Nobody likes a whiner so I'll keep this brief. In order to choose a Medicare supplement plan that had a good rate, I used an online broker, SelectQuote Senior. They quoted me a rate but it wound up to be a false one! You can skip the rest if you aren't likely to use an online broker. If you might use one, read on.
The rate ($80.85 a month) was better than ones I had received through the mail. It was from Mutual of Omaha and I tried to pay for it online as advised. Oops, error code: "We're sorry. This service is temporarily unavailable."
I emailed Tim at SelectQuote. He answered that "We have had issues with Opera Browser for the online applications." So the next day I tried Safari. (I have a Mac.) That didn't work either. I contacted Tim again. He faxed me forms the next day. There were some glitches with the fax and another day passed before I had every page. Meanwhile I went back to the Mutual of Omaha website and noticed the monthly rate was higher than I had been told. However, when I questioned Tim by email, he reconfirmed the original monthly rate, writing "I am unaware of where the figure $97.02 came from." I signed the form and sent it back.
It seemed we were back on track. But when I received my policy in the mail, it came with a bill for $16.17. I contacted Tim again.
He did some research and eventually called. It seems that the original quote had been for a limited time, but he had not been aware of the deadline. It came and went while I was trying to find a browser that worked with the Mutual of Omaha website! By the time I received a faxed version to sign, the rate had gone up. In fact, it had already changed when Tim reconfirmed the original rate but he didn't know it.
So I'm stuck with a rate that's $97.02 instead of $80.85. That's still a decent rate for Plan F, which has no deductible. But it's not what I signed up for, and SelectQuote was helpless as far as getting me a reduction. Bottom line, I should have signed up directly with the insurance company right away instead of wasting time with SelectQuote.
February 9, 2012
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