Popular Medigap plans could see price hike
That uncertainty is hitting a high point now, as 1.9 million Michiganders navigate the complicated maze of annual enrollment for
"There are a lot of rumors about what might and might not happen," said
Blue Cross Blue Shield of
Consumers facing the
Legacy and other Medigap plans are considered supplemental insurance. Sold by private companies, Medigap polices pay some of the fee-for-service health care costs that Original Medicare doesn't cover, such as copayments, coinsurance and deductibles. Advantage plans provide managed care coverage, such as the care provided through health maintenance organizations, or HMOs.
The uncertainty in the Legacy plansdates to a 2011 agreement between Blue Cross Blue Shield of
Those plans had been created and subsidized years earlier, when
That special status also called for
In 2013, the state granted a request from
Neither the state nor the insurer can say what will happen after the prize freeze thaws.
"Now the market has changed and older adults have other options," he said.
Meanwhile, the
"July isn't a magical date," she said.
Another assurance for consumers, she said, is that the subsidies will continue in some form.
The 2013 law that allowed
The subsidies wouldn't be limited to
"It's wait-and-see right now," said
Legacy plans are the kind of reassurance that seniors like
A retired purchasing agent, Williams knows the importance of sizing up competing products, and she has spent the past few weeks comparing types of
Facing uncertainty in 2016, Williams considered other Medigap plans or even purchasing an Advantage plan instead.
"When you're buying anything, whether you're browsing furniture or even groceries, you want to know where to get the best price," she said.
In the end, Wiliams decided to stay with Medigap, coverage that has taken care of copays and deductibles for all her doctors and specialists. She'll take her chances with any price hike: "I love my Medigap."
The good news is two-fold:
And even for those loyal to Medigap, the changes ahead entice other insurers into the market hoping to lure away some of the 205,000 Legacy customers. That competition could mean low prices in those new plans, especially after subsidies from the
With the current Blue Cross Legacy subsidy, he said, "other plans couldn't compete, so I don't think there was a lot of effort," he said.
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