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July 15, 2015 at 09:19 AM
Independent agents helped Medicare supplement (Medigap) policy issuers generate big increases in sales and in-force revenue between 2013 and 2014.
Analysts at Gen Re, a reinsurer, have published data supporting those conclusions in a summary of the results from their latest Medicare supplement market survey.
The company found 80 insurers in the market in 2014, up from 72 in 2013. The number of insurers that participated in the survey increased to 54, from 50.
See also: Medigap: 3 things to know about 2014 results
Participating issuers that are actively selling Medigap said the number of people their new policies covered increased 23 percent between 2013 and 2014. The total number of people covered by all participating issuers increased 7.3 percent.
See also: Medicare plan business grows again
Gen Re analysts have not given the actual number of covered lives, but they say annualized premium revenue from new Medigap sales and active Medigap sellers increased 17 percent, to about $2 billion, while premium revenue from in-force policies increased 8.2 percent, to about $18 billion.
The percentage of issuers trying to sell Medigap coverage directly to consumers increased to 51 percent, from 41 percent in 2013, but the percentage of new sales premium coming from direct-to-consumer methods held steady at 5 percent.
