Much Consumer Interest in Medicare Advantage Is Soft: Deft

By Allison Bell

News July 02, 2018 at 06:16 PM

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Traditionally, the Medicare supplement (Medigap) insurance market has tended to have less bureaucracy for agents, and higher compensation for agents, than the Medicare Advantage plan market has had.

Analysts at Deft Research have found another possible advantage for agents in the Medigap market: Medigap prospects may be more enthusiastic about what they think they'll be buying.

(Related: 3 New Medicare Plan Shopper Secrets)

Analysts at Deft Research have published data on the enthusiasm gap in a new slice of data from an online survey conducted in April and 2018.

People who are not disabled and who are not getting kidney analysis get a Medicare initial enrollment period that lasts from three months before they turn 65 to three months after they turn 65.

The Deft Research sample for the new slice of data included 1,359 Medicare "age-ins," or people ages 64 to 65.25.

About 41% of the age-ins said they were likely to sign up for Medigap coverage.

Almost as many — 39% — said they were likely to sign up for Medicare Advantage plan coverage.

But 47% of the participants leaning toward Medigap coverage said they were very or extremely certain that they would buy Medigap coverage.

Just 34% of the participants leaning toward Medicare Advantage plan coverage said they were very extremely certain to actually buy Medicare Advantage coverage; 47% said they were just somewhat certain to sign up for Medicare Advantage plans.

— Read Web Health Broker Gives Peek at Per-Enrollee Commissions, on ThinkAdvisor.

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