Page 3 - Cover Letter and Medicare Evaluation for Michael Bichy

co-payments, which is no better than traditional Medicare offers, In Advantage PPO plans,
some out-of-network treatments may require a 30% or 40% co-insurance payment.

Advantage plans can be great bargains for healthy people who do not need costly treatments.
During the past 15 years or so, Advantage plan enrollment has grown rapidly, and today almost
one-half (48%) of all Medicare enrollees are in Advantage plans. For people with health issues,
however, Advantage plans may turn out to be overly restrictive.

Comparing the two Medigap plans
The two Medigap plans compared in your evaluation are Plan F (your current plan) and Plan N,
a less comprehensive (and less expensive) plan. Here are brief summaries of each:

1) Medigap Plan F (your current plan). This plan covers all of Medicare’s gaps. Some
people like Plan F because of the convenience of never having to make a co-payment for
a service that Medicare covers. Plan F also includes some coverage for foreign travel
medical emergencies, which Medicare does not cover. According to CSG Actuarial, your
current Plan F premiums are about $185 a month, or roughly $2,200 a year. That
estimate includes the 5% household discount that you and your wife should be receiving
in addition to AARP’s early enrollment discount.

If you want to switch from Plan F to the next most comprehensive Medigap plan, you
might consider Plan G, which is not compared in your evaluation. The only difference
between Plan F and Plan G is that Plan F covers the Part B deductible ($226 in 2023) and
Plan G does not. So, if you can reduce your annual premiums by more than $226 by
switching to Plan G, you’ll come out ahead in next year, although you’ll have co-
payments until the deductible is satisfied.

In your case, AARP’s Plan G monthly premiums should be about $30 less than you’re
currently paying for Plan F -- roughly a $360 annual premium savings. After the $226
Part B deductible is paid, you would come out about $130 ahead for the year. That
assumes that the quotes are fairly accurate and that AARP will let you switch without
medical underwriting (although underwriting might not raise your premiums much).

2) Medigap Plan N. This plan is slightly less comprehensive than Plan F, but it still provides
solid coverage. The only differences between this plan and your current Plan F are that
in Plan N you will pay the $226 Part B deductible in 2023 and will have co-payments of
up to $20 for doctors’ office visits and $50 if you go to the emergency room.

If you can switch to Plan N with AARP without having to answer questions about your
health, you should be able to reduce your annual premiums by about $700, according to
the quotes from CSG Actuarial. Whether you come out ahead overall will depend on
how many doctors’ office visits you have. As an example, if you average seeing your
physicians once a month, then you will have 12 co-payments of $20 each (or $240. After

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