Is High Deductible Plan F the Best

[junkman]

Interesting to see people dis high deductibles. You hit the deductible after a hospital stay (twice) or $10,000 in Part B claims or a combination. Yes, old people get sick AND the carriers have claims data on which to price products. Still, carriers price as to be indifferent on which plans people choose. For the insured, plan choice is always a weighing of his money and his risk.

I've had Farm Bureau agents tell my referred clients that FB no longer sells high deductible plans. The agent was either ignorant or outright lying and definitely attempted to self-serve.

 

[Fisheye]

I'm shopping for a Medigap plan, and have narrowed it down to F-High or G. The two best offerings I found are about $400 in premiums a year for the former and about $1,500 for the latter, including the $183 Part B deductible. Based on the average of my last few years of medical expenditures, I will save about $400 a year with F-High, and would need about 3 'average' years of savings to pay for each year that hits the $2,200 deductible. I can't predict how that trade-off will play out, but it seems like a wash.
However, it seems to me that another big variable to consider is inflation. This is because while medical costs seem likely to continue to rise at a rapid rate, say 5% to 10%, the $2,200 F-High deductible is set by the government and is based on the CPI, which has been and I think likely to continue to be only 1% or 2%. It seems to me that with F-High, where most people don't hit the deductible, policyholders will mostly be absorbing the higher costs, putting less pressure on premiums; whereas with plan G, the insurer will be paying out the inflated costs and so will raise premiums more aggressively. (If the percent increase in premiums is the same, that favors F-High because the starting rate is much lower.) After 10 years, the G rates could be double, while the F-High increase will be more in the co-pays, but it will take fewer claims to hit the deductible. So, the inflation factor seems to favor F-High.
What do you think?

 

[kvaml]

I like Hi-D-F. My annual premium (Anthem in NH) is $639.84. However excess premiums are rebated. I just received a check for $432.39. Last year's rebate was $250.78. So my actual cost for insurance plus the deductible is not that much higher than the annual cost of Plan F. If I were to develop a chronic illness and always paid the full deductible, I would be worse off than with the regular plan F, but the margin is fairly small.

I do not know of any source for rebate information other than actual policy holders. My insurance agent had no knowledge of the rebates.

The ACA (Obamacare) requires that 80% of premium income go to paying medical claims. Excess premiums are rebated to the policy holder.

 

[somarco]

The ACA (Obamacare) requires that 80% of premium income go to paying medical claims.

You don't know what you don't know.

You have wandered in off the streets and shared your opinion in a thread about Medicare Hi deductible coverage. These are not Obamacare plans. No rebates. No premium subsidies.

But thank you for playing. We have a nice parting gift for you.

 

[kvaml]

Page 78 of "Maximize Your Medicare"
"""
As of August 2012, insurance companies have been required to issue refunds if claims did not represent a ratio of premiums (less regulatory costs).
"""

I do not have an easy way to prove that this requirement was part of ACA. Perhaps I am mistaken about that.

The rebates are real!

(From the rebate check explanation: "Based on this year's review of your Medicare Supplement policy, we are refunding a portion of the premium you have paid. ..."
)

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I am apparently too new to be allowed topost a link. I tried to link to CMS.gov.

You can do google search for:
medical loss ratio premium refunds august 2012

The title of that cms.gov page is: Medical Loss Ratio: Getting Your Money's Worth on Health Insurance

Quoting from the cms.gov page:

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, consumers will receive more value for their premium dollar because insurance companies will be required to spend 80 to 85 percent of premium dollars on medical care and health care quality improvement, rather than on administrative costs, starting in 2011. If they don’t, the insurance companies will be required to provide a rebate to their customers starting in 2012.

(It is amazing to see how any mention of ACA can generate such unkind responses.)

 

[GreenSky]

(It is amazing to see how any mention of ACA can generate such unkind responses.)

That's because Obamacrap has cost taxpayers a fortune, increased premiums to the point they are not affordable, and limited choice of doctors. Basically it's the biggest turd ever forced down our throat by the democraps. And the fact that the republitards haven't been able to repeal this garbage tells you that both major parties have the same stink.

Rick

 

[somarco]

It really doesn't matter if you can post links or not. The only thing you have proved is that you don't understand. You are still conflating Obamacare with Medicare.

 

[kvaml]

CMS.gov (Medicare Administration) does provide a tool to look up rebates. That might prove useful if you are shopping for supplemental (medigap) insurance.

The title is:
Medical Loss Ratio Data and System Resources

Search for that along with site:cms.gov and you should be able to locate refund information for 2015 and before. I assume that 2016 will be posted eventually.

The refunds can have a big impact on what you actually pay. Obviously, the refunds can and do vary from year to year.

 

[junkman]

Refunds based on MLR only mean that the carrier overestimated claims when filing rate schedule with the state. One year BCBST is low man then has the highest renewal increase. If a group receives a 200% increase, it means that they got a helluvadeal. Easier to sell is a $0 increase. Go figure.

 

[Alston]

It really doesn't matter if you can post links or not. The only thing you have proved is that you don't understand. You are still conflating Obamacare with Medicare.

um... what he said.