Aetna supplemental insurance

I’ve got supplemental coverage through GEICO.
I was wondering—if I head into the hospital for surgery and just flash my card, am I stuck paying the bill upfront and then chasing the insurance company for a refund later? Or does the hospital just bill them directly?
Thanks for any insight.

granitemaker26 said:I’ve got supplemental coverage through GEICO.
I was wondering—if I head into the hospital for surgery and just flash my card, am I stuck paying the bill upfront and then chasing the insurance company for a refund later? Or does the hospital just bill them directly?
Thanks for any insight.

From what I know, the hospital bills them automatically, but for prescriptions, you send in the receipt for a refund.

Sent from my iPhone 13 using Reddit

Most hospitals don't actually have direct contracts with UnitedHealthcare.
Usually, you just pay out of pocket and then file for a reimbursement. I did hear somewhere that if you give UnitedHealthcare a heads-up about an expense beforehand, they might be able to coordinate directly with the hospital—honestly, your best bet is to ask them straight up.

As for visiting a local office... I never bother with that. I handle everything online. In fact, I bought my policy through CNN, and they even let me skip the first premium payment.
I haven't had to file a claim yet, but from what I understand, you can just scan your receipts, upload them, and the money gets dropped right back into your checking account.
Of course, dealing with Medicare is way more straightforward since all the major medical centers already have agreements in place with them.
But, if you find yourself needing those high-end brand-name drugs that aren't covered under standard plans, having UnitedHealthcare is definitely worth it.

Does Medicare supplemental insurance have a B-list, and how does it actually differ from what you get through IEEE?
Can anyone pull together a breakdown of which companies offer what perks and what the price points look like?

GEICO doesn't cover the copay for drugs on the Tier B list. We're looking at a cost of $23.

Cisco doesn't even have a Tier B list, $22.

UnitedHealthcare is the only one that covers the Tier B list, $22.

GEICO and Cisco accept all the local clinics and most hospitals, but for any others, you'll have to pay out of pocket first and then file for a reimbursement.

Hey everyone! My supplemental coverage through Medicare expired right after I graduated. Since I see I have Allianz, State Farm, Prudential, and a few others on top of my basic Medicare, I'm struggling to pick which one to go with. I can't decide if it's better to stick with the standard Plan A or upgrade to the A+B combo with the expanded list. From what I can tell, Allianz offers a supplemental plan with List A $15 but the extended version uses List B $22. I'm wondering if upgrading to List B is actually worth it or if Plan A covers enough. Looking at List A, it mostly just includes stuff like CVS and Klavocin that I've used before, plus a couple of other things. Is it worth paying an extra couple of bucks for List B?

If your daily routine doesn't include medications that require extra coverage, then there’s really no point in paying for an Aetna plan that covers the B-list.

swiftbear86 said:If your daily routine doesn't include medications that require extra coverage, then there’s really no point in paying for an Aetna plan that covers the B-list.

Got it, thanks! 👍

swiftbear86 said:GEICO doesn't cover the copay for drugs on the Tier B list. We're looking at a cost of $23.

Cisco doesn't even have a Tier B list, $22.

UnitedHealthcare is the only one that covers the Tier B list, $22.

GEICO and Cisco accept all the local clinics and most hospitals, but for any others, you'll have to pay out of pocket first and then file for a reimbursement.

swiftbear86 said:GEICO doesn't cover the copay for drugs on the Tier B list. We're looking at a cost of $23.

Cisco doesn't even have a Tier B list, $22.

UnitedHealthcare is the only one that covers the Tier B list, $22.

GEICO and Cisco accept all the local clinics and most hospitals, but for any others, you'll have to pay out of pocket first and then file for a reimbursement.

I have the same question. Does anyone have experience with Allianz, or should I look elsewhere? I don't use any Tier 2 medications daily, though I noticed Allianz allows up to two boxes of Tier 2 drugs for the same prescription. What would be most cost-effective if I am planning to get pregnant—supplemental coverage, something else, or nothing at all? Also, I need to run some tests; if I buy something online today, when does the policy actually kick in?

I managed to get all the details I needed just by sending an inquiry through their website, so I went ahead and picked up a policy there.

As for those two-box limits, I honestly have no clue where you saw that. Could you send me a link?

Rachel Booth7 said:I have the same question. Does anyone have experience with Allianz, or should I look elsewhere? I don't use any Tier 2 medications daily, though I noticed Allianz allows up to two boxes of Tier 2 drugs for the same prescription. What would be most cost-effective if I am planning to get pregnant—supplemental coverage, something else, or nothing at all? Also, I need to run some tests; if I buy something online today, when does the policy actually kick in?

If you aren't entirely sure how much you'll be spending on Tier 2 drugs, you might be better off going with Unum for $22, since they cover the Tier 2 list entirely—or UnitedHealthcare does the same for $23.

From what I can gather, though, Allianz only covers up to two boxes annually for $22?

Theoretically, Unum seems like the best bet for $22; they even offer a 10% discount for signing up online, though I'm not quite certain regarding the exact start date for the coverage.

Rachel Booth7 said:I have the same question. Does anyone have experience with Allianz, or should I look elsewhere? I don't use any Tier 2 medications daily, though I noticed Allianz allows up to two boxes of Tier 2 drugs for the same prescription. What would be most cost-effective if I am planning to get pregnant—supplemental coverage, something else, or nothing at all? Also, I need to run some tests; if I buy something online today, when does the policy actually kick in?

Just so you know, once you're pregnant, everything is covered. All your checkups and any prescription meds you get during pregnancy are free.

Any specific vitamins you want to take, you just buy them at the pharmacy like usual.

ontopic:
I have State Farm supplemental, and now my husband wants one too. How does their family plan work? Anyone here using it?

swiftbear86 said:GEICO doesn't cover the copay for drugs on the Tier B list. We're looking at a cost of $23.

Cisco doesn't even have a Tier B list, $22.

UnitedHealthcare is the only one that covers the Tier B list, $22.

GEICO and Cisco accept all the local clinics and most hospitals, but for any others, you'll have to pay out of pocket first and then file for a reimbursement.

It used to be like that with the CDC too—back in the day, we'd just pay at certain places and then send them the receipt to get our money back, and it was never an issue. Eventually, they worked out direct contracts with those facilities, so everything got way more streamlined.
But now we're running into a wall because we renewed our contract with the CDC, yet we were totally blindsided by these massive changes... apparently, it doesn't even cover hospital stays anymore? At least, that's what they told us at Medicare. We haven't had a chance to sit down and compare which pharmacy lists offer better deals on meds yet.
The total amount dropped down to 6z kn

Who told you they don't cover hospital stays? It’s right there on their website: https://www.cdc.gov/supplemental-insurance/. As far as I can tell, they only scrapped the B-list because it wasn't profitable for them anymore.

Personally, my insurance company just shut down my policy without so much as a heads-up. Sure, I got some notice months ago that terms were changing, but nothing right before it expired. I wouldn't have even known it lapsed if my sister hadn't been working at the clinic and told me I had to pay out-of-pocket for my referral because my coverage was dead. Thank God I didn't need any major testing or end up in the ER.

The woman at the Medicare desk told me I should probably head over to room XY if I wanted the full rundown—but honestly, I was in such a rush I just couldn't stay. She mentioned that they’re basically the only ones providing supplemental coverage for hospital stays.
I've always relied on the CDC, and it’s never given me any grief, but now? Man, I have no idea what I'm actually looking at here.

Honestly, I think she’s just playing the "big shot" card to get people to switch over to Aetna supplemental plans since everyone’s been leaving them in droves lately.

A couple of years ago, I ended up in the hospital under Medicare coverage and everything was fully covered. I’m actually going to look into this further and let you know—I might even give my agent a call to get the straight story.

Besides, it seems pretty obvious that all insurance plans cover hospital stays. I mean, who would bother getting supplemental coverage if it didn't cover the big stuff? 🤷

edit:
http://www.cdc.gov/support/faq/
What does having CDC supplemental health insurance actually mean if I end up in the hospital for surgery—like for my knee, appendix, eyes, or whatever?

Having a Deductible policy means you don't pay a dime, regardless of how much the hospital bill ends up being.

That’s what it says right there on their website. If it isn't covered, then they're basically running a scam with their advertising. Personally, I think that lady at Medicare is either lying or she just hasn't got a clue.

I honestly have no clue. I’m not even sure if I read the contract right—it says it lasts until I cancel it, which would mean I can just pull the plug whenever I feel like it. But man, they just keep shifting the goalposts. One minute it's an automatic renewal, then suddenly it's set to expire after a year🙄—which actually caught me off guard, though the folks over at the CDC were super sweet and helped me sort everything out—and now I’m looking at this new agreement that says it stays active until I revoke it.

Kind of a dumb question here—do I actually need to lug both my Medicare card and my Aetna card around whenever I head to the GP? 😁
Like, how does the CDC stuff even work in practice? Does the nurse just swipe a card somewhere when it's time, or what?

It depends.

You’ll need to have both cards on you when you visit the doctor or pick up a prescription, but...

Since everything is linked through Medicare and the CDC, they can usually verify your coverage automatically. However, if you don't mention that you also have Aetna, the doctor or the pharmacist won't have any way of knowing unless you speak up first.
The same goes for the card itself—just carrying it doesn't mean your supplemental coverage is active. Policies can be canceled or changed for all sorts of reasons, so the physical card isn't some magic guarantee. That's why they run an automatic check every time.
Also, even if you don't have your Aetna card handy, you still need to tell them you have it so they can run the check.

Thanks, I'll just hit them up when I get there 🙂