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GRCM
Contributor ⭐
January 14, 2026

UnitedHealthcare: Company Strategy for their two Medigap books of business (UHIC and UHICA)

  • January 14, 2026
  • 7 replies
  • 3023 views

I live in Ohio and will be eligible for Medicare in a few months, so I'm trying to choose a good Medigap supplement.  I will likely not be able to pass underwriting in the future, so I have to choose a policy that I will be stuck with for the next 40 years unless I move to another state that does not require underwriting. 

 

One of my options is UnitedHealthcare.  UnitedHealthcare currently has two separate open books of business for their Medigap supplements:  1) UHIC *with* extra wellness benefits and 2) UHICA *without* any wellness benefits.  Of course, you're going to pay extra for those "extra" benefits!   

 

UHICA stands for UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of America, and it operates under the UnitedHealthcare umbrella. UHICA was newly introduced in 2022 to a select group of agents, and it is not available in all states.  An agent cautioned me that the UHICA offering is being removed from some states/counties, and his agency does not recommend buying it. He seems to think UnitedHealthcare will discontinue it and close the book of business, which could drive premiums sky high. 

 

It makes zero sense to me that UnitedHealthcare would discontinue UHICA. Customers are desperate to buy less expensive supplements now, and I would think having this lower-cost option would draw more people to the UnitedHealthcare supplement business.  I have googled myself silly to see if I can find any documentation that shows the company's strategy here, and I can't find any other source that says they are likely discontinue it.  I called the company, and their lips are sealed.

 

Would you guys please check your crystal balls and let me know whether you think the low-cost policy is a safe option for the long-term?  I have read that UnitedHealthcare is paring back its wellness benefits for Medigap supplements, so it seems to me that they're going in that direction.  I saw where Humana has also introduced a low-cost option without extra benefits, so I'm hoping this is a trend. 

 

Thank you!

    7 replies

    TRL1111
    Community Champion ⭐
    January 15, 2026

    I can tell you that when I signed up for Medicare in Texas three years ago, UHC offered two different Plan Gs--one with "wellness extras" and one without.  I chose the one with wellness extras.

     

    But at the end of 2025, they stopped allowing new people to enroll in the Plan G without wellness extras.  For all the zip codes used to search for plans in Texas on the AARP/UHC website, all of the available plans include wellness extras.

     

    The last time I checked, my G with wellness extras cost like $10 or $15 more than a Plan G without wellness extras.  Of course I can't check that any more because all the plan comparison tools show only plans that are eligible to be bought, and the Plan G without wellness extras is no longer eligible to be bought.

     

    That's one of the insidious things about closed books--they leave no trace.

      GRCMAuthor
      Contributor ⭐
      January 20, 2026

      I'm not sure the book of business is closed because we can still purchase G without benefits in Ohio.  I thought a book of business was open as long as the policy was being sold in at least one state.  I used to work for an auto insurance company, and a book had multiple states in it.

      TRL1111
      Community Champion ⭐
      January 21, 2026

      There's not a whole lot of non-anecdotal discussion of closing books on Medigap supplements out there.  Its almost like a whisper campaign.

       

      It seems to me that Medigap is so entwined with and regulated by individual states that it woild be doubtful that a risk pool would cover multiple states, but "seems to me" can be dangerous ground when it comes to anything dealing with insurance.

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