Costs for Medicare Supplement insurance, also called “Medigap”, vary significantly for men and women, says Jesse Slome, director of the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance (AAMSI), which released the first phase of the study.
A 65-year old male purchasing Medicare Supplement insurance will pay anywhere from a low of $126 per-month to $444 per-month, according to the 2016 National Medicare Supplement Price Index.
A 65-year old women will pay from $118-per month in San Antonio, Texas to $444 a month in Manhattan. For a 65-year old male, the average difference was 39%. For a 65-year-old women, the average difference was 34% but the spread between the lowest and highest was as much as 48% in some cities.
The Association examined monthly rates for Medicare Supplement Plan F, the most commonly purchased coverage. Sixty-six percent of individual purchasers choose Plan F. No single insurer is consistently the least expensive or most expensive.
Some 12.2 million Americans had Medicare Supplement insurance in 2015, which is a significant increase compared to 9.7 million in 2010. With 10,000 Americans turning 65 every day, the number of Medigap policyholders will continue to grow.
Just as a side note, Anthem Blue Cross has increased its “New to Medicare” discount in California from $15 a month to $20 a month for the first year in which members are enrolled in an Anthem Blue Cross Plan F. Total savings of $240 for the year, making it among the lowest introductory rates for this plan in the state.
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