Page 3 - Cover Letter and Evaluation for Susan Marx

Even so, younger retirees in good health sometimes wait until later to buy their first Medigap
policy. And in limited situations, there are special enrollment periods for people who are past
their initial six-month guaranteed issue period. As an example, one special enrollment period is
for people enrolled in Advantage plans who move out of their plan’s service territory. When
this happens, they are entitled to a new guaranteed issue period to get certain Medigap plans
without answering questions about their health.

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Individuals whose 65 birthdays occurred prior to this year may choose from 10 Medigap plans
(as shown on pages 6-7 of the evaluation). But because of a change in the law, those who turn
65 this year or later have only eight plans to choose from, and they will not be able to get Plan
C or Plan F. Even though you turned 65 last year and can choose from 10 plans, it’s probably
best to limit your choices to the eight plans that will be most actively sold in the future.

To get current quotes on a Medigap policies, you will need to call the insurance companies that
sell them. The Pennsylvania Insurance Department’s list of companies that sell Medigap policies
is in Appendix B3, with each company’s phone number shown there.

The benefit designs of all 10 Medigap plans are shown on pages 6-7 of the evaluation. Before
acquiring a Medigap policy, It’s a good idea to get at least three current quotes. Here are
summaries of the two Medigap plans compared in your evaluation:

1) Medigap Plan G. This is a comprehensive plan that covers all of Medicare’s health gaps
Medicare except for the Part B deductible, which this year is $198. In this plan, after
you’ve satisfied the Part B deductible you will not have any co-payments or other cost-
sharing for Medicare-covered services.

Premiums vary widely (as you can see in the appendices). For Plan G, you should be able
to get a policy for about $1,500 a year ($125 a month) or slightly less. For the last eight
months of this year, your total premiums for Plan G would about $1,000 or less.
Insurance companies’ premiums for Plan G are shown in Appendix B1

2) Medigap Plan N. This plan is less comprehensive than Plan G but is still solid coverage.
Its gaps include the $198 Part B deductible, co-pays of up to $20 for doctor’s office
visits, and a $50 co-pay for emergency room visits. Annual premiums are roughly 25%
lower than Plan G’s, and if you do not go to the doctor frequently you would probably
save money in this plan. You can likely get Plan N for about $100 a month, or $1,200 a
year ($800 for the last eight months of this year). Premiums for this plan are shown in
Appendix B2.

Pricing and Discounts

The Medigap Plan G and Plan N premiums shown in Appendices B1 and B2 are from CSG
Actuarial, a firm that provides quotes for insurance agents. While these premiums should be
current, in a few cases they may not include the agents’ commissions (there’s no way for me to

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