Medicare Eligibility Projections

Many people wonder on a daily basis what will be the outcome of Medicare. Not trying to be doom and gloom but with Medicare eligibility increasing by over 10,000 people a day for the next 20 years, increased medical expenses, more and more red tape for hospitals to jump through in filing claims, and Medicare fraud being more than 4 billion a year it is a logical question.

Medicare Eligibility

Due to the increase in Medicare beneficiaries it appears, based on historical trends, that Medicare Supplement premiums will increase on average by 4,500,000,000 per year over the next 10 years.. Which equates to over 22% of Medicare beneficiaries. Medicare eligibility will be 34% higher in 2022 than it was in 2012. This is estimated to represent an increase of roughly 17 million enrollees over the next 11 years.

Medicare Reform

The main thing that Washington is trying to push through right now is elimination of cost sharing plans. This means getting rid of the most popular Medicare Supplement Plan which is the Plan F. Most people are not aware that certain congressional leaders are trying to pass this; however, if they do pass this over 6 million Medicare Plan F policyholders will be extremely frustrated with this decision. Lately the main question we have received is "Will there be health questions on a Medigap plan?" The answer is yes! Since these are supplemental plans and not primary insurance they are not required to abide by the NO PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS requirement.

Decrease in Retiree Health Benefits

We saw a report from CSG Actuarial this week that disclosed that many employers will no longer be offering retiree benefits due to the requirements and increase in costs. Two things that are being reported are:

1. Medicare Retiree Plans that are non-employer subsidized. Similar to the Seniors Choice Plan offered through Guarantee Trust Life. For more information call 1-877-759-5760.
2. Reimbursing retirees for their healthcare expenses with an account that is similar to an Health Reimbursement Account.

Determining Medicare Eligibility

There are three ways to determine Medicare eligibility.

• 65 and older and a US Citizen
• Permanently disabled for over 24 months
• End Stage Rental Disease

We hope this article has helped in explaining the ways to become Medicare eligible, the upcoming influx of medicare eligibility and what we are seeing in the retiree/employer market.