Lasso MSA

[LostDollar]

Thank you.

 

[LostDollar]

Let me add a couple comments for agents looking at this (having worked with Actuaries for 2 years on product design). First, the deductible is going to cause a lot of self-selection from a health and wealth perspective. I'd estimate that the top 50% health and top 50% wealth are most likely to choose this product. Since these are positively correlated, it's probably about 1/3 of the Medicare population. Second, for those in that population, this product will produce good results ON AVERAGE, but there is a very wide distribution on outcomes. Meaning, most folks will do quite well (4/6 or so), some will "break even" (1/6) and some will fare poorly (1/6).

Craig,
sorry I don't ask all my questions at once, but I can't think of them all at once. This one is because of some discussions earlier in the thread.

Would I be correct in assuming that those actuarial assumptions and design relate just to Medicare Part A and B expenses and not the full range of IRS QME's?

 

[Yagents]

I knew it couldn't end on a thank you

 

[sshafran]

I knew it couldn't end on a thank you

I'm holding out hope that this new question leads someone to an actuarial forum to learn about the ins and outs of being an actuary...

One can hope!

 

[craig_ritter]

Craig,
sorry I don't ask all my questions at once, but I can't think of them all at once. This one is because of some discussions earlier in the thread.

Would I be correct in assuming that those actuarial assumptions and design relate just to Medicare Part A and B expenses and not the full range of IRS QME's?

Yes. You only include the risk of loss on covered claims when you price any insurance product.

 

[sshafran]

Craig,
sorry I don't ask all my questions at once, but I can't think of them all at once. This one is because of some discussions earlier in the thread.

Would I be correct in assuming that those actuarial assumptions and design relate just to Medicare Part A and B expenses and not the full range of IRS QME's?

What about hurricane damage? I'm assuming that's not factored in.... but maybe we should find out. Just for clarification.

I'll let you ask, LD.

 

[LostDollar]

Yes. You only include the risk of loss on covered claims when you price any insurance product.

Thank you for being generous enough to wade through the feuds to answer my questions.

 

[LostDollar]

The "full amount" as I understand is the Medicare capped amount which is quite low? Somewhere read for routine Dr visit $100 but not clear on that. I have no handle on where to find these capped amounts. I saw a friends hospital and related labs, radiology etc and the "Medicare allowable" fee was surprisingly low wondering if Drs getting paid enough to bother with Medicare patients.

Dave, Since it seems to keep coming up that I'm one of the folks that can't really afford to have this insurance, I got curious last night to see if I could use some of my "catastrophic health fund reserve" to buy some Lasso stock. I was using different search terms and somehow stumbled on this video:



I have not yet had a chance to listen to it, but intend to do so. It is the same length as a formal Lasso sales video, but this one is done by Jim Handlin of Lasso to a group of agents. As I said, I have not listened to it yet, but I scanned through some of the pictures. It was what I saw at the very end that made me think specifically of you. First there is a case study comparing a real life Medigap plan F holder's situation to what might have happened under a Lasso plan. That was explained a little bit by Jim. Then there was another screen which showed some sample Medicare costs for some things-I don't think that had any explanations with it.

Hope there is something there that is useful to you.
LD

Edit:
This is a great presentation. And, in my personal opinion, the presenter makes it look like presenting the Lasso Healthcare MSA to insurance agents is one of the most fun jobs in the world.
End Edit.

 

[craig_ritter]

Dave, Since it seems to keep coming up that I'm one of the folks that can't really afford to have this insurance, I got curious last night to see if I could use some of my "catastrophic health fund reserve" to buy some Lasso stock. I was using different search terms and somehow stumbled on this video:



I have not yet had a chance to listen to it, but intend to do so. It is the same length as a formal Lasso sales video, but this one is done by Jim Handlin of Lasso to a group of agents. As I said, I have not listened to it yet, but I scanned through some of the pictures. It was what I saw at the very end that made me think specifically of you. First there is a case study comparing a real life Medigap plan F holder's situation to what might have happened under a Lasso plan. That was explained a little bit by Jim. Then there was another screen which showed some sample Medicare costs for some things-I don't think that had any explanations with it.

Hope there is something there that is useful to you.
LD

Generally speaking, you want to insure risks you can't afford and self-insure risks you can. So, if you can't afford to self insure the MSA member responsibility, you should stick with a Med Supp. This is true of my product and virtually any other insurance product.

For example, when I bought my 11 year old a set of headphones for Fortnite at BestBuy, they offered me insurance for this. I declined it, not because I don't like insurance, but because it's a risk I can self-insure.

On the other hand, I buy tons of insurance for my business, property, health, life, disability, as well as excess umbrella policies.

Original Medicare is not something that's easy to self insure because there are no caps, so Med Supp is extremely valuable. It could makes sense to go with a plan G or N or even High-F where the deductibles and co-pays are affordable, unless you have a known claim. If you had a knee replacement and cataract surgery pending, it doesn't make sense to buy a High F.

MSA is just an extension of that very same concept. If the risk is affordable and you don't have known claims pending or highly likely, it makes sense to self-insure some with a deductible and cap the catastrophic risk. That doesn't mean it works out all the time, it's just good risk management.

 

[LostDollar]

Original Medicare is not something that's easy to self insure because there are no caps, so Med Supp is extremely valuable. It could makes sense to go with a plan G or N or even High-F where the deductibles and co-pays are affordable, unless you have a known claim. If you had a knee replacement and cataract surgery pending, it doesn't make sense to buy a High F.

MSA is just an extension of that very same concept. If the risk is affordable and you don't have known claims pending or highly likely, it makes sense to self-insure some with a deductible and cap the catastrophic risk. That doesn't mean it works out all the time, it's just good risk management.

I think that is the best explanation of the combined purpose of Med Sup and MA (both MSA and other) as a spectrum of risk caps for the financial exposure of Original Medicare that I have seen in the forum.

(I stumbled onto a comment on a Better Medicare Alliance page a couple of months back that started me thinking conceptually along those lines.)