My Personal Trip to Medicare Supplemental Insurance Hell (Guest Voice)
My Personal Trip to Medicare Supplemental Insurance Hell
by John Crane
I turned 65 in October of 2011. Several months before that date I began the long, frustrating and convoluted voyage of choosing my Medicare Supplemental Insurance company and policy. This task was made more difficult and tedious by the lack of facts, ratings and availability of data on the insurance companies in the market. Each state in the country had its own list of companies available; there was NO standardization in the companies listed from state to state. In short, it was a researchers nightmare!
My research was further frustrated by the fact that Pennsylvania [where I live] offers NO ratings for Medicare Supplemental Health Insurance companies. For that matter, they don’t rate ANY insurance companies for ANYTHING. I had to resort to the statistics and recommendations offered on websites supported by other states, specifically New York, New Jersey and several New England states.
After spending nearly forty hours doing research on Medicare Supplemental Health Insurance over a period of two months, I made my choice of the most highly rated company … and then the Medicare Supplement division of that very company was sold to another insurance company … the company with one of the worst records in the country! I eliminated the low rated firm in the first few hours of my research. Of the national insurance companies offering Medicare Supplemental Insurance, only one other company was rated lower with higher rates of formal complaints in the state of New York and several of the New England states. [Two smaller regional companies actually were rated at the bottom in NY, but neither of those companies sold insurance in the state of Pennsylvania. As I stated, there is NO standardization from state to state!]
To further annoy and frustrate me, the two companies involved in the merger sent me a notice of the merger of their companies two weeks AFTER my new policy went into effect. I was unbelievably furious when I received the letter informing me of the merger! As far as I’m concerned, I completely wasted forty hours of my time and ended up with an inferior company. The company sale was finalized the very day that my policy went into effect, but, as stated, I received the letter two weeks later. Had I known of the forthcoming merger of the companies, I would have chosen the company that was my second choice [based on my research]. They certainly planned their secret little conspiracy well!
God only knows what will happen next in this country regarding health insurance, particularly if the Tea Party or radical Republicans take control of the White House, the Senate and the House. Now that Mitt Romney has chosen Paul Ryan as his running mate, we can expect head-on attacks against Medicare, Social Security, the FDA, the EPA, the IRS, unions, regulations and more, while further cutting the tax rates for the super wealthy and corporations. If that happens, I guess we can just change the name of our beloved country to U.S.A., Inc. and stack the sick, the elderly, the young, the minorities, and the struggling poor and middle class onto a special trash heap for the uninsurable and disposable.
We wouldn’t want the U.S.A. to be seen as spiraling into Socialism, would we? After all, it’s about deceptive marketing, Wall Street, quick short-term profit, multinational corporations, and “personal freedom”, right? The personal freedom to chose the health insurance company of your dreams, as long as you’re young and/or healthy, have the money, no preexisting conditions, never put in a claim and have a reputable insurance company with a conscience operating in your state.
Suggested reading for the uninformed or misinformed: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair [the book that shocked Teddy Roosevelt into creating the FDA], Silent Spring by Rachel Carson [which inspired and motivated the environmental movement, Wealth of a Nation by Adam Smith [arguably regarded as the "Bible" of the naively idealistic, unfettered, Capitalism philosophy of the neoconservative movement], Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand [textbooks often worshiped by the fiscal conservatives], and a lot of others too numerous to list in this article.
A piece of trivia: Denmark has consistently been listed as harboring the most contented and happy population on planet Earth; a nation with one of the most comprehensive and all-inclusive systems of social networks anywhere; one of, if not the most, egalitarian societies on Earth with the smallest gap between the poorest and the richest of its citizens.
Knowledge is power. Think about that.
2012 copyright by John Crane
John Crane is a A frustrated, struggling, idealistic, self-employed, senior citizen artist.
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http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/30/sex-trafficking-countries-take-different-approaches-to-same-problem/
It doesn’t take much to keep the Dane’s happy.
I have a half brother who is Danish. I went there to visit for his wedding. In the 10 days I spent there, I don’t doubt they are the happiest nation on Earth. Great place, and man do the Danes know how to throw a wedding.
Sorry to hear about your unpleasant saga John. It just serves as another painful reminder of how much average Americans are held in contempt by big business and the political right. Thanks to the neo-GOP, it’s minions and puppet masters for this. If we were all working together in a centralized, socially responsible way, based on reason, logic, science and conscience these problems would be far, far fewer. But thanks to greed, ignorance, and an institutionalized sociopathy we are in our present sorry state.
agree with you entirely john. Seriously hd to get a congressperson involved in our situ in order to gain the ‘benefits’ promised… . Medicare is not free, it costs a substantial monthly amount for each person, no breaks for couples, as does the supplemental cost even more… and given the huge amount of hours having to chase it around to be remimbursed for such simple things as a blood test, I’d say ‘the program’ is a complete boondoggle. Been on it for a year and it’s STILL not straightened out. User ease and ‘entitlement’ says Romney and Ryan? Be serious. Really. STFD. (shut the front door)
also suggest, if you’re a veteran, contact your congressperson and senator if you’re to be given medicare and supplemental and are paid up for both and still youre getting no proper responses from one or both. Their aides can often help move things along.
I’m not clear why the difficulties Mr. Crane had with his supplemental medicare insurance are being attributed to the GOP.
No it isn’t, DaGoat. The contempt Zephyr refers to seems to be going the other direction.
LOL
What does prostitution have to do with medical insurance. Most of the EU has legal or decriminalized prostitution.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Europe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Denmark
And prostitution obviously does not occur in conservative states!
Insurers eating one another is much like what has also happened with banks. Screwing over their customers is probably how the bad company had the funds to buy the good one.
To RP:
I know two Danish families: one owns and operates a 42 acre high-end horse farm in the U.S.[and it takes a LOT to make them happy.] The other family lives in Denmark and owns and operates their own mid-sized company [likewise, it takes a LOT to make them happy.] Very hard working and demanding people. I think you’d like the Danish and change your perspective if you knew any.
To DaGoat:
Please reread my article/blog. Nowhere in my piece did I blame the GOP for my problems. I did, however, comment that I would expect it to get worse if the GOP controlled the entire U.S. government. My problem(s)were caused by the insurance corporations. The bad one purchased the good one to improve its image, according to several articles I read regarding the merger.
If the GOP takes command of all, and deregulates the industry even further, the problems experienced will only get worse.
To Zephyr, Dr. Estes, Dr. J:
You folks obviously “got” the content of my blog as intended! I am a Vietnam Veteran [1968-1969] and actually have less problems dealing with the VA than the private insurance companies. THAT’S scary. Thanks for your responses.
To Shannon Leee and Rudi:
How the heck did you two get onto the subject of prostitution from reading my article? I’m going to take a guess that one or both of you didn’t know what “egalitarian” means. Of course, I may be wrong.
Definition of egalitarian: belief in human equality with respect to social, political and economic rights and privileges.
If I was wrong in trying to figure out how you worked the subject of prostitution into my laments, please let know how you DID get to that topic. Curious!
To Slamfu”
Right On!! Likewise, I’ve been to some incredible Danish parties! But, you better like fish and cheese …
AIH are you talking about Medicare supplemental or Part D plans?
DaGoat;
I’m talking about both. I was trying to setup a good, comprehensive Medicare supplemental insurance policy for myself that covered hospitalization and all else, including Part D. Since I chose the company mentioned in my blog, I’ve had several visits to doctors and, so far, have had no issues with claims. I’m keeping my fingers crossed! After talking with my first choice company [following the merger] I was assured that the new parent company would give the original company complete autonomy. I only pray that they can be trusted and keep their word!
I also sent emails to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner of PA and described my frustration at not finding nothing on their website to help my research. I sent them links to the websites of other states to show them what was offered by those agencies. They promised that they were working on it. That was a year ago … and nothing new yet! Of course, this IS PA!
Shannon Leee and Rudi:
My apologies!
I just noticed the strange link attached to RP’s comments … relating to prostitution and “not taking much to make Danes happy”! No wonder you took up the topic! He took a VERY strange diversion from the topic I discussed!
To SummitMedigap:
It did not take me 40 hours to chose a plan! It took me 40 hours to research the insurance companies’ records and histories in my futile attempt to try and find a reputable insurance company that treated its subscribers with respect and honesty … and then, as my article explained, that was foiled when the company that I chose was bought by the company that I hated the most!
But then, you’re probably representing those very companies.
And I DID use a Medicare licensed agent from a local company when I finally narrowed my choice down. Even they didn’t know about the merger.
To SummitMedigap;
And I did not chose an Advantage plan. Did not like architecture or limitations of those! I chose a supplement plan, one that is VERY comprehensive, plan G.