United Health Raising Rates Mid Year

[LorraineC792260]

How is United Healthcare allowed to raise their rates mid year?  People budget on the number they're given when deciding on plans.  They should not be allowed to raise mid year. How does AARP allow that to go through and not negotiate for it's members?  

[Winter2025VA]

@TRL1111 , my comment to Lorraine @LorraineC792260 had ZERO to do with the "label" of LOW INCOME. Our discussion was about increasing rates mid year./lol 🤣😂

➡️[*** YOU SAID: Fixed income isn't necessarily low income. A retiree with a pension or an annuity that pays $200,000 a year has a fixed income--but it's not a low income. A retiree whose retirement is funded by withdrawals from a 401k or IRA doesn't have a fixed income--and whether he's low income or high income would depend on the amount of the 401k or IRA he's withdrawing from.

[GailL1]

Most all Medigap insurers are raising their rates in 2025 because of the increase in their cost of coverage - the number and amount of claims - and then for some, added risk, when state law allows people to pick up or change plans without underwriting.

Most of them raise their rates in the summer but with a UHC Medigap you may actually get (2) raises if you have a declining premium discount plan which goes up, I believe, on your anniversary date with the plan.

AARP has no authority over UHC Medigap premium rates - like any other insurer ace company, the premiums are based on the coverage, the use, the rating method, and state law.  

Read your contract / EOB

[glow141]

Except during open enrollment (and California "birthday rule") if you change medigap plans they can evaluate you based on your medical history and refuse your application.  AARP needs to change their agreement with UHC.  Apparently we get a "discount" upon initial enrollemnt which DECREASES 3% each year for being a loyal customer. This in essence a 3% increase on every anniversary date.  Furthermore, UHC sets rates in Califonria from June to May.  So during open enrollemnt you have no idea what the future rate will be so it is impossible to compare plans.
 I understand the need to cover expenses, but I believe up front pricing is needed and not mid-year surprises.

[TRL1111]

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@glow141 wrote:

Except during open enrollment (and California "birthday rule") if you change medigap plans they can evaluate you based on your medical history and refuse your application.  

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There is no nationwide open enrollment period for supplements.  Everybody can get a supplement without medical underwriting when they're first eligible for Medicare, but after that, it depends on what state someone is in.  In a few states, there are guaranteed issue periods (like California's birthday rule or New York's year-round guaranteed-issue period, among others) during which a person can change Medigap supplements, but in a majority of states, there is no general guaranteed- issue period or "open enrollment" period that allows anyone to switch supplements without undergoing medical underwriting.

If you're thinking of the "open enrollment" period at the end of every year, it has nothing to do with supplements.  

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@glow141 wrote:

Apparently we get a "discount" upon initial enrollemnt which DECREASES 3% each year for being a loyal customer. This in essence a 3% increase on every anniversary date.  

Actually, no it's not.  A 3% decrease in a discount is not equal to a 3% increase in the premium on which the discount is applied.  (And for the record, the discount is decreased by 3 percentage points, not 3%--they're not the same thing.) 

Basically, the increase due to the declining discount will start at 5% and will go down until a person reaches the age where the discount zeroes out (probably around age 81), and during that time the increase due to the declining discount will never be below 3%.

I posted about this a couple of months ago, showing how the math works:

community.aarp.org/t5/Medicare-Insurance/Declining-discount-of-3-on-supplements-actually-equals-5/m-...