Question: I have original Medicare with a supplement, and my friend has similar coverage, but they pay a lot less. They said their supplement is through a company called Transamerica, so I called them to ask about enrolling in one of their plans, but they said they were no longer selling Individual Medicare Supplements in New York. Is there anything I can do to get a Transamerica plan, or lower my monthly premium?

Answer: This is a question with many layers. When you use your Original Medicare with a Medicare Supplement plan in New York State (and most states) they are “lettered” plans – plans are organized by names that are just letters, and the letter corresponds to different coverage options. For example, Plan G offers certain benefits, and no matter which company offers a Plan G, the benefits are the exact same. The only thing that varies between a Plan G offered by one company versus another is the monthly premium.

Some companies selling these Medicare Supplement plans have special rules. For example, in order to enroll into a United Healthcare Supplement plan, you must be a member of AARP.

In New York, Transamerica has been available for a number of years, and the pricing structure of each of the letter plans has a pretty significant difference based on a number of factors. We’ll keep using Plan G as an example, since Plan G also offers the most comprehensive coverage available to anyone who recently started Medicare.

Up until May, with Transamerica, you could enroll in an Individual Plan G, and you would pay $314 per month (depending on the exact part WNY you lived in). If you enrolled into an Individual Plan G with Transamerica and set up an Automatic Payment (EFT) your price would be reduced to $307.72. If you enrolled into a Group Plan G your premium would be $233. If you enrolled into a Group Plan G and set up an Automatic payment your premium would be $214.36. That illustrates a pretty big monthly price swing based on how you joined (individual vs group) and how you paid (monthly check mailed in vs EFT).

For this significant price reduction, people calling Transamerica asking to enroll in a Medicare Supplement would often use the Group Rate if they belonged to an approved group. Those groups to name a few locally are American Legion, VFW, Moose, American Medical Association (AMA) National Rifle Association (NRA) or American Senior Benefits Association (ASBA).

The change that has happened in May is that Transamerica will no longer issue Individual policies in New York State. So now the only way to enroll in a Transamerica Medicare Supplement is if you belong to one of these groups. Instead of just a reduced rate, this works more like United Healthcare requiring AARP membership.

So if you called Transamerica and didn’t know the rule about the Group Membership, you would be turned down and not sold a Medicare Supplement Policy. But now that you know about the Group Membership requirement, you can consider joining one of these groups and then calling Transamerica to enroll into a Group Medicare Supplement Plan. The letter plan you choose will determine your monthly premium as well as how you pay that premium.

I definitely recommend calling Transamerica back as soon as you decide which organization you would like to join. Then review the pricing structure of your letter plan and enroll if you can save money on your monthly premiums. I know we are all looking to save money wherever we can, and getting the same coverage for less money is definitely a smart idea.

Janell Sluga is a Geriatric Care Manager helping seniors in our community access services and insurance. To reach her, email editorial@post-journal.com.