Page 3 - Cover Letter and Medicare Evaluation for Heidi Bathon

3) Medigap Plan N. While this plan is slightly less comprehensive than Plans F and G, it still
provides excellent coverage. The only differences between this plan and Plan G are that
you will have co-payments of up to $20 for doctors’ office visits and $50 if you go to the
emergency room. You should be able to get Plan G for about $2,400 a year ($200 a
month). Appendix B3 lists each carrier’s Plan N premiums.

The pricing of Medigap policies

It’s good to give some thought as to the company that you will buy your policy from and to
make a few calls to get current quotes. While it’s important to go with a company that has
relatively low premiums, you may also want to factor in a company’s financial strength and
recent premium increases. One guideline is that larger companies tend to have slightly lower
annual premium increases, according to a government study a few years ago.

CSG Actuarial’s premium comparisons in the appendices may be helpful in a couple of ways.
First, they can serve as a starting point to identify the companies that have lower premiums;
second, they show the companies’ financial ratings by A.M Best and (in a few cases) Standard &
Poor. And for many insurers, they show recent years’ premium increases. A few companies
offer household discounts when both spouses buy a policy, and the CSG Actuarial premiums
show the carriers that offer these discounts, although the premiums shown do not reflect the
discounts.

CSG Actuarial is a quoting service for insurance agents, and in some cases the premiums shown
in the appendices may not include commissions (I don’t know which ones they are). But for
most companies, the premiums should accurately reflect what you will pay today. Still, it’s
important to call the insurers to get current quotes.

The lists from CSG Actuarial do not include the companies’ phone numbers, which you can look
up in the Maryland Insurance Division’s most recent premium comparisons at the following
link:

https://insurance.maryland.gov/Consumer/Documents/publications/Medicare-Supplement-
Rate-Guide.pdf

Rx Drug Plan Coverage

I was unable to match exactly the names or dosages of three of your drugs, as you can see in
Appendix C1. Because Medicare’s Plan Finder program does not always list every available
dosage, it’s likely that your current doses will be covered. Please check the list of Rx drug names
and doses that I entered in Appendix C1 to make sure they are correct, since this was the list
that the Plan Finder program used to identify the plans with the lowest costs.

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