you use them . "

you shouldn't tell people this; I can show you hundreds of EOBs from my MAPD clients. It shows how much the insurance paid and what the member owed. Very impressive. I have hundreds of clients that are enrolled in a MAPD and they are very satisfied. So they've been on the plan for years and they're very satisfied with how their plan is working. Several of these clients use their plan A LOT, you know, they have health issues. Yet, they are satisfied with their plan.
Why can't people just accept the fact that these plans DO work??? They may not be for everyone, but they work!!
THATS WHY 25 MILLION MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES ARE CURRENTLY ENROLLED IN MAPD PLANS!!

Actually 30.8 million on mapd and about 14.5 million on sups I've read . Rest on other stuff or just A and B

 

[somarco]

Wait! You said you don't pay attention to industry news, only motivational literature and tapes. You read but you can't spell? You must be "sickier" than we thought. Fascinating . . .

 

[titeye]

Majority opinion isn't always best. Biden got 81 million votes and look how that turned out. Some of those folks will still tell you he is doing a great job . . .

Bad example. Those 81 million votes felt the same way you do when they thought about the alternative to Biden. Look at how things turned out after the loser threw a temper tantrum. Are you kidding!

 

[rmhaire]

Look at how things turned out after the loser threw a temper tantrum.

Tell us more about how things turned out.