Medigap changes coming

[senior-advisor-indiana]

THe companies I am using, there is onlt a $13 difference between F & D. The difference is a little bit more than the Part B ded. I am hoping that the D gets lesser increases, but so far in IN it seems like most increases are across the board. I have sold more D's than F's though. Some people just do not want to deal with paying anything.

When I do sell an F I tell them that none of my clients have ever used the excess benefit.

 

[midwestbroker]

I just got back from an appointment. She has AARP, either plan C or F (she does not pay any deductibles). I started to make Frank proud and talk about plan D, and she was having nothing to do with paying anything other then her premium.

I told her I would do some shopping for her and let her know. American National was $5 less if she had plan C. Plan D was about $25 less per month, $300 less per year and all she would have to do is pay her $135 deductible.

Go figure.

Frank - Pick an afternoon and I am there!

 

[GreenSky]

It would be my pleasure to buy you lunch, provided we can take the afternoon to do it.

WTF! You don't even let me call you on your toll-free number and here you're buying someone else lunch. I'm going to start using Sugar! (You'll still provide me with 24 hr. support on that program won't you?)

Rick

 

[midwestbroker]

Us country folk here in the KS/MO area have to stick together.

 

[senior-advisor-indiana]

Frank, drove 7 hours to buy me lunch.

He must really not like you, Rick. We also went to Vegas the week after you did.

 

[MedSuppPro]

[FONT=&quot]41% of the MedSupp plans have Excess Charge coverage.[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]It seems we always have to consider the price sensitivity of the consumer. Yet, I always hear the: "I don't want to loose any benefits that I have in my current plan if I switch to the lower premium plan."[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]The Excess Charge benefit requires selling the benefit if appropriate for three common reasons. [/FONT]

1. ·[FONT=&quot]Client wants the option of going to the Mayo Clinics…[/FONT]
2. ·[FONT=&quot]Many sunbelt states have a higher percentage of non-assign doctors (travel).[/FONT]
3. ·[FONT=&quot]With annual bickering over Medicare physician reimbursement rates Excess Charges could reappear – again! [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]My personal opinion is that we need to keep an eye on our clients future needs. If they suddenly need (want) Excess Charge coverage then they will have to apply for this additional coverage. At that point in time they will need to be insurable. Kinda like earthquake insurance…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Go Tigers![/FONT]​

 

[GreenSky]

[FONT=&quot]41% of the MedSupp plans have Excess Charge coverage.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Go Bruins![/FONT]​

The problem with your "worry" about the future is that if doctors want the extra 9.25%, then they cannot receive payment directly from Medicare nor from the supplement.

A typical office visit might be $50 under Medicare. How many doctors are going to opt out of assignment for about $4? How much do you think Medicare allows for brain surgery? Maybe $3,000 for all the doctors involved. Again, is it worth it for $450?

To include coverage for this potential expense, the premium is about $75-100 per year more than the same plan without excess charges coverage.

There are 3 reasons to sell plan F:

1) Seniors feel more comfortable with knowing it will never cost them out of pocket even if they pay more,

2) It's easy for the agent to explain and,

3) Higher premium, more commission.

Two out of the 3 reasons are only for the benefit of the agent. If you explain why Plan F is a rip off, then you are doing your client a favor and a "real" agent. If you simply write Plan F without explaining the differences, you are only an order taker.

Rick

 

[AgentPipeline]

In my experience so far with companies that don't do the same increase across the board for all the plans, D and G have gotten the smallest increase.

One reason Plans D & G receive lower rate increases than Plan F:

• Clients who buy D & G tend to be healthier causing better loss ratios for the insurance companies. The Plan F block typically has more guaranteed issue members and sick members who want zero out of pocket exposer

With that said, at least 85% of our new annual Medicare Supplement production comes from Plan F. We are seeing more Plan J, but with the changes that may be coming, agents will probably go back to Plan F.

I agree with Rick... Most agents feel that replacing a Plan F with a Plan F is just easier than trying to explain the advantages of changing.
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[sman]

The problem with your "worry" about the future is that if doctors want the extra 9.25%, then they cannot receive payment directly from Medicare nor from the supplement.

A typical office visit might be $50 under Medicare. How many doctors are going to opt out of assignment for about $4? How much do you think Medicare allows for brain surgery? Maybe $3,000 for all the doctors involved. Again, is it worth it for $450?

To include coverage for this potential expense, the premium is about $75-100 per year more than the same plan without excess charges coverage.

There are 3 reasons to sell plan F:

1) Seniors feel more comfortable with knowing it will never cost them out of pocket even if they pay more,

2) It's easy for the agent to explain and,

3) Higher premium, more commission.

Two out of the 3 reasons are only for the benefit of the agent. If you explain why Plan F is a rip off, then you are doing your client a favor and a "real" agent. If you simply write Plan F without explaining the differences, you are only an order taker.

Rick

Rick,

In my state, the cheapest carrier (United World - even after rate increases), Plan F is the best rate (they only offer Plans B, F & G). There is about an $80 difference between Plan F & G. With Plan F, UW subtracts $12.50 of the premium before paying commission. So I would actually make more if I sold G. But it doesn't make sense to do that because for $80 more, the senior gets their $135 Part B deductible paid. There really aren't any other carriers that are competitive with their other plan rates.

It amazes me how some are so adamant that anyone selling F is lazy, a crook and not a "real" agent. Hopefully those of you that feel that way realize you have to write what's best for your client in YOUR state. What's available in California isn't the same for Georgia. As soon as a carrier comes in to my state with a competitive Plan D, I'll be happy to write it and become a "real" agent like you and Frank..

 

[GreenSky]

Rick,

In my state, the cheapest carrier (United World - even after rate increases), Plan F is the best rate (they only offer Plans B, F & G). There is about an $80 difference between Plan F & G. With Plan F, UW subtracts $12.50 of the premium before paying commission. So I would actually make more if I sold G. But it doesn't make sense to do that because for $80 more, the senior gets their $135 Part B deductible paid. There really aren't any other carriers that are competitive with their other plan rates.

It amazes me how some are so adamant that anyone selling F is lazy, a crook and not a "real" agent. Hopefully those of you that feel that way realize you have to write what's best for your client in YOUR state. What's available in California isn't the same for Georgia. As soon as a carrier comes in to my state with a competitive Plan D, I'll be happy to write it and become a "real" agent like you and Frank..

You are absolutely correct. If there is only a small premium difference (under the Part B deductible) then you are doing your client a favor by selling Plan F.

I guess I should preface my comment that this applies to my experience which is limited to California. Even in California, there are times that the difference between F and D is less than $135. In that case, I too sell Plan F.

Rick