Just as background, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) directed CMS to make changes to the Medigap plan benefits to update the plans. The plan benefits have not been updated since they were first introduced in 1992.
Here is a link to the annoucement on CMS adopting the NAIC Model.
In brief, the NAIC model:
- will eliminate some benefits from existing plans (At Home Recovery benefit will be removed from Plans D and G),
- will eliminate some existing plans for future sales (E, H, I, J, K, L and High Deductible J),
- will increase the Part B Excess covered by Plan G from 80% to 100% and
- will introduce 2 new plans, Plan M and Plan N.
These changes will take place on June 1st, 2010, however, the companies will need to begin filing new plan designs well in advance in order for them to be ready on June 1st.
I’ll be doing much more research on this topic for my “Future of Medicare” Webex on May 27th (See my blog post on this here!). (As of this morning, we still have 11 seats available.) If you’d like to register for this webex, visit our Events Calendar and page down to May 27th to find the Future of Medicare Webex. Click here for the Events Calendar.
I’ll also be discussing Medigap modernization in my Live Seminar Series, so if you’re attending one of my meetings in Pennsylvania or Virginia, you’ll get the same content there! Here is the announcement on the Live Meetings.
Medicare Supplement Plans N & M should be a welcome addition for Medicare beneficiaries.