 | | Reason #1. The same Medicare Supplement plan that you have now may be | | | available from another company at a lower price. This is the most common reason people
spend too much for their Medicare insurance. Many don't realize that these types of policies are
regulated by the Federal government and are required to provide identical benefits, no matter
what company it's from. So as an example, if you have a Plan F Medicare supplement policy from
Insurance Company XYZ, it MUST provide identical benefits to a Plan F policy from any other
company. However, the insurance companies can charge whatever premium they want to for that
plan. It is very important that you make sure you that your insurance company has excellent
customer service and claims paying history. Other than that, it becomes a game of price. Do you
know if you're paying too much? You might be able to get the same plan for less money, or get a
better plan for the same amount of money.
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| | Reason #2. Your Part D drug plan is too expensive, has a high deductible, and/or | | | the co-pays are too high. There are many different drug plans available today, from lots of
great insurance companies. But not all Part D drug plans are equal. These plans are not
regulated the same way that Medicare Supplement plans are. Each insurance company has their
own list of drugs that are covered, and they decide what the co-pays will be for each drug. This
list is called their formulary. It is very important that you check a company's formulary to make
sure you know how much your drugs will cost you each month. The insurance company decides
how much the co-pays will be, you want to make sure your plan co-pays are not higher than they
should be.
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| | Reason #3. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, your monthly premiums, co- | | | pays, deductible's and out-of-pocket maximums are higher than they should be.
Medicare Advantage plans are completely different from Medicare Supplement plans. With
Medicare Advantage, the insurance company pays your doctor or hospital for the care you receive
and they get reimbursed by the insurance company. When you go see a doctor or go into the
hospital, you pay a co-pay. Many of the newer plans today have a $0 monthly premium to you,
and they include the Part D drug plan. Many of these plans have office visit co-pays as low as
$15, with very low annual out-of-pocket maximums. Even though you're not paying anything in
terms of a monthly premium, the insurance company still makes money because Medicare pays
them. These plans are available based on the county that you live in, and you need to make sure
your doctor will accept this type of Medicare plan.
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| | Reason #4. Your insurance company now offers a lower cost policies, but they | | | haven't told you about them, or they won't let you switch to them. When insurance
companies come out with new products they're not required to tell you about them. If switching
clients to the new policies would net them less profit, they're not going to tell you about them!
(That's why you need an independent agent who works for you, not the insurance company)
Quite often insurance companies will come out with a new line of products, or they'll buy another
company that has Medicare products that have much lower costs. If they proactively switched
everyone over, they would lose money (actually they would probably make more money because
their clients would be more satisfied and refer new business to them, but they don't see it that
way.) We recently helped a retired husband and wife who had been with the same insurance
company for 9 years. They had no idea that 5 years ago their insurance company bought another
company and started selling the same policy that they owned (a plan F) for about $100 less per
month, per person. Their insurance company didn't tell them about it, neither did their agent who
sold them the original policy...we did! We saved them over $200 per month, and they still have
the same exact coverage.
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| | Reason #5. Your plan doesn't cover many services that you receive. Some Medicare | | | supplement plans are designed to cover only the most basic benefits, while others are designed to
cover everything under the sun. Some Medicare Advantage plans are better than others. You
may have originally purchased a more basic coverage, budget friendly policy. Maybe at that time
you weren't going to the doctor as often, or didn't expect that you would need the extra coverage
and benefits. We understand that things can change. Now you're having to pay out of pocket for
medical services that aren't covered by your existing plan. For all the reasons already mentioned,
it's quite possible that we can get you into a better plan for the same amount that you're paying
now, or maybe a lot less!. Hey, it can't hurt to check!
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