Another one bites the dust - US Fire exiting Med Supp market
- Thread starter sman
- Start date
- 2,110
US Fire may have been new to the Medicare market but they were backed by Crum & Forster, one of the most reputable p&c carriers in the country.
Same with ACE. Backed by Chubb.
Even the big named companies have screwed us. MOO, Aetna and Cigna just to name a few.
Big name or no name, it doesn't matter.
The name brand carriers are reinsurance and/or acting in a TPA capacity.
Even the downstream subsidiaries can easily disappear from the market leaving orphans in their wake. Those carriers can be yanked from the market, sold or even dissolved and the carrier backing them keeps on rolling.
I won't use a carrier until they have been actively writing new business in Georgia, under the same name, for at least 3 years and preferably 5+ years.
Even with that yardstick I have been burned a few times.
Even the downstream subsidiaries can easily disappear from the market leaving orphans in their wake. Those carriers can be yanked from the market, sold or even dissolved and the carrier backing them keeps on rolling.
I won't use a carrier until they have been actively writing new business in Georgia, under the same name, for at least 3 years and preferably 5+ years.
Even with that yardstick I have been burned a few times.
Can't say. I never wrote anything with them. My guess is they have simply overlooked this policyholder, assuming they were notified of the new address and (possible) bank change.
Aetna has quite a stable of past & present issuing carriers . . .
Aetna Senior Supplemental insurance includes:
- Aetna Health and Life Insurance Company
- Aetna Health Insurance Company
- Aetna Life Insurance Company
- Accendo Insurance Company, Part of the CVS Health* Family of Companies and Aetna Affiliate
- American Continental Insurance Company
- Continental Life Insurance Company of Brentwood, Tennessee
- Coventry Health and Life Insurance Company
- First Health Life and Health Insurance Company
- SilverScript Insurance Company, a CVS Health Company and Aetna Affiliate
- 2,110
And probably more than a few are playing the shell game.
Back in the 70's and 80's, when a group of investors wanted to start an insurance company they would simply buy the shell of an existing company. One that was inactive or dormant for some reason.
Buying a shell was much cheaper than starting from scratch. A lot like buying a parked website would be today.
No telling how many companies we're selling for today that got their start as Doofus Mutual.
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The stop loss MGU I worked for from 1986 to 1993 had more than one shell corp domiciled in AZ. I don't believe they used any of the companies as issuing carriers, mostly (exclusively?) as reinsurance carriers.
During my time at that company I learned a lot about reinsurance treaties, surplus lines coverage, issuing carriers that had no employees and virtually no assets, etc. In some cases there were so many layers of reinsurance treaties it would be almost impossible to dispute claims and hope to collect.
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Aetna doesn't adjust rates when moving to a new state. The rate stays with the state the plan was written. I have a couple of clients move to FL and I can't move them bc their attained age rate is still much better than the issue aged rates in Fl. I'll get them eventually I think, lol
Accendo is now a closed book of business. Do you think that will impact renewal rates?
I rarely offer Aetna due to the fact they close blocks in a state about every 3 - 4 years. When that happens, closed block renewals often approach double digits within a few years.
sweet. maybe when he's 70 or 71 I can write him with a local company :-)
Until then, I'll just take his PDP business in AEP
Of course it will. I was just responding that Aetna/Accendo doesn't adjust rates when you move from one state or zip code to another like most other supplemental carriers.
And imo Aetna is as bad or worse than MOO in rate increases. Unfortunately they all do it. Part of the shell game
