There has been a lot of confusion and concerns regarding plan F recently, it primarily stems from Medicare supplement Plan F no longer being available to seniors new to Medicare. January of 2020, all Plan F and Plan C Medicare Supplements were no longer available to seniors starting to receive Medicare. Medicare Supplement Plans F and C are only available to those that had Medicare prior to January 1, 2020.
Those already on Medicare Plan F prior to January 2020 were able to remain on the plan and saw no immediate changes, however rates have begun to increase due to the lack of new enrollees in the plan. As the pool of people in Plan F and C decreases in size and increases in age the rates will be adversely affected.
The risk of future rates increases concerned the Colorado Gerontological Society enough that they worked to establish new regulations in conjunction with The Colorado Secretary of State to have Colorado provide seniors a ONE-TIME opportunity to change from a Plan F or C without medical questions. This window of time is quickly approaching as it ends June 30th, 2021. After this date your ability to change plans will depend on your ability to pass medical underwriting.
Click here to read the Gerontological Societies article.
Medicare Supplement Plan F to G change details- Special Election Period
The insurance carriers that provide seniors with their Medicare Supplement Plan F sent out a letter late last year that discussed the changes but did not make the change sound as important as it is. The change can have long lasting changes for many seniors as the cost for a Plan F will continue to increase for years to come at much higher levels than seen prior.
So, why would Plan G not take large increases? Well, Plan G has not been put up to be removed from availability to seniors. So, though it may seem like with people changing it would cause Plan G to also take large increases, but that is not the case. It will only strengthen the stability of Plan G because there are more people on the plan to help balance the healthcare costs.
While making these types of changes can seem very daunting to many, it should not be viewed as a bad change, this will only help preserve your finances into the future. You will not have to question if your plan premium is going to take a 30% or a 40% increase this year, you will know that your premium is highly likely to take the standard 3% premium increase. This is a lot better to keep track of and to manage for the years to come that you are on a Medicare Supplement policy.
The great thing about being able to switch to a Plan G from a Plan F is that you are going to see very little in changes. There is only one coverage difference from a Plan F compared to a Plan G, this coverage difference is going to be an annual $203 (as of 2021) deductible for your Medicare Part B.
After this deductible has been paid your Plan G will continue to provide coverage the same as Plan F. This deductible may be from one doctor visit however, it is not necessarily going to be from one doctor visit, the deductible can be spread throughout the year.
There are many carriers in Colorado that are now participating in this ONE-TIME Special Election Period that allows you to switch from a Medicare Supplement Plan F to Plan G.
Each carrier is going to have different rates, please note that a higher premium does not mean better or more coverage and a lower premium does not mean lower or less coverage. Every Medicare Supplement Plan G is going to be the exact same coverage. Each carrier, however, may offer different discounts for household members, or discounts for vision, dental, and hearing.
It is very important to consider changing plans while you are able to do so, while it is not mandatory it can have very drastic financial implications for your future. With less people being enrolled in a Medicare Supplement Plan F, the cost of the plan is going to be increasing at alarming rates for years to come.
How to change from a Plan F to a Plan G
Changing plans is relatively simple to do, all you need to do is reach out to a Medicare broker (such as us). We recommend to call a broker because they will be able to go over rates from many different carriers opposed to just one option.
If you have someone that you work with for your Medicare, please call them today to talk about this. If you do not have someone to work with right now or you would like to talk with us feel free to reach out.
You can call us directly at 719-404-3202
Or navigate to our contact page and we can reach out to you.