A unit of CNO Financial Group Inc. will adding another type of Medicare supplement (Medigap) insurance plan to its Medigap shelves: a Plan D plan.
The company’s Chicago-based Bankers Life unit says it will sell a Medigap Plan D policy that offers purchasers access to the SilverSneakers exercise program and the WholeHealth Living Choices alternative medicine discount program.
(Related: Regulators polish the proposed Medigap Plan G)
The new Bankers Life Medigap Plan D policy will be a full-fledged Medigap policy that helps purchasers fill in gaps in their ‘Original Medicare’ coverage, not a Medicare Part D drug plan.
Congress created the Medigap “letter plan” system, or collection of standardized health plan designs, in an effort to help consumers compare Medigap plans on an apples-to-apples basis.
The most popular type of Medigap letter plan has been the Plan F. Plan F covers so much of the insured’s out-of-pocket costs that some policymakers have blamed it for encouraging patients to get too much care, and overly expensive care.