Congress Looking at Limiting Medigap Options
- Thread starter cadylou
- Start date
You got it. Nobody can sell Medigap without lying to retirees and scaring the crap out of them. Medigap sales people are low-life's. Scum of the earth who couldn't sell a $0 premium MA plan if their life depended on it. I hear most of them used to sell aluminum siding.
- 15,319
Who the heck did you quote? Did the post get removed?
It takes a special skill to sell something that costs zero. Then disappear til Oct 15.
Who the heck did you quote? Did the post get removed?
It takes a special skill to sell something that costs zero. Then disappear til Oct 15.
Look at yougooglethis' post. That is what Bob is referring to. I think the whole scare tactic part is funny and bullshit.
#69, yougoogle
Folks that can legitimately afford to pay 2,000.00 a year or so in med supp premiums shouldn't be financial devastated in the oft chance of 7,500 in medical bills in a given year otherwise they shouldn't using so much of their income/nest egg buy a to a med supp policy to begin with. If the Med supp industry didn't do such a good job of convincing seniors that buying a med supp was necessary and if agents didn't use scare tactics to sell Med supps more folks would see this.
Believe me I want medicare supplements to stay around because they are lucrative for me, easy to sell and there is a big demand for them but the real truth IMO is the middle class would be better off not spending so much of their income on policies that for the vast majority pay out little in benefits in ratio to premiums paid mostly due to the fact that medicare allowable rates for medical services are so low. The Medicare Trust fund would also be a little better off if there was restrictions on first dollar policies. IMO folks who have a nest egg to protect should buy LTC insurance first and then buy med supp o if their income allows after paying the LTC premiums.Unlike medicare services the cost for LTC services are very high and only getting higher.
IMO, you should buy an LTC policy as young as possible with an age 65 paid off date. Or an annuity with an LTC rider. You shouldn't be on Medicare and paying for an LTC policy at the same time.
I'm fine with eliminating 1st dollar (Plan F) coverage but going MAPD across the board? Absolutely not.
I would like to see numbers on the cost vs. premiums, because that has not been my experience with family or clients. After they get to age 75. Prior to 75, its a toss up.
Unless you or your client have a crystal ball (inflated or otherwise) there is no way to know which is better until you get there.
That said, I do have clients that the Medigap route is unquestionably the best route from the start. One new client is diabetic with a bunch of complications, uses a wheelchair daily, takes 24 different med's daily and was trying to decide between Humana MAPD and Medigap.
Humana plan had a $52 monthly premium and plan F was $120 + $71 PDP.
Humana had $6700 OOP and client was concerned about all the copay's and possible hospital charges. Agent that pitched the MA plan minimized the copay's saying she would probably never hit the OOP. As for the Rx the agent never ran the cost figures but said all her med's were generic except the insulin so everything is covered.
Well..........
I ran her drugs through Mcare.gov and found that her med's would run $8800/yr+ and 3 of the were not on Humana's formulary.
The Rx plan I suggested had a projected OOP of $5900 and all but one was on the formulary.
After comparing my proposal with the MA she decided she really could not afford the MA plan.
Imagine that.
That said, I do have clients that the Medigap route is unquestionably the best route from the start. One new client is diabetic with a bunch of complications, uses a wheelchair daily, takes 24 different med's daily and was trying to decide between Humana MAPD and Medigap.
Humana plan had a $52 monthly premium and plan F was $120 + $71 PDP.
Humana had $6700 OOP and client was concerned about all the copay's and possible hospital charges. Agent that pitched the MA plan minimized the copay's saying she would probably never hit the OOP. As for the Rx the agent never ran the cost figures but said all her med's were generic except the insulin so everything is covered.
Well..........
I ran her drugs through Mcare.gov and found that her med's would run $8800/yr+ and 3 of the were not on Humana's formulary.
The Rx plan I suggested had a projected OOP of $5900 and all but one was on the formulary.
After comparing my proposal with the MA she decided she really could not afford the MA plan.
Imagine that.
with a price difference like that, its hard to imagine anyone ever choosing an mapd in your area
There are only 2 ways to save medicare..... raise the entry age to 70 or go to a single payer system where all are taxed equally.....
Politically raising the entry age makes more sense.... First the single biggest issue now in traditional health insurance was the cost of care from age 55-64. That is why the auto companies and big business did not oppose Obama Care... They would be able to move a huge expense off of their books as this will eventually morph to a single payer system.
Second issue/problem with medicare is that people live longer and deductibles and coinsurance have not kept up with the market.... So the only way the Gubberment knows how to fix things is to cut payments..... That approach is not working in Florida and Texas as more doctors are no longer accepting Medicare patients.... Florida already has a shortage of doctors and little prospects of attracting new ones and will not be able to keep up with the demand.... It already can take 2-3 months for seniors to see a doctor and the lines are growing. Florida will loose almost 30% of their doctors from 2010 - 2020 just by attrition with nobody willing to take on Medicare patients and take their place..... Good Luck Florida.
By moving the entry age to 70, you will take a large population out of the medicare system and make the system more sustainable. As the total pool of eligible patients are not in the system as long.... This will be easier for seniors to swallow and increase the eventual desired result.... A single payor system.
Skipper
Politically raising the entry age makes more sense.... First the single biggest issue now in traditional health insurance was the cost of care from age 55-64. That is why the auto companies and big business did not oppose Obama Care... They would be able to move a huge expense off of their books as this will eventually morph to a single payer system.
Second issue/problem with medicare is that people live longer and deductibles and coinsurance have not kept up with the market.... So the only way the Gubberment knows how to fix things is to cut payments..... That approach is not working in Florida and Texas as more doctors are no longer accepting Medicare patients.... Florida already has a shortage of doctors and little prospects of attracting new ones and will not be able to keep up with the demand.... It already can take 2-3 months for seniors to see a doctor and the lines are growing. Florida will loose almost 30% of their doctors from 2010 - 2020 just by attrition with nobody willing to take on Medicare patients and take their place..... Good Luck Florida.
By moving the entry age to 70, you will take a large population out of the medicare system and make the system more sustainable. As the total pool of eligible patients are not in the system as long.... This will be easier for seniors to swallow and increase the eventual desired result.... A single payor system.
Skipper
