Understanding Your Medical Insurance

Posted on: 31 May 2022

Medicare Supplement Insurance pays for the copays and coinsurance that Medicare doesn't cover, so it's a great way to keep your healthcare costs to a minimum during retirement. However, one thing that sometimes surprises people signing up for Medicare Supplement Insurance is that you'll usually need to go through medical underwriting in order to be approved.

You can avoid medical underwriting by signing up for a plan as soon as you become eligible for Medicare, but you'll typically have to go through it later if you ever switch health insurance carriers. A few states have exemptions that allow you to bypass underwriting when switching plans one time per year, but that's not the case everywhere. As a result, it's important to understand the medical underwriting process if you're planning on signing up for Medicare Supplement Insurance in order to help with healthcare costs. To learn about what the process entails and how you can pass underwriting, read on.

What Is Medical Underwriting?

Underwriting is the process that insurance companies use in order to find out how risky you will be to insure. Medical underwriting is normally used by life insurance companies since it allows them to use your current level of health in order to estimate how long you're likely to live.

However, Medicare Supplement Insurance companies also use medical underwriting in order to determine how much they're likely to spend covering your medical bills. If an insurance company determines that you'll be risky to insure, they may charge you higher premiums or deny your application.

How Does Medical Underwriting for Medicare Supplement Insurance Work?

The first step of medical underwriting is a pre-screening process. When you apply for Medicare Supplement Insurance, you'll fill out a short questionnaire or answer questions over the phone.

These questions ask you about major medical issues, such as if you've had an organ transplant in the past. They'll also ask you about potential upcoming medical procedures, such as if a doctor has recommended that you get joint replacement surgery. The purpose of these questions is to filter out people who will be very expensive to insure due to major medical issues.

If you pass the pre-screening, you'll be asked to provide the insurance company with a copy of your medical records from the past few years along with a list of prescription drugs you're currently taking. You can ask your doctor to release your records to the insurance agent.

The underwriting team at the insurance company will review your medical records in detail, using information about healthcare costs to estimate how much you're likely to spend on healthcare based on your current health. Once they've finished looking at your medical records, the underwriting team will either approve or deny you for Medicare Supplement Insurance.

How Do You Pass Medical Underwriting?

If you have chronic health conditions and are worried about being approved during the medical underwriting process, it's best to speak to an insurance broker that has experience with Medicare Supplement Insurance. Health insurance companies weigh the risk of medical conditions differently. Based on their experience helping other clients go through underwriting and your current health, an insurance broker can help point you towards a company that will give you the best chance of being approved.

You also have the option of waiting for special deals from Medicare Supplement Insurance carriers. Some carriers will temporarily waive underwriting for their plans when they're trying to get more clients, which means that you'll be able to skip the process entirely. Keep in mind, however, that premiums for these plans will likely be higher because the insurance company isn't able to review the health of the people who apply to them, and that increases the risk to the insurance company.

If you're planning on applying for Medicare Supplement Insurance and are worried about underwriting, speak to an insurance broker. They'll be able to tell you if your state has any special rules about bypassing medical underwriting, and they'll also tell you about any special plans that are currently being offered that allow you to bypass underwriting.