Equitable Life & Casualty Company Review

While Medicare Part A and B (which is also known as Original Medicare) covers a lot of costs, this program can also leave a lot of “gaps”- particularly in the area of deductibles, copayments, and/or coinsurance that enrollees are required to pay out of pocket.

Because of that, it can sometimes make getting the care almost impossible. Luckily, that’s where Medigap policies come in.

These plans are built to fill in the areas where Medicare falls. There are ten different plans which fill in different gaps. They start with Medigap Plan A, the simplest.
 

Medigap plans are all the same, regardless of carrier. A Plan N with one company will offer the same protection as another company’s Plan N. The premium price that is charged, though, can differ - and in some cases, it can differ substantially.

You need to research the insurance company you are planning to purchase your Medicare Supplement insurance coverage from. This can help to you ensure that the carrier has a good financial foundation and has always paid claims.

Sure, you can spend the time to research all the companies available to you, or you can let us do the dirty work and bring all the information to you. To assist you in your search, here is our review of Equitable Life & Casualty Company.

The History of Equitable Life & Casualty Company

Equitable Life and Casualty Company traces its roots back to 1935 when Dr. Earl “Doc” Ross, the company’s founder, recognized the need to help families in Utah - primarily those of poor miners - with funeral and other final expenses. After Ross created several benevolent societies, whose members each contributed $1 apiece, the Equitable Mutual Aid Protective Society was born. The company also entered into the insurance industry at that time.

In the 1960s, Equitable became an initial player in the offering of senior life and health insurance products, including Medicare Supplement insurance. It is in this area that the company focused a great deal of its efforts - and still does today - along with other related products such as hospital indemnity, long-term care insurance, home care recovery plans, cancer and short-term care coverage, and final expense life insurance.

Equitable Life & Casualty Company Review

Equitable Life is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and it is considered to be the oldest active life insurer in the state. It is licensed to conduct business in 45 of the U.S. states.

Due in large part to its stable history in the industry, along with its strong financial backing, the company can be relied upon by its policyholders to be there when it is needed regarding claims payment.

Insurer Ratings and Better Business Bureau Grade

While Equitable Life and Casualty Company has had a long history of financial stability, and is rated at a B (Fair) by A.M. Best Company. The company’s long-term issuer credit rating is currently (as of April 21, 2017) listed as a bb+.

In addition, Equitable Life and Casualty Company is an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) ever since February 1, 1964, and they have an A+ from the BBB.

Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans Offered by Equitable Life & Casualty Company

The year that the Medicare program came into being - 1965 - was the same year that Equitable begin offering health insurance to America’s seniors in order to help in covering the costs and the services that were not paid for by Medicare.

Equitable Life and Casualty offers several different plans, including

• Plan A
• Plan F
• Plan G
• Plan N

Some of these offer more protection, while others are going to scale back the coverage.

Plan A has the basic amount of coverage, and all the other plans expand on those protections.

The coverage that is provided for in Medicare Supplement Plan A includes:

• Medicare Part A hospital copayment for days 61 through 150, as well as an additional 365 lifetime days once the enrollee’s lifetime reserve day’s end.
• The first three pints of blood needed each year
• Part A hospice copayment and/or coinsurance
• Medicare Part B copayment

Maybe you want more protection, look at Plan F:

• Medicare Part A hospital copayment for days 61 through 150, as well as an additional 365 lifetime days once the enrollee’s lifetime reserve days end.
• The first three pints of blood needed each year
• Part A hospice copayment and/or coinsurance
• Medicare Part B copayment
• Medicare Part A deductible
• Skilled nursing facility copayment (Days 21 through 100)
• Medicare Part A deductible
• Medicare Part B deductible
• Medicare Part B excess charges
• Foreign Travel Emergency coverage (up to the plan’s limit of 80 percent)

If you want something in between Plan A and Plan F, Medicare Supplement Plan G also offers a wide range of benefits, with:

• Medicare Part A hospital copayment for days 61 through 150, as well as an additional 365 lifetime days once the enrollee’s lifetime reserve days end.
• The first three pints of blood needed each year
• Part A hospice copayment and/or coinsurance
• Medicare Part B copayment
• Medicare Part A deductible
• Skilled nursing facility copayment (Days 21 through 100)
• Medicare Part A deductible
• Medicare Part B excess charges
• Foreign Travel Emergency coverage (up to the plan’s limit of 80 percent)

Plan N also offers a full range of Medicare Supplement insurance benefits:

• Medicare Part A hospital copayment for days 61 through 150, as well as an additional 365 lifetime days once the enrollee’s lifetime reserve days end.
• The first three pints of blood needed each year
• Part A hospice copayment and/or coinsurance
• Medicare Part B copayment
• Medicare Part A deductible
• Skilled nursing facility copayment (Days 21 through 100)
• Medicare Part A deductible
• Foreign travel emergency coverage - up to the plan’s limit (80 percent)

Other Products and Services

Medigap plans aren’t the only thing Equitable sells:

• Life Insurance - Equitable Life offers the Heritage Protector life insurance coverage, which is protection that is geared towards seniors who want to leave their loved ones money to pay for final expenses. It’s available for anyone ages 50 - 85, with face amounts that range from $2,000 and $30,000. Once approved, the benefit amount and the premium payment are locked in. With the Heritage Protector life insurance, there are two underwriting classes - Preferred and Standard.
• Cancer Care - The Cancer Care coverage that is provided through Equitable offers first occurrence protection, meaning that after an original diagnosis of cancer (not including skin cancer), $1,000 will be paid out to the insured to use as he or she sees fit. This plan will also provide coverage for overnight hospital stays in term of expenses that relate to doctor visits, private nursing, drugs, and diagnostic tests. Surgery and related costs may also be covered in this plan.
• Hospital Indemnity - Equitable offers several different levels of hospital indemnity coverage, including Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Each of these offers various daily benefit amounts for hospital indemnity coverage, as well as for other services, such as durable medical equipment, physician benefits, ambulance services, and an optional lump sum payout that provides a certain amount of cash upon the diagnosis of cancer. (These amounts can range between $1,000 and $10,000).
• Nursing Home Coverage - Equitable’s EquiCare 790 short-term care plan provides a daily benefit of between $50 and $300, in $10 increments. The benefit periods on this plan range from 100 days up to 350 days, with various elimination periods of 0 days, 30 days, or 90 days. This plan can help insureds to protect their savings in case of a short-term care need - which can often cost thousands of dollars per month. If both of the spouses in a married couple apply for this plan at the same time, they can receive a 10 percent premium discount.

Equitable also offers third party administration services, which provides a wide array of services, from product development and pricing to electronic state filings, online agent onboarding, express simplified underwriting, policy issuance, and claims processing.

Getting the Best Supplemental Protection

Want to get the cheapest Medigap coverage? Be sure to do some comparison shopping first. This is because the price of Medicare Supplement insurance can vary quite a bit from one insurer to another - so, by doing a bit of side-by-side research, you could save a great deal of money in insurance costs.

You can do the research and call the companies yourself, you can make one call to us. We can bring a dozen different carrier rates in an instant. Just think about the time and trouble it’s going to save you. We can be reached toll-free by dialing 800-376-0824.