Recent premium increase for United Healthcare coverages

[jphorenci]

I am absolutely appalled at the just announced price increases for United Healthcare coverage. The increase in RX (over 90%) announced during the last open enrollment was enough force me to make a change and now the supplemental health coverage increase (22%) is astounding. As their primary selling agent, you should anticipate my changing to another, more affordable carrier at my first opportunity and hopefully a boatload of others doing the same. Shameful, unjustified, heartless, and ridiculous. Shame on both you and United Healthcare.  

[GailL1]

@SummerIsTooHOT wrote

. . . . . If enough people complain, MAYBE AARP will care . . . 

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They may “care” but there is little they can do - they ONLY get royalty payments from UHC for use of their name in the promotion of their product - AARP has nothing to do with the benefits or premiums of the insurance company.

[maeella9]

Hi Gaill.1.

I totally agree with you.  They say the squeaky wheel gets the oil.  Well, there are enough squeaky wheels like myself that are AARP members and we should very well voice our dissatisfaction with them and their attaching their name to United Healthcare's supplemental plan with this unaffordable increase!  They could at least give us some options and/or names of other insurers that are cheaper and help us out rather than tell us "we will look into it!"  Baloney!

[GailL1]

@maeella9 

In my other reply to you this am, I gave the Medicare.gov website page where you can find other MediGap insurers in your area - 

Now what ways can you or others voice your dissatisfaction with AARP in this matter - just a possible one that is at your finger tips.

-  Perhaps Cancel your membership after you have secured your choice of a AARP/UHC Medigap plan of your choice - you only have to be a member of AARP to secure the plan; not to keep it going - so after that sign on,  they cannot cancel your plan for not being a member.

How long do you think AARP would stick with UHC for their branded Medigap if memberships began to be cancelled?

Why is being a member even a pre-requisite to purchasing an AARP/UHC Medigap plan?  Membership isn’t required to purchase an AARP/UHC Medicare Advantage plan.  

If you really want to fix stuff like this for everybody, advocate for Medicare to have a maximum annual out of pocket.  That would pretty much wipe out the need for any MediGAP coverage.  

Only a small number of Medicare beneficiaries have a MediGAP plan - WHY, the reason is simple - they don’t need it because they have something else to take its place.

• Almost 50% of Medicare beneficiaries use a MA plan and not Original Medicare
• Then of the remaining

- many are dual eligible - meaning they share Medicare (primary) and MediCAID (secondary)

- others have some other type of secondary payer - retiree, military or some other government secondary coverage - like CHAMPVA.

.

[AARPConsumerCare]

Hi Nicole! We're sorry to hear you’re having trouble with one of our benefit providers. We are listening and would like the chance to help as soon as possible. Please visit https://help.aarp.org/s/article/contact-aarp to chat, text, or speak with a representative who can get you in touch with our Member Relations team. -Sue J

[SummerIsTooHOT]

➡️*** 3/18/24 WRONG NAME ***⬅️

Hey Sue J @AARPConsumerCare , LAURA @LauraA422032 is the person who posted a complaint TODAY. Thanks, Nicole

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[*** SUE @AARPConsumerCare wrote:

Hi  ➡️*** Nicole! ***⬅️  We're sorry to hear you’re having trouble with one of our benefit providers. We are listening and would like the chance to help as soon as possible. Please visit https://help.aarp.org/s/article/contact-aarp to chat, text, or speak with a representative who can get you in touch with our Member Relations team. -Sue J ***]

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[AARPConsumerCare]

Hi @jphorenci, we are also concerned by price increases that in some cases would double the cost of people’s monthly premiums. AARP knows that any increases, let alone ones on this scale, are difficult to manage – especially for people on fixed incomes. A major driver of these increases is the underlying prices of prescription drugs charged by pharmaceutical companies. It is why AARP has fought so hard to bring down those prices, including by allowing Medicare to negotiate for better prices on behalf of consumers. Thanks to the law that passed last year, Medicare now has that ability with the first negotiated prices taking effect in 2026.

The current Part D premium increases are not unique to the AARP-branded Medicare Rx Part D plans from UnitedHealthcare and are happening across the industry. UnitedHealthcare has informed us that their goal is to provide valuable, sustainable, and affordable plans for Medicare members. According to United, although premiums for most Medicare Part D plans change each year, it has worked hard to minimize those increases over the past few years. If you are interested in learning more about other available plans during open enrollment, please contact Medicare directly at: 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), or visit: medicare.gov/plan-compare/ to use the comparison tool. - Diana G.