Should I Change, and When?
If your Medicare supplement has experienced high premium increases, or even if you have had your supplement for a few years, you may want to look at changing your Medicare coverage in order to save money. If so, your first question may be: When can I change my Medicare supplement? The answer to that question all depends on the type of change you want to make.
If you want to change to a Medicare Advantage plan, you will need to wait until Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period (AEP). However, if you want to change to another Medicare supplement, you can change anytime–that is, anytime you can health qualify for another supplement. While there is a proviso on that change, the good news is that you do not need to wait until AEP to change your supplement.
Qualifying for a Medicare Supplement?
Once you enroll on Medicare Part B (provided you also have Medicare Part A), Medicare gives you six months to enroll on a Medicare supplement of your choice without having to health qualify. After that period of time, you can enroll on any Medicare supplement offered in your state IF you can health qualify.
Generally, health qualifying means answering health questions and getting approved by the supplement company you are enrolling with.
Is It Hard to Qualify for a Medicare Supplement?
Health qualifying depends on your health and the insurance carrier with which you are applying for coverage. If you have certain medical conditions, you may not qualify for a different Medicare supplement. Generally, these are conditions or combinations of conditions that could potentially expose the insurance company to greater risk. Insurance is all about risk, so an insurance carrier to which you are applying is looking to see what kind of risk you are to that company.
If the company views you as potentially costing it a lot of money down the road, it will decline your application for coverage. On the other hand, if the insurance company views you as a good risk, then you will generally be accepted for coverage. The health questions and the medications you take can give the insurance company a good idea about what risk you may be.
It is important to understand that different insurance carriers have different underwriting standards. This means that some companies will be more liberal in terms of whom they approve for coverage. So, just because your application is declined by one insurance carrier does not mean it would be declined by all insurance carriers. This means that if you really want to save money, you can apply to a different company after being declined by your first choice. In other words, don’t give up. (Typically, companies with the lowest premiums have the most stringent underwriting standards.)
How Do I Go about It?
At this point, your head may be swimming. After all, you want to save money on your Medicare supplement, so you want to apply with another insurance company. But to which company do you apply? Even if you find a carrier with better rates, how do you know what the underwriting standards will be? And another important question to ask: Even if I find a company with a lower premium now, will that company increase its rates down the road? (Of course, none of us can tell the future, but past performance of a company can sometimes be a good indicator.) So, what to do?
This is where an experienced independent agent—one that represents lots of companies—can be of help. He or she can help point you in the right direction and, hopefully, save you a lot of money on your Medicare supplement. That suggestion just happens to align with this helpful maxim: It’s always good to find good help.
Expert Medicare Advice
Please contact us to discuss your options and get personalized coverage options and pricing. As an independent agency, we compare up to 50 of the top insurance carriers to find the best coverage at the best prices.
