Medicare Supplement Insurance Costs Show Little or No Increase

Find Medicare Supplement agents at www.medicaresupp.org

Good news for the 10,000 Americans who turn 65 every day. Costs for Medicare Supplement insurance showed little or no increase from a year ago.

According to the 2017 National Medicare Supplement Price Index a 65-year old male purchasing a Med Supp insurance policy will pay anywhere from a low of $126-per-month in San Antonio, TX to a high of $464-per-month in Manhattan, NY.   Rates for a woman turning 65, ranged from a low of $118 to the highest, $464-per-month.

“In many places, costs for Medigap protection did not change from a year ago,” shares Jesse Slome, director of the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance (AAMSI). The Association annually compiles insurance costs for 10 major metropolitan areas.

The 2016 AAMSI Price Index reported a range of between $126 and $444-per-month for men age 65 and $118 and $444 for women.

The study revealed a significant change in the difference between the lowest and highest costs available within each of the 10-markets.   In 2016, the average difference (between the lowest and highest possible premium cost) was 39 percent. For 2017, the Association study found an average 121 percent spread for both men and women.

Medicare Supplement Comparison Shopping Can Save Seniors Thousands

“Individuals mistaken assume that all Medicare insurance options including prices are standardized,” Slome explains. “One can pay more than double for virtually identical coverage.”   Some of the greatest spreads were found in Dallas (174%), San Antonio (169%), Phoenix (169%), and Chicago (157%). California had some of the lowest spreads; Los Angeles (50%), and San Jose (59%).

Some 13.1 million Americans owned Medicare Supplement insurance in 2016 compared to 9.7 million in 2010.

The Association study examined monthly rates for 65-year olds purchasing Medicare Supplement Plan F, the most commonly purchased coverage. According to AAMSI 60 percent of individuals today choose Plan F.

The American Association for Medicare Supplement maintains the nation’s largest online directory of local independent Medicare Supplement agents.  To access the directory go to www.medicaresupp.org/agents