I had a call from a senior center from a gentleman who would be getting Medicare in June. We discussed various options, and I also went to look up available Medigap policies on his state's Commissioner of Insurance website. And, sure enough, they had only the Medigap policies available through May of 2010. In June, the structure of Medigap policies changes. Table 15 on page 141 of the book shows the policies currently available, while the policies that go into effect in June of 2010 are explained on page 157. And there is a table on the CD, "Medigap Standard Policies Worksheet for June, 2010 and Forward," to help you with the new ones.
The rule is that if you sign up for a policy through May, you get to choose from the policies in effect through then, even if you don't actually get covered until later, say July, when you become 65. If you sign up for one in June or later, you have to get one of the new policies. The problem is that not all Insurance Commissioners' websites have the new policy information available yet, and my experience is that they may not even have it beginning in June. For example, Georgia's doesn't say anything about the new policies, Texas's and Kansas's at least tell you the new policies are coming, and some, such as Connecticut's, actually give you the new rates. So during this transitional period you may wish to call your SHINE or your Insurance Commissioner's office to see if you can get the very latest information.
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