Page 1 - Cover Letter to Jane

September 20, 2018

Dear Jane,

The California Birthday Rule that I mentioned is explained in Appendix B1. This rule allows you
change insurance companies to get a lower premium without having to answer health
questions or disclose pre-existing conditions. But you cannot use the rule to upgrade your
current plan to get more comprehensive insurance. As an example, you can’t use the rule to
switch from a High Deductible Plan F to a standard Plan F that doesn’t have a deductible.

The High Deductible Plan F that you have is the least comprehensive Medigap plan, and so you
don’t have a guaranteed right to upgrade to any other plan. But you can use the Birthday Rule
to switch to High Deductible Plan F sold by a different insurance company that has lower
premiums – and to do this without answering health questions. It looks as though you can save
some money – maybe $300 a year or so.

If you want to find out how much you can save, you might call two or three of the insurers
shown in Appendices B1 and B2 and get a current quote. If they start to ask you questions
about your health, explain that you are in the 30-day period following your birthday and that
your understanding is that during this period you don’t need to answer health questions. That
way, you’ll get the lowest quote for someone your age.

The premiums shown in appendices may not be current ones – sometimes this info is out of
date – but they shouldn’t be very far off. Phone numbers for the companies are shown in
Appendix B1, while Appendix B2 ranks the companies by their premiums for High-Deductible
Plan F, with the lowest companies at the top. This list in Appendix B2 does not include the
phone numbers, which you’ll need to get from Appendix B1. According to these lists,
UnitedHealthcare does not offer High Deductible Plan F, at least in Los Angeles County.

If you decide to switch to a different insurer, make sure you have proof of your new coverage
before you cancel your Blue Cross policy. Appendix A2 is Medicare’s explanation of how to do
this, and it recommends that to be safe you have a one-month overlap (you’d pay each
company’s premiums during the overlap month). I don’t think you need to do that if you have
proof – a letter or an enrollment card – that your new policy will be effective on a certain date,
e.g., November 1.

Also, you can try to upgrade to a more comprehensive plan if you want, but you’ll have to
answer health questions. High Deductible Plan F is not a bad choice, particularly for people who
do not go to their doctors often or have expensive treatments. With all of the Medigap plans,
Medicare first pays 80% of the cost for most services and then the Medigap policy covers some
or all of the 20% balance.