Why Pay More?

[somarco]

Most of the discussion regarding OM + Medigap vs MA focuses on the monthly premium . . . and is completely flawed.

Some folks willingly pay more for . . .

A new car (lease or cash) every few years. Why? Because they can and love that new car smell.

Some will pay more for a home . . . the schools are better . . . streets are safer . . . Why? Because they can and they believe the higher priced home has more to offer.

Others will pay more for a meal at a fancy restaurant vs cooking at home? Why? Because they can and they think the steak, seafood, etc is better than home cooked.

And some are willing to pay a monthly premium for a Medigap plan vs the no premium MA option. Why? Because they can . . .

 

[rousemark]

Most of the discussion regarding OM + Medigap vs MA focuses on the monthly premium . . . and is completely flawed.

Some folks willingly pay more for . . .

A new car (lease or cash) every few years. Why? Because they can and love that new car smell.

Some will pay more for a home . . . the schools are better . . . streets are safer . . . Why? Because they can and they believe the higher priced home has more to offer.

Others will pay more for a meal at a fancy restaurant vs cooking at home? Why? Because they can and they think the steak, seafood, etc is better than home cooked.

And some are willing to pay a monthly premium for a Medigap plan vs the no premium MA option. Why? Because they can . . .

And, they think (know) it is better.

 

[annon123]

Most of the discussion regarding OM + Medigap vs MA focuses on the monthly premium . . . and is completely flawed.

Some folks willingly pay more for . . .

A new car (lease or cash) every few years. Why? Because they can and love that new car smell.

Some will pay more for a home . . . the schools are better . . . streets are safer . . . Why? Because they can and they believe the higher priced home has more to offer.

Others will pay more for a meal at a fancy restaurant vs cooking at home? Why? Because they can and they think the steak, seafood, etc is better than home cooked.

And some are willing to pay a monthly premium for a Medigap plan vs the no premium MA option. Why? Because they can . . .

And besides knowing it is better if you actually need to use it (as someone else said) if they have health issues or care about the network, pre-certs, etc. they know they will save money to be able to spend more money on other things once they get sick enough that they have significant copays.

Insurance is one of those items most people want to pay as little as possible as they often don't believe they will need it (so why waste money?) until they do (and hopefully bought a policy that is good enough for what they need). Then they want the best possible. Except that is often too late. The smart consumer thinks about that in advance of finding out what they bought isn't going to meet their needs now that they need it.

As agents we need to help them be "smart" and think about these things in a way that they actually believe it might happen to them too, even if right now it hasn't. Like only buying liability car insurance, only isn't smart for a new car unless you are so wealthy that getting in a car wreck is rounding error in your finances. And of course that would never happen because you are a safe driver. Right? LOL. Hmm... I had been healthy my entire life until I had the car wreck of getting 3 cancers close together in my not so distant past.

 

[somarco]

There are several ways to put a value on goods and services. Obviously money (the price) is one way.

Another is how the purchaser views the need (current and future) for the item. Does the (higher priced) item make life easier, save money over the long haul, outperform the lower priced item, and so forth.

Most of us have homeowners or renters insurance. And most of us will NEVER make a claim against the policy but that doesn't stop us from buying it. Of course lenders REQUIRE us to have at least a minimum level of insurance but how many drop the HO insurance once the mortgage is paid off?

Some purchases satisfy a future need, and some never "pay off".

 

[Newby]

Most of the discussion regarding OM + Medigap vs MA focuses on the monthly premium . . . and is completely flawed.

Some folks willingly pay more for . . .

A new car (lease or cash) every few years. Why? Because they can and love that new car smell.

Some will pay more for a home . . . the schools are better . . . streets are safer . . . Why? Because they can and they believe the higher priced home has more to offer.

Others will pay more for a meal at a fancy restaurant vs cooking at home? Why? Because they can and they think the steak, seafood, etc is better than home cooked.

And some are willing to pay a monthly premium for a Medigap plan vs the no premium MA option. Why? Because they can . . .

It's wrong to compare MA to Med Sups. MA is supposed to be compared to Medicare A&B. That is what it is replacing. And it stacks up well against A&B mainly because you can add in Part D at no cost. Plus have the dental and gym memberships too. AND have a max out of pocket. What you are giving up is the great network and your doctor being the final decision-maker on expensive treatments.

When you compare a Medicare supplement, you should really be comparing to Medicare advantage plus the add on plans that help pay the co-pays.

 

[rousemark]

It's wrong to compare MA to Med Sups. MA is supposed to be compared to Medicare A&B. That is what it is replacing. And it stacks up well against A&B mainly because you can add in Part D at no cost. Plus have the dental and gym memberships too. AND have a max out of pocket. What you are giving up is the great network and your doctor being the final decision-maker on expensive treatments.

When you compare a Medicare supplement, you should really be comparing to Medicare advantage plus the add on plans that help pay the co-pays.

If you could buy a true supplement to the MA, that would be a step in the right direction. But t he add one you can buy only give piecemeal coverage to the gaps. And, none address them problems with preauthorizations and networks.

 

[somarco]

@annon123 , @rousemark , @ newby . . . thank you for helping me make my point . . . there is MUCH more to consider than JUST the premium (or lack thereof) . . .

 

[annon123]

It's wrong to compare MA to Med Sups. MA is supposed to be compared to Medicare A&B. That is what it is replacing.

I don't agree with you. Most people look at A+B+D+Supp vs MAPD (or MAP + D). That's the closest Apple to Apple comparison of what is covered there is out there (and a few supps have gyms, vision, dental, hearing or some combo of that too). And that is what I find most people want compared. Apples to Apples.

 

[MedicareWAA]

Most of the discussion regarding OM + Medigap vs MA focuses on the monthly premium . . . and is completely flawed.

I agree with you. Medigap and MAPD are both great, but they are great for different reasons. Some people assign a lot of value to fact A or feature B, and others will assign no value to those things. I think the best way to serve a client is to complete a thorough needs assessment - including the person's preferences - and then giving a thorough explanation of what you're recommending and why you're recommending it.

 

[Newby]

I don't agree with you. Most people look at A+B+D+Supp vs MAPD (or MAP + D). That's the closest Apple to Apple comparison of what is covered there is out there (and a few supps have gyms, vision, dental, hearing or some combo of that too). And that is what I find most people want compared. Apples to Apples.

It's sort of misleading them though to present it that way. A lot of people think that their MAPD coverage has to be equal or greater to the Medicare with the sup when you explain it that way. It's just equal or greater than A&B. When you add in the sup, that's obviously much higher level of coverage.

Like a client called me this morning that was very upset because she recently found out she has breast cancer and her oncologist told her that she better check with her insurance agent what she's gonna be running into as the treatments are very expensive and she has to come in weekly. She was on a supplement so that was great news. She won't owe anything. If she was on an advantage plan, she would owe 20% of the cost of the treatments until she reaches her max out-of-pocket. Plus, of course we would need to verify the network.