Medicare Benefits! TRUTH told about Medigap Plan G in 2023

Some people are asking,  ‘Why wouldn’t I get the Medicare Supplement Plan G?’  Others are saying, “Hey, why am I paying these high premiums for a Humana Plan G supplement when I can get on a United healthcare Mecare Plan N or a BCBS medicare advantage plan.   My neighbor’s plan is  zero premium per month and he gets free dental, vision and hearing-  plus a prescription plan and a gym membership!”

Today I’m going to go over the best insurance companies for Medicare Supplement Plan G and some of their competitors, so that you can make a decision on whether or not this is the best supplemental plan for you!   I’m going to do this through data and actual numbers so that you can see in this chart so you can make a decision.  So, let’s jump into it!

 First we have the ultimate Advantage plan.  You’ve probably seen some people call it a Medicare disadvantage plan .  Some people love these plans.  Let’s get into the numbers.   I ran the Medigap Plan G quote for somebody turning 65, who’s a male.  I did the average number that they’re going to pay for a Medicare Supplement Plan G.  As you can see right here- it’s a $140 premium each month for the entire year.  That’s the average.  Some will pay less.  Some will pay more.  This is for the best insurance for seniors on medicare.  

Then I have the cheapest Medicare Advantage plan on the top line here which is the $0 premium advantage plan in Florida.  All the commercials that you see with Joe Namath and JJ Walker and Joe Theisman and all sorts of other famous people have those $0 premium advantage plans in Texas.   Also, the Medigap Plan N is becoming extremely popular in Columbus, Ohio.   I want to go over these top three Medigap plans for 2023,  so that you can make a decision on what’s best for you.  If you’re age 70 going onto Medicare, or if you’re 75,  I’m going to go over some of the numbers for you.  

 I’ll explain how you can save money with Medicare supplement plan high deductible g as well as Medicare plan N.  Any of these 3 top Medicare plans in Georgia will have amazing baby boomer benefits.   Let’s start out with supplemental gap plan G from any insurance company including Transamerica or Blue Cross Blue Shield.  

 You’ll  pay $140 each month in 2023 and possibly in 2024 for the plan’s premium on average.  This is a lower cost taken from states like Maryland and Indiana.  You pay nothing when you go to the hospital with Medicare part A and Plan G, which is hospital coverage.

 The Plan G wipes out the Medicare Part A deductible.   You pay $0 for inpatient services which are hospital and skilled nursing.  Skilled nursing being when you’re an inpatient. There are different facilities such as Bayshore Pointe nursing and rehab center in Tampa, Florida as well as Woodbridge care center. 

There’s only one thing Medigap plan G doesn’t pay for when it comes to hospital and medical coverage.   It’s the Medicare part b deductible which is $226 dollars per year in 2023.  The deductible is $226 for the entire year.   You pay nothing else for the hospital and specialist visits after the Medicare Part B deductible 2023.  You also pay nothing for ambulance and urgent care visits.  Physical therapy and cardiologist visits are 100% covered.  

What could beat this plan? There are many medicare plan g reviews.   Let me get into some of the other plans and I’ll explain what they have and what the Medicare supplemental G plan doesn’t have.  You’ll be the one to make the decision, but in the end,  I’ll give you my opinion.

Medicare Plan G is standard throughout the entire country; the plan does not change if you have it in Massachusetts or if you have it in Wisconsin.  Also,  If you have a plan from Aetna, Cigna, Humana or Transamerica- it does not change.  A Plan G is a Plan G.   The only thing that changes is the premium, not the coverage.  

So for this particular person that is 65 years old,  this is the max that they’re going to pay for hospital and doctor coverage;  $1,906.  The question is- will you pay that for the best medigap coverage in 2024 in the entire country?  I have hundreds and hundreds of clients on Plan G, I’ve never had one complain about the coverage.  Later on in the video I’ll get Into some of the complaints, but usually when talking about these complaints, they say,  “You know what, I didn’t know that I’m great.”

Most seniors turning 65 want to look at AARP healthcare supplement plans as an option for 2023, but  some people would rather look at the best Humana medicare plan.  The Medicare school teachings are in session a smart man would say.

 Next we have the Medicare Advantage plan.  Now this is the thing about Medicare Advantage plans from Clover Health and other companies is every single year they have all these commercials.  Everybody’s like, “Am I missing out?”  You have a neighbor across the street, you go out to dinner, maybe you play Pickle ball and someone says, “I’m paying zero premium” or, “I’m paying next to nothing.  $50 a month and I went and had a surgery and it cost me nothing” or, “it cost me $300”.  

So what they do to get you into these plans and entice you is they give you a $0 premium medicare advantage plan.  You pay nothing each month to get the insurance.  I get the  question, “How can they charge zero premium for a Wellcare plan?”   It’s very simple.  The government subsidizes these plans.   That means if they lower the subsidies or the government stops giving as much money to these plans,  they’re going to raise the premiums.  

There might be some agents that are watching this video (if they’ve been an agent for over 12 years) and saying to themselves; they have seen all of this before.  This is why sometimes younger agents are great, they’re hustling, they’re working hard, but hopefully they work with somebody who’s an older agent.  They  can tell them the way it used to be and it could possibly come back because that’s where we’re at right now.

So zero premium.  Could that go up?  Yes- and once you go into a Medicare Advantage they will ask you health questions to go back into a Medigap plan.  I’m going to say 99 of the time because I don’t want to be 100 percent  on anything. .  You could be stuck in a Medicare Advantage for the rest of your existence unless they change the laws.  

Just think about this from a business perspective.  $25 a month;  let’s say that they have two million clients on the plan.  That’s a $50 million dollar profit just by raising the premium to $25.  Would you stay in the plan for $25 a month?  It is still a cheap medicare advantage plan by Clover health.  My guess is that 90% percent of the people will stay.

 Now the hospital coverage for a lot of these plans is  $300 a day or $250 a day.   If you were in there for three days,  that’s $750.  Now is every plan $250 a day?  No,  I’ve seen  them $300 a day and I’ve seen them $225.   I’ve seen them $175 a day for hospital  but a lot of times they’re on average $250.   

 For the first six or seven days that’s the way these plans work.  You’re gonna pay $250 and then they’ll give you the rest for free, but here’s the catch.  Let’s say you’re in the hospital for three days, that’s $750.  Say a month later you go back in and you’re there for four days;  that’s $1,000.  This keeps adding up as you go so okay that’s one thing that could add up.   If you never go to the hospital, great, this plan is fantastic!

Let’s see about doctor’s visits.  Well a lot of these plans,  the primary care physician is free and once again this is an enticing thing.  This is $0 to go to the primary care physician.  How many times do you go to your primary?  Most people have specialists like cardiologists or dermatologists that accept Medicare.  They may be $35 a visit each time you go to the endocrinologist.  

You might say that’s not so bad.  If you go 10 times a year it’s only $350.   That’s true this is not a big ticket item,  but look at the next item: the CAT scans, MRI  or Pet scans.   These can be $300 and they can add up.  If you’re paying 300 for an MRI and you have three of them, that can add up to $900.  Plus,  the hospital stay for the Medicare Advantage could be $250 for an overnight stay in Orlando regional medical center.   

Skilled nursing with Medicare Advantage plans you get 20 days but with Medsupp Plan G you get 100 days. I have heard of people that have been in skilled nursing for over 90 days and they paid nothing.  The big kicker is the max out of pocket for the Medicare Advantage.  I spoke to people in different states this morning and $6000 can be the max out of pocket (MOOP) for an aarp medicare advantage plan ppo.  

I didn’t mention the Medigap plan f in this video.  The United healthcare medicare supplement plan f was one of the largest selling gap plans before 2020.  Aetna and Humana medigap plan f was a far second to the aarp plan f.    Also, Medicare part c is an advantage plan.  

Then of course moving down here to the drug plan. Companies like Florida Blue or Care plus health plans entice you by giving you a drug plan for free,  but you still pay co-pays but it’s free for the drug plan.  You have to stay with that company so whatever the company name is that you have the Medicare Advantage plan with, you’re going to have that same name for the drug plan. Optimum healthcare will give you a dental, vision and hearing plan for free with its advantage plan in Florida.  You’ll have that best dental plan so you have to ask your dentist and ask if they take the Optimum vs CarePlus plan.   

The big kicker is the gym membership.  I don’t know why this is so big for people to go to the YMCA when it’s $100 a month.  Silver sneakers, silver and fit or active and fit is the advantage plan subsidy for the gym membership.  Is it worth as much as having the best Health coverage in the country?

 To me it’s no.  You have to make that decision.  So, let’s move on to medigap Plan N. This is the big thing.  I’ll tell you what the difference is between the Medicare supplement plan N  with AARP vs Humana.  Besides a gym membership with silver sneakers or something, most likely not much. 

You’re going to get the same benefits with Medigap plan N for inpatient services like hospital and skilled nursing.  CAT scans and MRI visits  would be an outpatient thing but I added it up and if you went and did 20 outpatient services and they charged you the full amount of $20,  you would come up with a lesser number.  

 Both of these plans cover the part A co-insurance and Hospital costs but you must pay the part b medicare deductible.   What I did not go over is that supplemental plan n Medicare has a possibility of an excess charge.   So what is a Medicare part b excess charge? A doctor can charge 15% excess charge on top of what Medicare pays.  But, less than 3% of the doctors nationwide charge this excess charge. 

If a doctor or Hospital does not accept medicare’s payment they can charge up to 15% on top of what the Medicare allotted payment is and you owe that 15%.   I came from Pennsylvania and I have hundreds of clients on gap plan N in Philadelphia alone.   None have been charged an excess charge with plan n.  

Disclaimer: This video and blog post are for entertainment purposes only.  If you want advice on Medicare or any of its plans, please speak to a licensed agent, whether it is me or another licensed agent. No advice should be taken from this video or blog post.  If you don’t speak to me about your individual concerns, I can’t give you my 100% opinion. Brian Monahan and Medicare 365 are not responsible for any actions that you take without consulting with a licensed insurance agent.

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