Are you Ready to Fight Back Against Rising Medigap Premiums? We Can Help!

If you’re at least 65 years old, you’re eligible for Medicare — the federal health insurance plan for people who worked in the U.S. and paid taxes for at least 10 years. The program includes a mind-boggling number of rules and regulations that determine if certain healthcare procedures and treatments will be fully paid for, or if you’ll need to cover some or all of those costs.

But the reality is that people often find themselves underinsured by Medicare. That’s where Medicare Supplement Insurance, also known as Medigap, comes in. It covers the gap between what Medicare pays, and what it actually costs, for you to receive necessary health care.

Our analysis also indicates that the average number of Americans who try to minimize out of pocket expenses with via a Medigap policy reached 4.2 million in Q2 2017. That’s a 16.3% increase from five years ago, and a 1.9% rise just since the first quarter of 2017.

Unfortunately, average Medigap premiums have also risen recently — about 8.5% over the past five years. Some of the steepest premium increases have taken take place since Q1 2016, too. Since then, the average monthly amount paid for Medigap policies has risen 5.5% from $188.78 per month to $199.21 per month.

This could be because people are getting more expensive plans for more inclusive coverage. It could be because the overall cost of the plans is going up. Regardless of what the cause is, though, the result is that seniors are having to shell out more money for Medigap.

But that’s where Weiss Ratings can help! The price you pay for a Medigap policy can vary vastly based on the state that you live in, your age, your gender, and which company is providing your plan. My prior article highlighted the huge price difference just between two popular plans, F and G.

To avoid paying more than you need to, you need a source of comprehensive data on all the plans and providers out there. We provide it in our personalized Medigap Reports, which you can find out more about here. Each report offers a complete list of nearly all insurance carriers in your area, and what they are offering you right now for each Medigap plan. We believe you’ll find the information invaluable if you’re shopping for a plan during the open enrollment period that ends December 7.

Think Safety,

Gavin Magor

Insurance Insights Edition, By Gavin Magor, Senior Financial Analyst Gavin has more than 30 years of international experience in credit-risk management, commercial lending and insurance, banking and stock analysis and holds an MBA. Gavin oversees the Weiss ratings process, developing the methodology for Weiss’ Sovereign Debt and Global Bank Ratings. Gavin has appeared on both radio and television, including ABC and NBC as an expert in insurance, bank and stock ratings and has been quoted by CNBC, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Reuters as well as several regional newspapers and trade media.