Hitting a home run is difficult enough but I would call this a Grand Slam that most Medicare Supplement enrollees love their plan.
People can be hard to please and most always have an opinion especially when it comes their health insurance. Based on this knowledge this next figure can be very shocking. For those seniors that decided to pay for a Medicare Supplement aka: Medigap plan 9 out of 10 seniors continue to be overwhelmingly satisfied with their Medicare supplemental insurance coverage. This is according to a study by Global Strategy Group on behalf of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).
One of the main reason is because it protects them against unanticipated costs. Further, 95 percent say these plans allow them to see the doctors and specialists they choose vs the limited HMO Network of Doctors that are available or not available on a Medicare Advantage plan.
If you are part of a Medicare Advantage plan you know all too well that you are limited to the local plan network of Doctors. Each year you have to make sure your Doctor is still part of your network or you will have to either switch Insurance Carrier or pick a new Doctor. With a Medicare Supplement plan this limitation does not exist. Because this limitation is removed these Seniors are not prevented from seeing the medical expert of their choice so long as that Doctor or Specialist accepts Original Medicare.
Medicare Supplemental plans offer coverage for out-of-pocket costs that are not covered by Original Medicare, and many Medicare Advantage plans, such as deductibles, coinsurance, max out of pocket cost and copayments. The study asked seniors about the value, benefits, customer service, and overall quality of care received through these plans.
Additional key findings that Seniors expressed include:
- The process to enroll and renew a policy (82% where highly satisfied and 10% being somewhat satisfied)
- The services and benefits covered (76% where highly satisfied and 15% were somewhat satisfied)
- The communications received from providers (68% where highly satisfied and 15% were somewhat satisfied)
- The value received for the monthly premium (63% where highly satisfied and 20% somewhat satisfied).
- More than 90 percent agree their Medicare supplemental plan allows them to receive high quality care; protects them against unexpected, unpredictable medical costs; and the vast majority believe their plan makes it easier to handle medical bills and paperwork.
- More than 90 percent of respondents expressed concerns about potentially losing their plan or having to pay for potential increases in cost-sharing – reinforcing the value these plans continue to bring to American seniors.
With the push to sell more Medicare Advantage plan which have a greater restriction on coverage, it will be interesting to see if a new study comes out on how happy those individual Seniors are as compared to this study. In addition with the passage of MACRA (which took effect on Jan 1, 2020), it clear our government is trying to slowly reduce there financial exposure and transfer some of the liability back on to our Seniors. There are still plenty of great Medicare Supplemental Plans to choose from even with MACRA now being in place.
As of 2020 around 13 million seniors rely on Medicare supplemental insurance, and more than one third of those with a traditional Medicare plan wisely choose to enroll in a Medicare supplemental plan because they offer enhanced protection, consistent coverage, and access to high quality care.
The last thing we should want for our loved one who have entered into the peak age of needing high quality health insurance coverage, is for them to be told no. We need for our parents and grandparents to be told yes more often than they hear a no, when they need to see a specific Doctor or need a specific surgery.
The complete findings from the Global Strategy Group study including feedback from enrollees, can be found here.
If you need help finding the right Medicare Supplement plan that works best for you we would love to help you.
