Gappy Seven years after Congress acted to create ten standardized plans for Medicare supplement insurance, commonly known as Medigap, consumers are still encountering dramatic differences in the premiums they are charged for identical policy benefits, according to recent study by Weiss Ratings Inc, provider of health insurance shopping guides for senior citizens. The study's findings are based on 37,090 quotes from 108 companies offering Medigap coverage. However, many consumers are still being overcharged.
Many companies claim that the wide price differences are strictly due to hidden policy differences.
Indeed, some companies give a price break at age 65, but increase premiums as the policyholder gets older, while others charge more at 65 and do not increase premiums with age. In addition, some companies charge less for healthier individuals, while others offer the same rate regardless of one's health condition. However, these two rationales, says the Weiss study, still fail to explain many of the price gaps. That's a new phrase, and it's coming from the male side of the bed. Nevertheless, that phrase may become common place, according to a report from the Center for the Advancement of Health.