Med Supp Knowledge

[Frank Stastny]

Not at all. Actually my comments you quoted support my beliefs. I'm just trying to understand why some believe and preach that J will have greater trends for RUs that other letters. What I said in the quote was that if a company experiences more claims on a certain letter plan then they have raised rates more on that letter than the rest of the book. I in no way implied that J would have more or less of a chance to have that rate increase. Most companies don't do this, but I've seen it before.

Futhermore, all the plan J's being placed in force at this time are, like I said, younger T65'rs or folks that passed underwriting... therefore it would make more sense that they would be more rate stable than the others. That goes even more so in MO where all the other letters are subject to the MO GI law bringing them high risk clients. Plan J is somewhat immune to this since it has only been offered (sans drug benefits) for a couple years at the most.

What I'm understanding from your and other's statements is that J will in fact have RU's at a greater trend than others.

Why?
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That's right and therefore every medsupp issued prior to that date is or could be in a dead pool.

You may very well be right. I really have no desire to argue with you, I respect you as an agent and your opinion. Mine and some others just happens to be different than yours.

I guess we will know the real answer in the next several years.

How is the weather there? It's 5 here now with a wind chill of -16. My goats are cold, me too.

 

[somarco]

It's 5 here now with a wind chill of -16. My goats are cold, me too.

One of you needs to come in from the cold.

 

[maleman2045]

It's 5 here now with a wind chill of -16. My goats are cold, me too.

Down here in FL we do not name our privates, but you should bring you "gonads", I mean goats inside...


Was 16 - 24 in various parts of Central FL this morning, but so far the orange crop is safe, so we do not have to pay 7.00 for a half-gallon of orange juice.

 

[G.Gordon]

You may very well be right. I really have no desire to argue with you, I respect you as an agent and your opinion. Mine and some others just happens to be different than yours.

I guess we will know the real answer in the next several years.

How is the weather there? It's 5 here now with a wind chill of -16. My goats are cold, me too.

I'm not arguing, rather discussing a point. Case closed I guess. I was just wondering where we differ on the subject so I stated my point for clarification.

It's 4+ here. Wind chill... don't care. I'm indoors painting the bedroom... well I was until I was called to supper.

Back to it.

 

[retread]

You may very well be right. I really have no desire to argue with you, I respect you as an agent and your opinion. Mine and some others just happens to be different than yours.

I guess we will know the real answer in the next several years.

Frank, I think you will be vindicated... If plans such as J become a "dead pool" after June 1st, then the carriers will not have competition for this plan. With no competition, they can set any rate they want. What they want is more revenues...

Since the experience with carrier pricing in other areas of health insurance is like Somarco says... purging the block by raising the premium... it is possible that Plan J will rise rather than remain stable.

As to outside temperature, it is nothing here. 0...

 

[Slade]

The current Standardized plans and the new Modernized plans effective June 1 will be completely separate blocks of business.

Female 1 is turning 65 next month and can buy a MoO Standardized Plan F in this area for $127.35.

Female 2 will be 65 in June, and she can buy a Modernized MoO Plan F for $85.46.

The introduction of the new Modernized plans A to N is giving every carrier the opportunity for a complete premium reset by starting fresh with completely new blocks of business with every plan the decide to offer. All the old blocks of the Standardized plans A to J will be closed and subject to higher premiums and greater future premium increases than the new Modernized plans.

There is going to be great premium disparity between all the old plans and the new plans starting from day 1. This disparity will only get worse as the healthy insureds switch to the new plans leaving the higher risk uninsurable behind.

The modernization of medicare supplement plans is going to be great for active agents, great for the carriers, great for the healthy beneficiaries who can update their plan, but a genuine disadvantage for many who are uninsurable as their rates are going to soar regardless of which standardized plan the're on.

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

Frankly, I wish they'd make Medicare available to the 55-64 age group.

Great idea!

Let's take a program that is going broke, and put even more people into it. Makes perfect sense.

 

[jody108]

I'm for moving the age from 65 to 72.

And 62 to 72 for Social Security.

Most 65 yr olds I know, can still work or have enough retirement that they can take care of themselves.

The rest could just go disability if they just can't work.

And the Gov't should lower SS and Medicare taxes accordingly.

 

[padthaiforlunch]

Looking at the numbers in Colorado, I notice a couple of things.

1. Sterling prices plan J at a lower rate than they price plan F.

2. 75 y.o. female living in 80210.

Plan D (Family): $1567
Plan J (American Continental): $1807

Difference: $240. Less $155 ded. = $85

If client uses preventative each year ($120 bene), plus has the home health care and 100% excess charges covered, then why is selling Plan J such a bad idea?

Regardless, plan J is a waste of money for the beneficiary and is not the best plan for them anymore. I agree with something that Frank told me a long time ago and that was the only reason agents sell plan J is for a higher commission, not what's best for the client.

I am not a fan of the Plan J either, never have been.. Many that have taken the plan out previously, are sold on the fact that is pay's preventive care not covered by medicare, but it seems often the Client is not advised it is up to $120.00. Many times I run into this situation, it is a person that has a plan J with a certain Insurance Company.
.

Jody,
Over the yrs, I can tell you that it does not take too much effort for an agent to come behind you and replace your HD plan J.
It goes something like this:

Agent- Mary did you know you had to pay $2000 first before this
plan pays a dime? (Seniors have Short Term Memory)

Mary - I didn't know that! or I knew I had a deductible, but I
didn't think it was that high! I have life Ins with him too!
He said it was a good deal.

Agent- What !!!

This is the short version of course !
You may very well loose both policies in the house! I have learned to give the next agent as little ammo as possible.

 

[maleman2045]

Looking at the numbers in Colorado, I notice a couple of things.

1. Sterling prices plan J at a lower rate than they price plan F.

2. 75 y.o. female living in 80210.

Plan D (Family): $1567
Plan J (American Continental): $1807

Difference: $240. Less $155 ded. = $85

If client uses preventative each year ($120 bene), plus has the home health care and 100% excess charges covered, then why is selling Plan J such a bad idea?

Agreed. One cannot generalize here as there are too many variants.
Here in Central FL, for T65, AARP Plan J is .75 more per month than Plan F. Why would I not offer more benefits for .75/month ?? Especially if (and this is a big IF) AARP Med Supps continue to be offered with no underwriting (except for ESRD) which would allow me to switch them over when needed.