Is High Deductible Plan F the Best

Stan21

New Member
2
Hi,
I just turned 65, live in NY and I'm in pretty good health at the moment. I signed up for Original Medicare and I'm researching Medigap plans. It looks like Plan F is the most popular, probably since it covers everything with limited cost. Since I don't have many doctor or hospital visits high deductible Plan F seems like an even better choice for me. It potentially has the lowest premiums of all the plans (if I don't need much medical care for the year) and has the benefit of limited maximum costs if I do need a lot of care. The cost in that case would then be about the same in NY (i.e. approx $3,000 in premiums for Plan F and the same for premiums + deductible for the high deductible version).

High deductible ssems like a no-brainer for someone in good health. Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance,
Stan
 
How long is your health going to remain "good"?

As long as you can write a check to cover your part of the expenses before an HD Plan F starts paying then it is probably a good deal for you. It is not my plan of choice to recommend because of, what most would consider, a substantial out of pocket expense when a major medical situation occurs.

Most people will not put the savings in premium aside so they have the money when needed.
 
Thanks for your response Frank.
Yes, I can put the deductible aside and if my health no longer remains good I will use it and have the equivilant of a Plan F.

What plan would you recommend?

Thanks,
Stan
 
Thanks for your response Frank.
Yes, I can put the deductible aside and if my health no longer remains good I will use it and have the equivilant of a Plan F.

What plan would you recommend?

Thanks,
Stan

My preferred plan to recommend is either Plan D or Plan G.

My concern in offering a HD Plan F is that a lot of people have selective memory. Many, in my experience, will only hear the dramatic reduction in premium and not pay attention to nor remember the part where I explained to them, in detail, the portion they are responsible for before the policy begins paying.

I would be glad to discuss it further with you if you would like. Call anytime, 573.544.4091. And no, I'm not going to try to sell you anything. :D
 
Along with Frank, I would suggest you check out a plan N too. I'm not saying it's the best for you or anything, but at least add it to your equations.
 
I have about a dozen Hi F clients that fully understand what they bought and are aware of the risk involved. For a lot of folks Hi F makes sense if the premium savings works in your favor.

For the ones that opted for Hi F over N, the savings was about $600/yr.
 
most people only consider the 1 yr that they might have to meet that deductible, but don't consider something like getting cancer and meeting the deductible multiple years in a row. be sure to keep that in mind, because with most companies (difft states have difft rules), once you are in the plan, you'll have to medically qualify to switch to something difft if you start meeting the deductible on a year to year basis
 
Sounds like you can afford it. I have a client that went with and funded HSAs every year since they came out. He has ~$30,000 that would have been paid to taxes or insurance premiums.

Anytime I can reduce premiums by my increased liability, I take it. I have thought that high deductible plans are under priced since they came out - perhaps as a function of claims and healthier people enrolling. We may eventually see an adjustment. For now, I'm keeping my money.

Run the numbers as if you hit the deductible for several years. Many illnesses spill over from 1 year to the next. You always reduce coverage but increasing coverage is usually subject to underwriting.
 
Last edited:
How does a consumer, who is not in the insurance business, find information about average claims data in order to help in deciding if HDF is a good choice?
I found one interesting table online with 3 horizontal brackets for age ranges and 4 vertical groups for claims $ information, but the numbers were for 2003. I have been unable to come up with anything like that with more recent information.

In regard to a comment above about N or HDF, in time frames when there are a lot of expenses, there is no cap under plan N, while HDF stops with the deductible limit. HDF seems to me to be the better choice.

And at this point in time, could one still expect High Deductible F premiums to increase at a lower rate than Plan G premium increases?
 
Most of the time we measure premium increase on a percentage basis. Carriers look at the over all increase medical claims which is composed on price increases for a given procedure and utilization increases. Then, they look at how those increases are going to be reflected in a given plan design. Dollar increases for the High F should be significantly under the increases of anything else. Current age increases are readily available simply by looking at a rate sheet that every agent has at their finger tips.

Consider what circumstances will cause you to have claims that would be paid by your High F. If you're healthy, the chances are between slim and none. How likely are others your age to have claims paid under the contract. Look at the health questions on an application. Given your current health and expectations for the future, how likely are you to not be able to pass underwriting?

If you can afford the deductible, and can pass underwriting and expect your health to hold, buy the High F and move on to choosing a drug card which in some sense is more difficult because what drugs might you need that aren't covered under whatever formulary you choose. Realize that you may be stuck with your Supplement decision because most future changes will be subject to underwriting.

It has been years since the under 65 had an out-of-pocket close to being as low as a High F.
 
Back
Top