Comparing Supplements Can Save You Money

A personal finance columnist recently wrote a piece in the Tribune in Tuscon, Arizona. The article was regarding shopping around and making comparisons before you make a decision regarding Medicare Supplements. Rather than change his words, the article is re-printed below. His way of explaining shoping around and the results are exceptional and can help anyone who is looking for a Medicare Supplement.

Business
The Savings Game : I shopped around and did save on insurance
Opinion by Humberto Cruz
Tribune Media Services
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.10.2009

As a personal-finance columnist, I tell readers to shop around when buying insurance. With my homeowners, windstorm, automobile and umbrella liability insurance policies all coming up for renewal at the same time, I tested the wisdom of that advice.
Truth be told, I was quite busy at the time and quite tempted to simply send in my renewal checks and be done with it.
But that’s not what I tell readers to do. So I asked for competing quotes from three independent insurance agents (who deal with several companies instead of recommending just one).
The result: I saved more than $655 a year — and in some cases got better coverage — while finding a new insurance agency that has offered better price and service and is nearer our home.
In addition, another agent at the new firm helped my wife, Georgina, shop around for Medicare supplement and Medicare Part D drug prescription policies to be in place by July 1, the month she turns 65.
Comparison shopping among all available Medicare supplement policies in our state (Florida) confirmed that the policy Georgina planned to buy offered the best combination of coverage and price for her.
But — this is not uncommon — the prescription-drug policy offered by the same insurance company did not. Our agent suggested a policy from another company that, based on the medicines Georgina takes, will save her about $114 a year.
We did have to work for our savings, putting in about eight hours of research and legwork, contacting insurance agencies and checking references, reviewing policies and making sure the insurance companies recommended to us had a solid financial-strength rating.
It was well worth the effort, with annual savings of more than $96 for every hour spent.
As consumer guides from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners point out, and as we plainly saw, different companies charge different rates for the same coverage.
“The only way you can make certain you are not paying too much is to shop around,” say the guides, which you can download for free from the “Consumers” section of the NAIC Web site, www.naic.org
Here’s good advice from the NAIC, an association of state insurance regulators nationwide, which I’m glad I followed:
• Talk to representatives from different companies (or independent agents that can sell policies from many) and ask for quotes for the coverage you need.
• Once you’ve narrowed down the list of companies, call your state department of insurance (Arizona: 1-800-325-2548) and check whether they are permitted to do business in your state (all the companies recommended to us are). If any one is not, don’t buy the insurance and tell your department of insurance that the company is trying to do business in the state.
• Check with rating agencies for a financial strength rating or grade of the insurance companies. Don’t just go with the lowest-priced policy. You want the company to be there if you need to file a claim. For more information on ratings and to look them up, you can search the Web sites www.insbuyer.com/insurance rating.htm and www.insure.com
• Also check the company’s complaint record, which you can request from the NAIC’s Consumer Information Source at https://eapps.naic.org/cis (Please note the “https://”)
Send questions or comments to Humberto Cruz at [email protected].