Page 1 - Cover Letter and Evaluation for Judy Thomas

October 17, 2018

Mrs. Judy B. Thomas
5956 S. Fairfax Court
Centennial, CO 80121

Dear Mrs. Thomas:

Your evaluation comparing the two PERA retiree plan options and two Medigap plans is
enclosed. Please check the information on the client data sheet on page 5 to make sure it is
correct. Also, please verify that your Rx drug information (attached to this letter) is accurate.

With any of the four options that are compared in the evaluation, you will have very good
coverage. Your fixed (or minimum) costs, which includes the costs for the Rx drugs you are
taking, are lower in the two PERA plans. But if you are hospitalized or have expensive
treatments, your total out-of-pocket costs (premiums and cost-sharing) in the PERA plans could
be greater since both Medigap plans – Plan G and Plan N – have very few co-payments.

That’s particularly true of Plan G, where after you’ve paid the Part B deductible ($185 in 2019)
you won’t have any further cost-sharing for Medicare-covered services. Therefore your worst
case for Medicare-covered medical costs with Plan G is your annual premium plus the $185 Part
B deductible. Plan N is slightly less comprehensive, but in most years your cost-sharing amounts
for medical services (excluding prescription drugs) should be modest.

The evaluation does not include comparisons of dental and vision coverage. With PERA, dental
and vision benefits are covered by stand-alone options that you can acquire with an additional
premium – CIGNA and Delta Dental and VSP for eye-care. If you dropped PERA’s health care
coverage, then, you would probably still want to keep your stand-alone dental and vision plans
since they are likely superior to any coverage you could get on your own. Neither Medigap
policies nor traditional Medicare cover routine dental and vision care or hearing aids.

Here are summaries of the four options that are compared:

Two Medigap policies

Perhaps the most desirable attribute of Medigap policies is the flexibility they offer. You do not
need referrals to see specialists and will be covered when you see any provider who accepts
Medicare (as more than 99% of doctors and public hospitals do). That’s also true of the two