Your Medicare Supplement Rate Went Up Again. Here's What You Can Actually Do About It.

Rate hikes on your Medicare Supplement don't mean you're stuck. Here's how one couple saved over $2,000 a year without losing their doctors.

Read the full article: https://news.americanretirementadvisors.com/medicare-supplement-rate-increase-what-to-do/

American Retirement Advisors helps families in Arizona and Nevada navigate Medicare, retirement income, and inheritance planning. Call us at (602) 281-3898 or visit https://americanretirementadvisors.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to the American Retirement Advisor, coming to you from 123Z Studios. Real stories, real strategies, and straight talk about healthcare, retirement income, and inheritance planning. I'm Ian Schaefer, here with Betty. Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_02 0:15

One of our advisors sat down with a couple recently who came in frustrated. Their Medicare supplement premiums had jumped again, and they were starting to wonder, are we just supposed to accept this every year? They liked their plan. They liked their doctors. They didn't want to start over, but the numbers were getting harder to ignore. If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. And the good news is you probably have more options than you think. Why this keeps happening? Medicare supplement, Medigap plans are standardized by letter. A plan G from one carrier covers the exact same things as a plan G from another carrier. The benefits are identical because the federal government sets them. What's not identical is the price. Each insurance carrier sets its own premium, and those premiums can vary widely, even within the same zip code. Here's where it gets tricky. Most people pick a plan when they first enroll in Medicare, and then they never look at it again. Meanwhile, their carrier quietly raises rates year after year. Why do premiums keep climbing? A few forces are at work. Healthcare utilization among Medicare beneficiaries continues to increase, prescription drug costs keep rising, and carriers adjust their rate tables as their policyholders age. The net effect is that a plan that was competitive five years ago might now cost$50 or$80 more per month than a nearly identical option from a different carrier. Over a year, that's real money. Over a decade, it adds up fast. What our advisor actually did. In this case, our advisor ran a full comparison across every available carrier in the client's area. Same plan letter, same benefits, same access to doctors, because Medigap plans work with any provider that accepts Medicare, regardless of the carrier on the card. The result? One client saved$58 a month just by switching to a different carrier, all while maintaining the exact same coverage. That's nearly$700 a year with zero change in what's covered. For the couple, the savings were even bigger. By reviewing both of their plans side by side, the advisor found over$2,000 in annual savings between them. They kept their doctors, they kept their gym membership benefit, they kept everything they cared about. They just stopped overpaying for it. The underwriting question you need to know about. Here's where I need to level with you, because this is the part that trips people up. Outside of your initial Medigap open enrollment period, the six months starting when you turn 65 and enroll in Part B, switching to a new carrier typically requires medical underwriting. That means the new insurer will ask health questions, and depending on your answers, they can decline your application or charge a higher rate. If you've had a recent diagnosis, a hospitalization, or certain ongoing treatments, this matters a lot. It doesn't mean you shouldn't explore your options. It means you should explore them with someone who understands the underwriting guidelines for each carrier before you cancel anything. Our advisors know which carriers are more lenient on specific conditions and which ones are non-starters. We never recommend dropping your current plan until a new one is officially approved and in place. A note for our Arizona and Nevada clients. If you live in Nevada, you have a valuable protection worth knowing about, the birthday rule. Each year, during the 63-day window following your birthday, you have a guaranteed issue right to switch to any Medigap plan of equal or lesser benefit from a different carrier with no medical underwriting. That means even if your health has changed since you first enrolled, you can still shop for a lower rate during that annual window. This is a big deal, and most people in Nevada have never heard of it. Arizona does not currently have a birthday rule on the box. That means switching carriers in Arizona will generally require medical underwriting outside of your initial enrollment period. If you're an Arizona resident in good health, this is usually straightforward. If your health is changed, the conversation becomes more nuanced, and having an advisor who knows which carriers underwrite more favorably is worth its weight in gold. Regardless of which state you're in, timing matters. Knowing your windows and planning around them can be the difference between saving thousands and being locked into a rate you don't need to pay. How we walk through this with clients. This is exactly the process we follow with every Medicare client. We start by understanding your health needs, your medications, your preferred doctors, and your budget. Then we compare every option across all carriers in your zip code. If there's a better fit, we handle all the paperwork. If your current plan is already the best deal, we'll tell you that too. And we do this every year during open enrollment because the landscape shifts constantly. What do we charge for this? Nothing. Zero. Our advisors are compensated by the insurance carriers, so there's no cost to you. What you can do right now? Pull out your latest Medicare supplement statement and look at what you're paying per month. Then ask yourself: has anyone compared this to what else is available in my area in the last 12 months? If the answer is no, that's your next step. You can start exploring on your own using Medicare's plan comparison tool, or you can check your current costs against the basics at Medicare.gov. And if you want someone to do the heavy lifting for you, that's literally what we do. I dive deeper into these types of Medicare strategies in my book, Medicare Made One Two Three Easy, because I kept hearing the same story from clients. I didn't know I could switch. You can, provided your health history allows for it with new medical underwriting. And if you're eligible, it might be one of the easiest financial wins of the year. If you're seeing rate increases and wondering whether you're stuck, you're not. Give us a call. No pressure, no pitch. Just a conversation about whether there's a better option sitting right in front of you.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

This is Betty with the American Retirement Advisor. Thanks for listening. If this episode helped you think differently about your retirement, share it with someone who needs to hear it. You can read the full article and browse hundreds more at AmericanRetire.com. And be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. We publish daily. See you next time.