Medicare Supplement Quotes

Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company Review

Written by Jason Patterson

Medicare provides necessary coverage for a wide variety of needs - including inpatient hospitalization, outpatient surgery, and even medical supplies and equipment that is needed.

Medicare Part A and Part B  is available to those who have paid into the system (along with the individual’s spouse). However, even though this program can offer financial protection against the high cost of health care today, there are numerous “gaps” in this coverage.

Those gaps can drain a bank account. The more you use your Medicare coverage, the more those bills are going to pile up. For a lot of seniors, those expenses can be scary. Thankfully, there are several options to get some extra protection to offset those bills. The most popular is Medicare Supplemental Insurance policies.
 

These plans can give you a lot more protection than you get with traditional Medicare. If you want to beef up your healthcare, this is an excellent way to do it.

All of the plans are denoted by a letter of the alphabet, but can become confusing. Each plan is different, and coverage various portions. Medigap Plan A is the smallest plan. All of the other plans build on the basic set of coverage in Plan A.

Before you start shopping for a policy, you should realize these plans are regulated. A Plan B from one company is identical to a Plan B from another one.

Because companies have to provide the same coverage, you need to find the company who has the lowest rates for the plan you want. Find a company which cheap rates, a strong history, and excellent customer service. To help you connect with the best company, we have reviewed some of the most popular companies out there. This article is going to review Guarantee Trust Life.

The History of Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company

Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company (GTL) was initially founded back in 1936. It has benefited from the direction of one family, whose leadership and management continue to provide the insurer with a clear vision of who the company is, and where it is going.

For more than 80 years, three generations of the Holson family have provided direction to Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company’s operations - and today, Richard S. Holson lll follows both his father and his grandfather as the third family member to serve as the company’s President, CEO, and Chairman of the firm.

Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company Review

One of the key missions of Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company is to do business the right way. Because of that, the company has a track record of successfully delivering on its promises, as well as preserving the trust that its partners, policyholders, and employees place in int.

The cornerstone of Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company’s business ever since its inception is offering good, old-fashioned one-on-one customer service. Therefore, GTL provides easy access to its customer service representatives. These reps can be contacted in a number of different ways, including by phone, email, and / or fax.

The company also strives to be recognized as a highly competent, mid-sized mutual insurance carrier. This means that the company is essentially owned by its policy holders, and not dictated by the needs and wants of stock holders like public companies are.

GTL offers an attractive and trusted value proposition to its policy holder / owners, while at the same time encouraging and supporting personal growth and civic involvement from its employees.

Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company is considered to be strong financially. In 2016, the company had approximately $219 million in net premium income from its insurance products. That same year, the company posted record operating gains, while also growing its surplus by ten percent, growing its assets by eleven percent, and growing its reserves by twelve percent.

As of year-end 2016, the company held in excess of $551 million in total assets, and had $523 million in invested assets. Its net surplus stood at $77 million, and it held $445 million in total reserve for life insurance policies and contracts, as well as its accident and health insurance policies. The company’s assets are invested quite conservatively, with more than 85 percent of total assets invested in bonds, with only two percent invested in stocks. The company has its headquarters in Glenview, Illinois.

Insurer Ratings and Better Business Bureau (BBB) Grade

Over the years, the financial situation for insurance carriers can fluctuate - particularly in light of the overall economy. Today, Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company has a rating of B++ (Very Good) from A.M. Best Company.

Also, while Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company does not have the accreditation from the BBB. While they don’t have the accreditation, they do have an A+ rating.

Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans Offered by Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company

Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company provides several different options to choose from when it comes to Medicare Supplement insurance coverage. These include Plans A, F, G, and N - and each of these provide insured’s with different amounts of coverage, based on their particular needs.

With Plan A, the coverage that is offered includes:

  • Medicare Part A coinsurance and hospital costs - up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits have been used up
  • Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayment
  • The first three pints of blood that may be needed each year
  • Medicare Part A hospice care copayment or coinsurance

Medicare Supplement Plan F provides a long list of options - making it the most inclusive Medicare Supplement plan today:

  • Medicare Part A coinsurance and hospital costs - up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits have been used up
  • Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayment
  • The first three pints of blood that may be needed each year
  • Medicare Part A hospice care copayment or coinsurance
  • Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance
  • Medicare Part A deductible
  • Medicare Part B deductible
  • Medicare Part B excess charge
  • Foreign travel exchange - up to the plan’s limits

Because of the more inclusive  Medicare Supplement Plan F, the premium can be more than that of Plan A. However, for those who wish to have more comprehensive coverage that is offered in Plan F, yet without the higher premium, there is an alternative. This is through the high deductible version of Medicare Supplement Plan F.

With this high deductible Plan F option, the insured will need to first pay an annual deductible before the plan will pay out. However, the list of coverage options is the same as that of the regular Plan F. The amount of the annual deductible (in 2017) is $2,200.

Alternatively, an individual may wish to opt for Medicare Supplement Plan N. This plan offers:

  • Medicare Part A coinsurance and hospital costs - up to an additional 365 days after Medicare benefits have been used up
  • Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayment
  • The first three pints of blood that may be needed each year
  • Medicare Part A hospice care copayment or coinsurance
  • Skilled nursing facility care coinsurance
  • Medicare Part A deductible
  • Foreign travel exchange - up to the plan’s limits - which is 80 percent

In most cases, these plans are standardized, but there are a few exceptions. If you live in Massachusetts, Minnesota, or Wisconsin, your coverage is going to be a little different.

When purchasing Medicare Supplement coverage from Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company, there is a 12 month rate guarantee whereby premiums cannot be changed - even in light of the insured’s declining health. There is also a 30-day free look period after purchasing a plan where, should the insured wish to cancel, he or she may do so and still receive a full refund of their premium.

Other Products and Services Offered

Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company offers a lot of other products as well:

  • Life Insurance - Life insurance products offered include both individual and group policies, as well as plans that are specifically designed for juveniles.
  • Supplemental Health Insurance - On the supplemental health insurance side, the company offers hospital indemnity, critical illness, cancer heart attack and stroke, short term care, and accident coverage.
  • Group Insurance - The group insurance provided through GTL includes group gap, association gap, and group accident plans.
  • Special Risk Insurance - GTL also offers special risk insurance in the areas of college and university sports coverage, college and university accident coverage, K-12 student accident sickness and athlete, and child care facility accident coverage.

How to Get the Best Premium Rates on Medicare Supplement Insurance Coverage

Who doesn’t want to save money? There is one easy way to save money on your Medigap protection. The easiest way is to compare a lot of plans before you pick one.

Each company is going to offer different premiums. You need to do some shopping around to find the company with the lowest rates. You could spend days and days calling companies.

The one thing we tell everyone is to work with an independent agent. Independent brokers don’t work with one company. Instead, they have the ability to offer dozens of quotes all at once.

Our independent agents have years of experience working with the best companies across the nation.  Please contact us at 888-376-0824.

 

About us
 

Jason Patterson has been in the insurance industry for over fifteen years. Starting in 2005, he became one of the first agents to sell medicare supplements online. From that small start, he grew an agency that helped thousands of people with their insurance needs in all fifty states.

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