Hi, my name is Stephanie Abt.
And today, I'm talking about comparing Medicare supplement plan G with Medicare supplement plan N.
So stick around.
If you are comparing Medicare supplement plans,
chances are you're probably hearing about plan G and probably plan N as well.
These are two of the most popular Medicare supplement plans right now,
and generally they offer a very good value for your dollar.
So let's talk a little bit about how these plans work
so that you can determine which plan may be the best fit for you.
So this complicated chart shows you all of the different Medicare supplement plans that are available currently,
and today we're going to focus in on plan G and plan N.
Now plan G covers almost all of the gaps in original Medicare Part A and B.
You'll see that the only thing it doesn't cover is the Medicare Part B deductible.
So everyone who's on Medicare Part B has this annual deductible
that they need to pay before Medicare kicks in.
This year the deductible is $185 per year.
So with Plan G after you've met that deductible,
your Medicare supplement plan is going to pay 100% of the rest of your Medicare A and B costs.
So what that means for you is after you've paid that annual deductible,
you have no other copays, no coinsurance,
no other deductibles at the doctor and hospital for Medicare covered services that year.
Now Plan N is pretty similar offers good bang for your buck as well.
Just like Plan G, Plan N does not cover that Medicare Part B deductible,
so you'll still have that deductible that you're responsible for before your coverage kicks in.
And again, for this year, that deductible is $185 per year.
However, with Plan N after you've paid that deductible,
you may still have to pay copays at the doctors office and at the emergency room.
Copays will be anywhere from $0 to $20 at your provider
And this includes primary care doctor and specialist office visits.
And copays can be anywhere from $0 to $50 for an emergency room visit
And additionally, you'll see that Medicare supplement Plan N does not cover the Medicare Part B excess charges.
And this is something that a lot of people ask about
So let's talk about what are Medicare excess charges.
Now, excess charges are very rare.
But potentially they could happen if you go to a doctor who accepts Medicare patients
but does not accept Medicare as payment in full.
So we call that Medicare Assignment.
So if a doctor does accept Medicare Assignment,
then they accept Medicare payment as payment in full
and they would never bill you any excess charges.
However, if you see a Medicare doctor who does not accept Medicare Assignment,
then that doctor could potentially bill you up to 15% above the Medicare-approved amount for those Part B services.
And those are called Medicare excess charges.
Now Plan G covers all potential excess charges at 100%.
Plan N does not.
Medicare Part B excess charges can seem scary
but I want to stress that they are extremely rare.
Some of the most recent data suggests that 96% of Medicare doctors accept Medicare Assignment
so it is really rare to find a doctor that does not accept Medicare Assignment
or in other words, to find a doctor that would potentially build access charges.
Additionally, in some States, the ones I have listed right over here,
access charges are actually illegal and doctors are not allowed to ever bill them.
Now, if you're considering Medicare supplement Plan N and you're thinking,
I don't know if my doctor is going to accept Medicare Assignment or if I could potentially be billed excess charges.
There is a simple way to find out.
And I'm gonna show you.
I'm just gonna show you really quickly how to search online and see if your doctor accepts Medicare Assignment.
Like I said, most doctors do.
You can hop on over to the Medicare.gov website.
From there what you can do is you can scroll down a little bit
to where it says "find doctors, providers, hospitals, plans and suppliers".
And you click on find doctors and other health professionals".
So what I'm gonna do here is I am going to enter in a location in Texas.
And I am going to enter in a doctor's name.
Let's say Dr. Brown.
Sure there'll be plenty of Doctor Browns.
And we're gonna search and see.
So we're pulling up a list of all of these different practitioners right here.
And you can see this little green check mark is going to tell you if the doctor accepts Medicare Assignment.
You'll see the green check mark.
You'll see it says they accept Medicare-approved payment amounts.
And so I'm gonna scroll down and just kind of look.
Most of these doctors do accept Medicare-approved payment amounts.
This is the way to check if your doctor has one of these green check marks,
they are not going to bill you excess charges because that means they accept Medicare Assignment,
and they accept Medicare as payment in full.
So now that we know a little bit more about
how Medicare supplement Plan G and Medicare supplement Plan N compare,
how can you determine which plan is the better fit for you.
One thing that you wanna consider is how often do you visit the doctor.
Many folks that very rarely visit the doctor.
They're in pretty good health,
feel comfortable with Medicare supplement Plan N
because they don't mind the idea of copays when they go to the doctor's office.
If you're someone that visits the doctor very frequently,
maybe you have a chronic condition,
you may feel more comfortable with Plan G
because there are no copays after you've met your annual Medicare Plan B deductible.
A second thing that you'll want to consider is pricing.
Now in some areas, Plan N is priced substantially lower than Plan G,
making it a very attractive option.
And in other parts of the country,
the price difference between Plan G and Plan N is only maybe $10 or $15 a month
And one last thing to consider that's pretty important is
what will you experience with rate increases over time on Plan G versus Plan N.
Right now, at the time that this video is being filmed,
rate increases on Plan G and Plan N are pretty similar in most States.
However, you'll see that Plan N typically get slightly lower rate increases than Plan G.
Now this may be because a slightly healthier population tends to lean towards Plan N
so you're seeing less claims get paid out
and you have a healthier risk pool on that plan,
resulting in lower annual rate increases.
This may change to be an even more prominent difference between the 2 plans after the year 2020.
If you haven't yet heard of MACRA,
this is the Medicare access and CHIP Reauthorization Act.
The passing of this enforces that after January 1st of 2020,
no newly eligible Medicare beneficiaries will be able to
purchase Medicare supplement Plan F or Medicare supplement Plan C.
Plan F is right now a very popular guaranteed-issue Medicare supplement plan.
And without getting too confusing or going into too much depth,
what that means is that
Medicare supplement Plan F absorbs a lot more unhealthy risk.
Because certain folks who are past age 65 are able to get Plan F with no medical underwriting
In very specific, what we call "Guaranteed Issue" situations.
After 2020, when these plans start to get phased out for new Medicare beneficiaries,
the new guaranteed issue plans will be Plan G and Plan D after 2020.
Plan G and Plan D will be the new Guaranteed Issue plans.
That will inevitably be absorbing more of this unhealthy risk from people
in those specific Guaranteed Issue situations.
So what does all of this mean?
What it means is that after 2020 and moving into the future,
it is likely that you will see your rate increases on Plan G go up at a higher percentage than Plan N
because it will inevitably be absorbing more unhealthy risk.
So in general, Medicare supplement Plan G and Plan N are considered
two of the best value Medicare supplement plans currently,
depending on your location.
Now, based on your needs, your budget, your specific situation,
one of these plans may be a better fit for you than the other.
And this is where working with an independent unbiased Medicare broker is really going to be to your benefit.
You can feel Free to call me anytime for completely free no-obligation quote
for these plans in your area.
I work with all of the major insurance carriers nationwide.
My service is completely free of charge
and your Information will never ever be shared with a third party.
Thank you so much for watching!
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