Problem with AARP Enrollment over Phone

Elaine is a friend of mine in Rhode Island who is 80 years old. She had seen the advertisements on television for AARP's Medicare Supplements. When she talked to her friends they said they had supplements to fill the gaps in their Medicare coverage, so Elaine called AARP to sign up for their Medicare Supplement policy which would cost her $175/month.

I was visiting Elaine last summer and the topic of Medicare came up, so I asked Elaine what coverage she had and asked to see her Medicare-related cards. When Elaine went through her wallet she pulled out not one, but two cards that said AARP on them. One was for a Medicare Supplement and one was for a Medicare Advantage plan - both from AARP.

I was puzzled and so was Elaine. Which coverage did she have? Elaine wasn't sure herself, but she knew she had called AARP three months earlier to sign up for the Medicare Supplement policy (at a cost of $175/month). So, even though it was Saturday, I called 1-800-MEDICARE and asked the question, "What do you see in Elaine's Medicare record that shows if she is covered by "Original Medicare" or a "Medicare Advantage plan?".

The answer from the Medicare representative was that Elaine was in the AARP Medicare Complete plan (which is a Medicare Advantage plan that includes a Part D drug plan). I asked if Elaine's Medicare Supplement policy would work with Elaine's Medicare Advantage plan. (I knew the answer but wanted the Medicare Rep to tell Elaine.) The answer was that a Medicare Supplement only works when a person is on "original Medicare". The "Med Supp" covers the gaps in Medicare - but when a person signs up with a Medicare Advantage plan (some call them "Medicare Replacement plans"), the plan pays their bills, not Medicare. Therefore, Elaine's AARP Medicare Supplement was "useless".

"Let's call AARP."
So, with Elaine's Medicare coverage clarified, I called AARP to find out how Elaine got signed up for a Medicare Supplement and was paying $175/month for a useless policy. The AARP representative said all callers are asked "if they have coverage already and are switching to AARP coverage". When I asked if customers are required to answer more specific questions about their "coverage", the AARP rep said that was not part of the phone interview.

So, what was Elaine to do? Her friends all had Medicare Supplements, so Elaine thought she should have one too. But, as it turns out, Elaine had no choice but to keep the Medicare Advantage plan because there is a "lock-in" for people in these plans. This conversation was taking place in July and Elaine could not change her Medicare Advantage plan until January. She could make changes as of November 15th and they would take effect on January 1.

I told Elaine to cancel the Medicare Supplement policy and to ask AARP to refund the premiums she had paid. Medicare Supplement policies can be cancelled at any time - but Medicare Advantage plans and Part D Drug plans can only be cancelled at the end of the year.

I supposed I am biased when it comes to advising people against signing up over the phone for something as important as Medicare coverage. I have met several seniors who thought the AARP Medicare Supplement would cover the co-payments in their Medicare Advantage plan - and when they called the AARP phone number, they were signed up without questions being asked about what kind of coverage they had.