AARP and United Health Do it Again > 30% Plan G increase in Arizona for 2026

[MichaelH904998]

I am sure we will get all the same responses as in the past but FYI got our Supplemental Plan G increases for this year in Arizona.  30.08% over last year.  I do not have the plan with the declining discount.  Yes I know I can change and yes I will look.  I am guessing the other are similar now.  So much for affordability.  

[RobertG669103]

 I also live in Arizona, and my premium is increasing 30.7% for 2027.  The increase for 2026 was 19.5%.  That is an increase of over 50% for two years.  When I spoke to UHC when signing up for their program, they said to expect a 5% increase in premium each year.  They told the same thing to my wife when she signed up a couple of years later.  UHC cannot defend these increases, and they shouldn't be falsely spreading incorrect information about their future premium increases.  They know how hard it is to change Medicare Supplement Plans, so they know that they have us between a rock and a hard place.  AARP claims that they look out for Seniors.  They need to take a hard look at what one of their sponsored providers is doing to us year after year.  

[MitchellB914806]

My increase in Illinois is 40%.  IMHO AARP should disassociate itself from this predatory company.

[GailL1]

I don’t think that Arizona has a “birthday rule” or anything out of the ordinary that allows one to switch plans outside of the ones that are federally enforced - IEP, certain special enrollments due to some condition involving the insurer in the state, etc.  Otherwise, if you want to change, be as healthy as possible cause underwriting will most likely be in play.  And with underwriting, you could be assessed a higher premium OR have a preexisting condition not covered for a certain period of time under the new policy if you get one at all.  

ALL Medigap policies are gonna be going up - as does medical cost and usage in the plan - as one goes, so goes the other.  Is AZ one of the retirement meccas? 

So lots of people with Medicare and Medigap and lots of usage.

You also need to look at how your plan is rated for premiums.  Most all UHC -AARP plans are Community rated unless the state overrides it with a rating method set by law.  

So how is your plan rated?  Community rated, Attained Age or Issue Age?

BTW, you state approved of the rate increase - that is the case in most all states. 

[CBtoo]

Supplements can't deny coverage or pay less based on a health condition. The way they work is if medicare pays for it they are required to pay their share based on the particular plan you have. There is no "we will not pay your copay due to the problem being a pre-existing condition" with supplements. 

Also if you fail medical underwriting you can't switch to that company although you might be able to switch with some conditions and pay a higher tier rate. BUT if you stay with your plan you are currently on and don't switch they can't then use the results of underwriting to change what they charge you.

[GailL1]

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@CBtoo wrote:

Supplements can't deny coverage or pay less based on a health condition. The way they work is if medicare pays for it they are required to pay their share based on the particular plan you have. There is no "we will not pay your copay due to the problem being a pre-existing condition" with supplements. 

Also if you fail medical underwriting you can't switch to that company although you might be able to switch with some conditions and pay a higher tier rate. BUT if you stay with your plan you are currently on and don't switch they can't then use the results of underwriting to change what they charge you.

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@CBtoo 

Are you referencing my comment of “And with underwriting, you could be assessed a higher premium OR have a preexisting condition not covered for a certain period of time under the new policy if you get one at all. “ ??

[CBtoo]

That is exactly what I said for medicare and switching/medical underwriting. You are welcome to re-write it over and over to have the last word. To repeat what I said about underwriting earlier in this thread:

If medicare approves it and pays (presuming your medicare deductible isn't involved so it is still approved but then medicare pays all but your deductible) then the supplement has to pay 20% of the approved amount (minus any deductibles someone's supplement plan has). Medicare is the one who decides the "allowable rate" for reimbursement and what is approved to be paid.

Failing underwriting and having a tier two condition are two different things. If you fail you can't switch to another supplement (although you can switch to an advantage plan. And in one of the you can change every year states underwriting then is irrelevant for your annual opportunity to switch). IF however you don't fail but you have a condition that will allow you to switch, some of those conditions mean that you will be tier two in your premiums (typically pretty high so switching for cost savings likely isn't going to happen). 

[GailL1]

@CBtoo 

I think you are misunderstanding what I said - many states have the provision of only being able to change Medigap plans by underwriting unless there is a federal GI rights provision in effect for special conditions.

The results of underwriting in these states maybe that the new insurer will want to charge you higher premiums or they may disallow coverage of certain pre-existing conditions for a certain number of months.

These are state specific because this is a jurisdiction where the states do have priority.  

I am not disputing how Medigap works, i.e. if Medicare covers it, Medigap will cover it - but where underwriting is concerned and there is a pre-existing stipulation in the new policy, they will not pay anything on this specific conditiont until after the wait period is over - 

[CBtoo]

Your first paragraph I already said that more than once.

Your second paragraph - if you pass underwriting with no issues they flag they can't charge you a higher rate than others for premiums by medicare law. They only can charge you a higher rate for some conditions you may have when you undergo underwriting - those conditions don't cause you to fail underwriting per say however they are conditions that trigger a Tier 2 premium. For example with UHC supplements: If your kidney failure is such that you get dialyses you fail and can't buy a UHC supplement. If you have stage 3 kidney failure you pass but have to pay for Tier 2. If you have stage 2 kidney failure you pass without being flagged and pay the same rate as anyone else. 

Paragraph three - there are some things that aren't state specific due to medicare law.

Paragraph four - in some states you may have a waiting period for pre-existing conditions (that don't cause you to fail medical underwriting or may land you in Tier 2) but by law there is no waiting period for anything else. 

[MichaelH904998]

Forgot to mention that I had seen 15-18% estimated.  I will say upon looking this morning at the other plans on Medicare.gov, the AARP plan was on the lower priced side.  So just an affordability issue which could cause a rate spiral as people drop out.  

[CBtoo]

In states where you can switch without having to undergo medical underwriting does generally mean those states have higher supplement premiums. This is because many people stick with an advantage plan when they have few health needs because it is cheaper (well presuming no network issues either) but when they have more medical issues eventually it becomes cheaper to pay for a supplement which is less than the maximum out of pocket that advantage plans charge. As a result, on average, the pool of people with a supplement are more expensive to the insurance company offering the supplement because more of the people with supplements have higher medical expenses than those in  advantage plans.

In non "you can change each year" states the advantage plans have more sicker people simply because those people often can't pass medical underwriting to switch to a supplement. 

[TRL1111]

Just to clarify--if the "change each year" you're talking about is referring to the birthday rule, you can't change from Advantage to Original Medicare + Medigap supplement with guaranteed-issue rights.  The birthday rule only allows people who already have a Medigap supplement to switch to another Medigap supplement, and in most states it must be to a Medigap supplement with equal or lesser benefits than what they already have.

[TRL1111]

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@CBtoo wrote:

In non "you can change each year" states the advantage plans have more sicker people simply because those people often can't pass medical underwriting to switch to a supplement. 

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When you refer to states where you can change each year, are you talking about birthday-rule states, in addition to states that have year-round guaranteed issue (where you can change every month if you want to).

[GailL1]

@MichaelH904998 

Medicare Supplemental policies are not health insurance - they are gap insurance - protecting a Medicare beneficiary from a financially catastrophic medical event because (Traditional or Original) Medicare does not have an limit on out of pocket cost.

Medical cost have been rising faster than regular cost of living especially in Medicare but for others also - so as medical cost rise, so goes the cost of Medigap plans.  Medigap plan premuims rise with usage - so the more Medicare beneficiaries use Medicare (and have a Medigap plan) the higher the premiums.

Something else kind of unique to AARP UHC Medigap plans is their use of the declining discounts.  The discount starts out relatively high then along about year 3 - 5 depending on the plan, the discount % begins to be reduce and it continues on like this until you are in your 80’s., when it is suposed to level off somewhat.  This increase may be separate from the regular one, done because of a rise in cost, but it depends on your plan and state where you live.

Then there are those states that have become very liberal in letting people change plans during the year without underwriting - there is a financial reason for underwriting - for the insurers as well as beneficiaries.  As these beneficiaries, with all kinds of heath care conditions and plan usage, change plans during the year to save themselves premium money, they bring their poor health with them to their new plan choice, which could be the one your are on - thus raising the cost of the plan.  But as a resident of the state that allows this, the beneficiary is also allowed to change plans too - taking along their health baggage with them as others also do.

Premiums do tend to be much higher in the states that allow this to happen - i.e. changing Medigap plans without underwriting.  AZ to my knowledge is not a state that has done this.

When Medigap plan premiums get too rich for ones pocketbook - there is always the High Deductible Plan G - very economical premium-wise because it has its own deductible set by Medicare annually- 2026, the deductible for HD-Plan G is $ 2950.  Once you satisfy this with your Part B deductible, your Medicare cost share, your Part A deductible - to meet your HD Plan G deductible - then the Plan G part of the HD plan works just like normal for the remainder part of the year.

I doubt in the next several years that it is gonna get any better - when the height of the Baby Boomers going on Medicare is happening from now to 2030,   They earned it and now they are gonna use it.