Medicare supplemental coverage should begin on the first day of the month following your sign up date. Some insurance plans will allow you to set the begin date for a later period, but there is really no plausible reason to do so. If you are inquiring about Medicare supplemental coverage and the insurance company cannot give you a confirmed date that the coverage will begin, you should consider purchasing from another insurance company. Recent studies have found that insurance fraud is most commonly done this way. The “insurer” takes payment for a policy and does not have a specific date that coverage will begin. Eventually the insured person realizes that they never had any coverage.
If you have purchased Medicare supplemental coverage after 1992 you do not have to worry about renewals. If you purchased supplemental coverage prior to this date you may find your policy not being renewed. In recent history there have been many private insurance companies that have gone out of business or have filled for bankruptcy. If this happens to you your policy will be terminated. You will have rights however, if you keep the documentation that this happened. When you seek a new company you will have guaranteed issue rights for at least 63 days after the policy has ended. This is the same rights you had when you first applied for the policy.
Everyone can expect to see the cost of their insurance premiums rise in the future. Everyone must also expect many changes in the industry due to the health care bill that was recently passed. It is very important that you read and understand any information that is sent to you about your insurance coverage. With the eventual changes that will take place it is to be expected that rates will change.