Lowcountry Seniors Are Being Ripped Off

Lowcountry Seniors Are Being Ripped Off

As a long time advocate for seniors as a Licensed Medicare Broker here in the Lowcountry I'm getting tired of seeing seniors being ripped off by large insurance companies here in the state. Most seniors I talk to on a daily basis are living on a fixed income. Either some kind of retirement pension, or Social Security, or both in some cases. With the rising costs of health care in the US, most of these seniors are electing to cancel or drop coverage all together because of how unaffordable it is.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, there exists over 30 insurance companies in SC that offer a special kind of insurance for seniors called "Medicare Supplement Insurance" designed to protect seniors from out of pocket costs since Traditional Medicare only covers about 80% of seniors health care costs.

The problem is among these 30+ insurance companies, you'll find prices for insurance ranging from $30-400 per month. No that's no typo, some seniors are spending upwards of $400 per month on this kind of insurance. Why is that you may ask? Seniors paid into Social Security and Medicare their entire lives just to be told that Medicare doesn't do the job they were told it would. So what most seniors do, is they'll speak to a "captive" insurance agent that represents one insurance company, or they call a TV commercial from one insurance company and accept whatever high price they are offered out of fear that if they don't accept this high price, they'll be stuck with high out of pocket costs at the doctor or hospital.

The problem with this is most seniors, around 93% of them are overpaying for this Medicare Supplement insurance. "Captive" insurance agents here locally prey on senior's worst fears and convince them they need to pay thousands per year in premiums to protect themselves. Normally these insurance agents will ask to drive to YOUR house, and use high pressure sales tactics to get you to agree to high premiums plans that seniors don't actually need.

Let me give you an example of this, just this week in Summerville SC. Our team received a request for information on our Facebook page where customers contact us for help with Medicare. It was a couple in Summerville not far from where my family and I live that were paying $454 a month combined on their Medicare Supplement Insurance (Plan F) alone (not including the $121 each they pay to Medicare Part B, or their Part D drug plans).

I asked them a ton of questions, but the first one was "when was the last time you heard from your insurance broker?". They responded that they had no one checking in on them each year making sure they weren't overpaying. I shopped the market and showed them all 30+ insurance companies (rather than just one) offering the same Plan F coverage that they already enjoyed.

Same doctors, same hospitals, same everything. I showed them on Medicare.Gov where it says Plan F is the same no matter what company you go with: "The cost of Medicare Supplement policies can vary widely. There can be big differences in premiums that insurance companies charge for exactly the same coverage. As you shop for a Medicare Supplement policy, be sure you are comparing the same Medicare Supplement policy (for example, compare a Plan A from one company with Plan A from another company).

They were able to qualify to save 60 dollars a month each with the same coverage they already had, a combined $120 per month, $1,440 per year. They thought it was too good to be true until they researched on Medicare.gov for themselves and discovered I was right.

The point of the story is this, if you're a senior that has a Medicare Supplement Policy that isn't hearing from their Insurance Broker each year then you might be like the folks I met with this week. We have a local team in place that solves problems like this everyday. Since we can show you each insurance company in the state, we serve as an unbiased advocate that works for YOU to find the lowest rate, rather than just "talking up" one insurance company.

My name is CJ Westfall and my family has been helping seniors here in SC and around the country for over 20 years. This is our passion. If you know anyone that has a Medicare Supplement Plan, it's likely they're part of the 93% of seniors that are overpaying for their coverage.

Visit our Facebook Page at Golden National or give us a call at 843-605-1031 to see how we can save you or your loved ones money without giving up your valuable coverage.