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jason94
Contributor ⭐
September 25, 2024

AARP UHC Medicare Supplement: Do people who enrolled in different years have the same BASE premium?

  • September 25, 2024
  • 1 reply
  • 1069 views

I have  a general question about how AARP UHC’s Community-rated Medicare Supplements actually work, with regard to premiums.

 

I’ll ask by example. For purposes of this question, assume that any enrollments I refer to are under guaranteed issue rights OR that the enrollee fully meets underwriting requirements for acceptance at “regular” pricing.

 

65-year-old Carol and 70-year-old Laura are both female non-smokers that live in single-member households in the same zip code. They both enroll in the same AARP UHC Medicare supplement in October 2024. I know that they will have the same BASE premium, and that differences in their net premiums will be due completely to differences in discounts (especially the age-based discounts).

 

My question: If Laura instead enrolled in that same plan in October 2019, when she was 65, would her BASE premium in October 2024 still be the same as Carol’s? I guess what I’m really asking is, are people who enrolled in different years considered part of the same “Community?”

      1 reply

      jason94Author
      Contributor ⭐
      September 27, 2024

      OK, no one seems to be weighing in (yet?), so let me explain why I am asking,

       

      When I got my AARP UHC supplement about five years ago, the discount structure was 36% off the base premium the first year, with that discount declining by 3 percentage points every year (on my anniversary date) until expired.

       

      But someone (at least in my area) who buys an equivalent supplement today gets a more generous discount structure: 39% (instead of 36) initially, staying at 39% for 4 years before the 3 points per year decline begins its trek toward zero.

       

      What I'm trying to ascertain is whether the "Community Pricing" for later enrollees was increased to (at least partially) get the NET premiums back up, i.e., offset the more-generous discounts?  If so, that would suggest someone who enrolled in 2019 and someone who enrolled in 2024 do NOT share the same base (i.e., before-discounts) pricing in a given year. In that case "Community Pricing" is only for people who joined the same year.  Or maybe only for people who share the same discount structure, even if that applies to multiple enrollment-years.  As much as I read about Community pricing (which only AARP UHC seems to have), and the "advantages" of "everyone getting the same premium,"  there is never any clarity as to whether that "same premium" can vary according to when the plan was purchased.

       

      Getting to specifics, I have information suggesting that my Base (pre-discounted) premium is now $242, while a same-aged "me" that enrolled today (without underwriting rejection or up-charge) would have a Base premium of $257.  (Though the "me" that joined today would pay a *lower* NET premium because of the more-generous discount schedule.)

       

      Please note that I am not referring to the newer offerings that became available in some states starting in 2022 (the plans issued by "United Healthcare Insurance Company of America," instead of "United Healthcare Insurance Company.")

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