Page 2 - Cover Letter and Evaluation for John

Medigap policies do not include prescription drug benefits, and so you will also need to enroll in
a Part D stand-alone drug plan, as discussed in the Rx drug coverage section below. Also,
Medigap policies do not cover routine dental and vision care or hearing aids. All three Medigap
plans in your comparisons include some benefits for medical emergencies while traveling
outside the United States (shown on pages 6-7).

Here are summaries of the three Medigap options compared in your evaluation. They are listed
in the order of their comprehensiveness, and their estimated annual premiums are for
someone your age who lives in Riverside County.

1) Medigap Plan F. This is the most comprehensive any Medigap plan, covering all of
Medicare’s gaps. That means if you get Plan F, your only costs for Medicare-covered
services will be your premiums. Starting in 2020, Plan F will no longer be sold, although
people who already own this plan at that time may keep it. You can likely purchase a
Plan F policy for $2,000 a year or less.

2) Medigap Plan G. This plan is identical to Plan F except that it does not cover the Part B
deductible, which is $183 this year. The reason Plan G may be a good choice is that you
can often reduce your premiums by more than the amount of the Part B deductible. If
you can get Plan G for $200 less a year than Plan F, for instance, you’d save $17 this year
even if you spent the $183 Part B deductible. You can probably get Plan G for $1,800 a
year or less.

3) Medigap Plan N. This is slightly less comprehensive than Plans F and G, and it has small
coverage gaps (pages 6-7 show where these gaps are). People in relatively good health
who don’t go to their doctors frequently will likely save $200-$300 a year in this plan
compared to choosing the higher-premium Plan F – even though in this plan you will
have small co-payments from time to time. Estimated premiums are $1,500 a year.

Before choosing an insurance company to buy a Medigap policy from, it’s a good idea to get at
least three quotes and to choose a large company that has low premiums. Appendix B1 shows
the California Dept. of Insurance’s Medigap premiums as well as each company’s phone
number. And Appendices B2 and B3 are recent premium comparisons from CSG Actuarial for
Plans F and G, with the lowest premium companies listed first. You can use the comparisons as
a starting point to identify the insurers that have lower premiums and then call those
companies to get current quotes.

Once you know which plan you want and which insurer you’re going to acquire it from, you can
enroll on the phone with the insurance company. Make sure they know that you want your
policy to go into effect on November 1.

Some companies offer discounts of various types and extra benefits like a free health club
membership (the AARP policies include Silver Sneakers memberships).

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