You weren't the only one...I just think sometimes the threads get too long and we miss replies..so I was trying to clarify..
Age 72 Best First Medigap - G, HDF, or N
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You weren't the only one...I just think sometimes the threads get too long and we miss replies..so I was trying to clarify..
Regarding the term life question - this is an easy answer - it depends 
You have to account for each person's specific situation. I think it's a vital policy to have for someone with a young family because you can get so much coverage for so little and you need a lot to replace you not being there for a longer portion of someone's (family) life. Is it necessary for someone that is hitting retirement age? Probably not but some may disagree.
To an extent, this whole thing is a crapshoot. Whatever carrier you decide to go with could get unlucky and have a higher than average rate of medical utilization which would lead to higher premiums to compensate. The premiums may go high enough that the carrier decides to close off that "block" of business and they'll be forced to come up with a new subsidiary or wait until they can re-enter that market with a new, lower cost, same plan. From that perspective, I'd pick a carrier with stingy underwriting requirements but that's going to open up a whole new can of worms for you to try and research (and that's not so readily available to the general public).
Personally, I prefer Plan G over all the other plans - that's what I'd put my folks on if they needed to buy tomorrow. I would then do as "Rose" suggested and keep tabs on market changes - keeping open the possibility of changing carriers down the road if ABLE and advantageous.
You have to account for each person's specific situation. I think it's a vital policy to have for someone with a young family because you can get so much coverage for so little and you need a lot to replace you not being there for a longer portion of someone's (family) life. Is it necessary for someone that is hitting retirement age? Probably not but some may disagree.
To an extent, this whole thing is a crapshoot. Whatever carrier you decide to go with could get unlucky and have a higher than average rate of medical utilization which would lead to higher premiums to compensate. The premiums may go high enough that the carrier decides to close off that "block" of business and they'll be forced to come up with a new subsidiary or wait until they can re-enter that market with a new, lower cost, same plan. From that perspective, I'd pick a carrier with stingy underwriting requirements but that's going to open up a whole new can of worms for you to try and research (and that's not so readily available to the general public).
Personally, I prefer Plan G over all the other plans - that's what I'd put my folks on if they needed to buy tomorrow. I would then do as "Rose" suggested and keep tabs on market changes - keeping open the possibility of changing carriers down the road if ABLE and advantageous.
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- #23
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Yea, I will walk to the Valley of Medigap Gurus.
I will find great wisdom.
"... he wants opinions on G vs HDF vs N
And everyone has a different one. Shocking."
"Regarding the term life question - this is an easy answer - it depends"
"To an extent, this whole thing is a crapshoot."
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Op here. I did not post the reason for not taking part B at age 65 because it is totally irrelevant in regard to determining when a Medigap open enrollment period starts.
I had a Medicare Initial Enrollment Period. I have been in a continual Medicare Special Enrollment period since my Medicare Initial Enrollment Period ended. I am currently in the last 8 months of my Medicare Special Enrollment Period. I have never had a Medicare General Enrollment Period. None of that has anything to do with my 6 month Medigap Open Enrollment Period. My Medigap 6 month Open Enrollment period is related solely to the Start Date of my Medicare Part B coverage - 08/01/2016.
FRJ and I have commented on this previously.
If a person does not take Medicare Part B coverage during their Initial Enrollment Period or during a Special Enrollment Period (if they have one), they will have to take Medicare Part B coverage during a General Enrollment Period. This again will not affect Medigap coverage. Their Medigap 6 month open enrollment starts the Effective date of the Part B coverage. This "late" enrollment during a Medicare General Enrollment period will probably affect the Medicare Part B PREMIUM by adding a surtax or penalty to the premium for the rest of the enrollee's life.
I will find great wisdom.
"... he wants opinions on G vs HDF vs N
And everyone has a different one. Shocking."
"Regarding the term life question - this is an easy answer - it depends
""To an extent, this whole thing is a crapshoot."
----------
Op here. I did not post the reason for not taking part B at age 65 because it is totally irrelevant in regard to determining when a Medigap open enrollment period starts.
I had a Medicare Initial Enrollment Period. I have been in a continual Medicare Special Enrollment period since my Medicare Initial Enrollment Period ended. I am currently in the last 8 months of my Medicare Special Enrollment Period. I have never had a Medicare General Enrollment Period. None of that has anything to do with my 6 month Medigap Open Enrollment Period. My Medigap 6 month Open Enrollment period is related solely to the Start Date of my Medicare Part B coverage - 08/01/2016.
FRJ and I have commented on this previously.
If a person does not take Medicare Part B coverage during their Initial Enrollment Period or during a Special Enrollment Period (if they have one), they will have to take Medicare Part B coverage during a General Enrollment Period. This again will not affect Medigap coverage. Their Medigap 6 month open enrollment starts the Effective date of the Part B coverage. This "late" enrollment during a Medicare General Enrollment period will probably affect the Medicare Part B PREMIUM by adding a surtax or penalty to the premium for the rest of the enrollee's life.
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Yea, I will walk to the Valley of Medigap Gurus.
I will find great wisdom.
"... he wants opinions on G vs HDF vs N
And everyone has a different one. Shocking."
"Regarding the term life question - this is an easy answer - it depends
"To an extent, this whole thing is a crapshoot."
----------
Op here. I did not post the reason for not taking part B at age 65 because it is totally irrelevant in regard to determining when a Medigap open enrollment period starts.
I had a Medicare Initial Enrollment Period. I have been in a continual Medicare Special Enrollment period since my Medicare Initial Enrollment Period ended. I am currently in the last 8 months of my Medicare Special Enrollment Period. I have never had a Medicare General Enrollment Period. None of that has anything to do with my 6 month Medigap Open Enrollment Period. My Medigap 6 month Open Enrollment period is related solely to the Start Date of my Medicare Part B coverage - 08/01/2016.
FRJ and I have commented on this previously.
If a person does not take Medicare Part B coverage during their Initial Enrollment Period or during a Special Enrollment Period (if they have one), they will have to take Medicare Part B coverage during a General Enrollment Period. This again will not affect Medigap coverage. Their Medigap 6 month open enrollment starts the Effective date of the Part B coverage. This "late" enrollment during a Medicare General Enrollment period will probably affect the Medicare Part B PREMIUM by adding a surtax or penalty to the premium for the rest of the enrollee's life.
You are wrong on that. It matters greatly why a person doesn't take part B when first eligible. Say a person is on Cobra and doesn't take B. They would then fall into a different set of rules.
It's a non issue in your case because you didn't enroll because of employer coverage and apparently it was creditable coverage.
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- #25
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In first post, OP:
“I am now in month 3 of my 6 months-and apparently policy effective date will be first of following month instead of date of contract as I was told, so I need to be moving the process along in some way.”
I thought that the words “first medigap” in the title and this statement would indicate that I was in my Medigap Open Enrollment period. The Medigap Open Enrollment period is always of 6 months duration.
Question jdeasy:
“What makes you think you have 6 months to decide?”
It was my intention to try to obtain some “real world” information, about both insurance companies providing Medigap coverage and some specific Medigap policy types, to facilitate my choice of Medigap policy, agent and carrier during my Medigap open enrollment period. At least in part, this question redirected the focus away from this purpose and toward a question of whether or not I was actually in a Medigap Open Enrollment period.
In the ensuing discussion, the following comments were made:
Comment Jdeasy:
"It does matter why the person didn't take part B when first eligible at age 65. You can't just not take part B and then pick it up years later and have an open enrollment."
Not true. A person not covered by Part B, can enroll in Part B and will have a 6 month Medigap open enrollment period starting the effective date of Part B coverage.
Comment Jdeasy:
"You are wrong on that. It matters greatly why a person doesn't take part B when first eligible. Say a person is on Cobra and doesn't take B. They would then fall into a different set of rules."
In regard to the Medigap 6 month open enrollment period, this statement is incorrect and directly contradicts information on the CMS website.
OP conclusion to current post:
Every enrollee in Medicare has a 6 month Medigap open enrollment period. That open enrollment period begins on the date Medicare Part B is effective. There are no other conditions or restrictions that relate to whether a Medigap 6 month open enrollment is or is not in effect.
“I am now in month 3 of my 6 months-and apparently policy effective date will be first of following month instead of date of contract as I was told, so I need to be moving the process along in some way.”
I thought that the words “first medigap” in the title and this statement would indicate that I was in my Medigap Open Enrollment period. The Medigap Open Enrollment period is always of 6 months duration.
Question jdeasy:
“What makes you think you have 6 months to decide?”
It was my intention to try to obtain some “real world” information, about both insurance companies providing Medigap coverage and some specific Medigap policy types, to facilitate my choice of Medigap policy, agent and carrier during my Medigap open enrollment period. At least in part, this question redirected the focus away from this purpose and toward a question of whether or not I was actually in a Medigap Open Enrollment period.
In the ensuing discussion, the following comments were made:
Comment Jdeasy:
"It does matter why the person didn't take part B when first eligible at age 65. You can't just not take part B and then pick it up years later and have an open enrollment."
Not true. A person not covered by Part B, can enroll in Part B and will have a 6 month Medigap open enrollment period starting the effective date of Part B coverage.
Comment Jdeasy:
"You are wrong on that. It matters greatly why a person doesn't take part B when first eligible. Say a person is on Cobra and doesn't take B. They would then fall into a different set of rules."
In regard to the Medigap 6 month open enrollment period, this statement is incorrect and directly contradicts information on the CMS website.
OP conclusion to current post:
Every enrollee in Medicare has a 6 month Medigap open enrollment period. That open enrollment period begins on the date Medicare Part B is effective. There are no other conditions or restrictions that relate to whether a Medigap 6 month open enrollment is or is not in effect.
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I'm so glad I have clients that don't spend their life analyzing what is really a pretty easy issue.
Rick
Rick
............Me tooooooooo
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- #28
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If I wasn't being provided with incorrect information which might adversely affect someone else reading the thread in the future, I wouldn't have to analyze the responses.
If I was enrolled in Plan B, eff 08/01/2016, with a 70% premium penalty on my plan B premium, and jdeasy told me I did not have and/or was not in a 6 month medigap open enrollment period-and if I acted on that advice-I would seriously misstep.
Having said that, I would also say that jdeasy has raised excellent points which are relevant in the areas of medicare part B premium computations and/or Medigap issues outside of the Medigap 6 month open enrollment period. I have had to consider them in regard to Medicare part B, but they are not relevant in regard to a Medigap open enrollment period.
You are just snarkin' to raise your post count.
(I would also say as an aside that I believe I am getting to what I would like to do, I just don't know if I can do it. There is one particular question I have in regard to that and I was starting to think about whether I could ask it of greensky and kgmom and if so, how to go about it in a relatively private manner. I suspect that may no longer be a prudent course of action.)
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I did not tell you that nor did I give you any advice. I did not, and will not, solicit your business either.
I will agree with Rick that you are overanalyzing a relatively easy decision.
