Can you really save money on your Washington State Medicare Supplement plan?
Updated: May 3, 2022
Yes, but it depends on a several factors. Such as what plan are you in (F, G, N...)? Also, who is your Medicare Supplement provider? Is it the most expensive or least expensive? And last, how many times do you go to the doctor and/or emergency room. Depending on the answers, it is very possible, actually quite likely that you can reduce your cost and save anywhere between $8.00 per month to $3,295 a year.
Let's break this down using real life situations. The example below looks at a Washington resident who is paying $253.75 per month for her United Healthcare Medicare Supplement Plan F. I use this example because the majority of Medicare Supplement plans in Washington are plan F, and United Healthcare has the largest share of plans in the state.
That is because each plan is standardized. Meaning, no matter what plan you are on, all providers pay the same benefit. The only difference is the cost of the plan.
87% of retirees in Washington state, on Medicare Supplement plans, are overpaying for their Medicare.
Here is an example
68 year old with AARP / United Healthcare Plan F paying $253.75 per month
Choice
Keep Plan F, and reduce monthly payment by $13.99 per month saving $167.88
Move to Plan G. Keep AARP / United Healthcare and reduce payment by $27.33 per month, saving $327.88
Move to Plan N. Compare plans and providers and reduce payment by $117.75 per month saving $1,210.00
What is the RISK?
Choice
1) None
Plan F is exactly the same between providers. The Government standardized the plans. See page 73 of the 2021 Medicare & You official government Medicare handbook. This can be found here: Medicare.gov
2) None
By moving to Plan G you would pay less even after paying the Part B deductible of $203. Currently most providers charge you extra to make that payment for you. The difference varies greatly between providers.
3) Saving on Plan N depends on how many times you go to the
doctor's office or use emergency room visits.
Here is the breakeven:
Using the above example, going to the doctor more than 60 times per year, or 24 emergency room visits would be a break even on the $1,210.00 savings.
On choice 3 you would pay a $20 copay for doctor visits and $50 copay for emergency room visits.
In other words, going to the doctor's office once a month and the emergency room twice in a year would total $340 in copays. You would still save $870. It's an easy decision for those who rarely go to the doctor but for the rest of us, this risk needs to be evaluated closely. One mitigating factor would be the ability to change back to a previous plan. Currently, this is allowed under the guaranteed issue law here in Washington State.
Please keep in mind that other factors need to be taken into consideration such as pre-existing conditions, family discounts and guaranteed issue conditions. I will cover these subjects in another post.
What should you do?
Give us an opportunity to earn your trust and have us run an analysis for you. Then you can decide what's best for you and your family.
Let's start with what you won't get. And we promise this!
No sales pressure
No sales pitch
No hassle
No spam or robocalls
We will never share or sell your information
This is what we do.
Gather a little information
Run the analysis
Show you the results and how it works
Implement the strategy that's best for you
Follow up
We need some information for the analysis so we will need to chat for about 15 minutes or longer depending on how many questions you have.
Next, we talk again but this time we meet on the computer so you can see the screen. Yes, this is a presentation and the results of your analysis. You will clearly see how it all works. Then you decide what you would like to do.
Implementing the strategy is simple. We do all the work. You will receive detailed updates and communication throughout the process. But this time is different because it doesn’t end there.
We're very proud of our Follow Up process. You will receive updates from time to time on changes to Medicare and what's important to you. We will also talk at least once per year to make absolutely certain that you are in the best plan for the best price.