Two new Medicare Supplement plans will be introduced on June 1, 2010, and will be added to the other current standardized plans.  The new additions will be Plans N and M.  Plan N will offer similar benefits to Plan F along with a $20 copayment for doctor visits and a $50 copayment for visits to the emergency room.  Plan N will cost approximately 70 percent of the current Plan F depending on where you live.

Medicare Supplement Plans being eliminated: Plans E, H, I and J will no longer be offered as of June 1, 2010.  the preventive care and at-home recovery benefits will also be eliminated from the standardized Medicare Supplement options.

Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plans have been the same since 1992, when they became federally standardized.  However, the June 1, 2010 addition of plans M and N will be the first major changes to the Medicare Supplement marketplace since 1992.  Additional changes will be to the current plans A through G, which will be phased out, and a new set of A through G plans will be phased in.  This is a little confusing because the beneficiaries who are currently enrolled in plans A through G can either stay in their current option or migrate to one of the new A through G plans.  Hospice care will be added to all standardized plans, and the preventive and at-home recovery benefits eliminated.

New Medicare Supplement plans M and N are similar to the current plan D, although plan N includes copayments for doctor visits and trips to the emergency room.  Because of the copayment, it is estimated to cost about a third less than the current plan F.  Plan M is also similar to the original standardized plan F, but only covers 50 percent of this years Medicare Part A deductible of $1,100.00 and Part B deductible of $155.00.  The premiums for plan M are estimated to be about 15 percent less than plan F.

Some seniors have expressed a serious concern that depending on their current health status may dictate whether they will be able to switch to the new Medicare Supplement plans.  If stuck in the old plan, rates may increase faster than the new standardized plans.  CMS has recommended that the participating insurance companies allow all existing Medicare Supplement policy holders to be able to migrate to the new plans, and I believe they will.  Also, because of the changes happening on June 1, 2010, all participating companies will be allowed to reset their rates with the introduction of the new plans.  Meaning, the companies that are no longer competitive will be able to reset their pricing for all new plans including plans A through G because of the addition of the new Hospice benefit.

Please feel free to contact me anytime for more information, I’m here to help.

John Conner
Medicare Specialist
john@johnconner.com
800-700-1246 - office
916-240-6422 - cell