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.: December 2006 --> Humana's Bait and Switch

Humana's Bait and Switch

» This is terrible: "The more than two million senior citizens nationwide who signed up last year for Humana Inc.'s least expensive Medicare prescription drug plan face average premium increases of 60 percent -- and in seven states, increases of 466 percent -- starting tomorrow . The higher prices will affect about 50,000 seniors in Massachusetts, where premiums are going up by 130 percent, from $7.32 to $16.90 a month. [...] 'You have to state the obvious,' said David Shove , a stock analyst with Prudential Equity Group in New York. 'You sell something cheaply and get a lot of customers, and then you raise the price to improve the profitability.'"
 [ 12.31.06 ]


2 Comments

jeez, do customers have any recourse? can you change plans while staying under the Medicare umbrella?

Last year I signed up for Humana's Complete plan which didn't have a "donut hole". There was full coverage of all drugs from $2400 to $3850. This year the plan during the "donut hole" period only covers generic drugs. I called and was told that a lot of people were calling about this and was told to disregard the data in the booklet that was sent out. There would not be any changes.

Before I called Humana I sent an e-mail to them and they answered saying that only generics was covered during the "donut hole" period. I e-mailed them back and received another answer saying the same as before.

I plan on calling again when I have time. But this is confusing and I am quite angry that after spending a lot of time, last year deciding which provider and which program to go with, Humana changed this very important part of the program. They raised the monthly payments quite a bit, to $76.00, which is really quite high.

Ron Blocher



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