UnitedHealthcare Medicare Supplement 2025 Review (2025)

UnitedHealthcare (UHC) offers a broad range of Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plans exclusively through AARP that are enriched by AARP specific perks, discounts and access to other UHC health insurance coverage. AARP UHC Medicare Supplement plans may be beneficial for people who use or may later need extensive medical care and/or hospital services, who spend extended periods of time in different states or who need access to providers outside their local network.

UnitedHealthcare (UHC) is the exclusive Medicare Supplement provider of AARP. UHC offers no-cost and competitively priced benefits, including discount dental, hearing and vision programs, the Renew Active Fitness Program, which offers free or low-cost access to a network of gyms, and AARP programs for brain health. In many states, you can purchase additional coverage for long-term care, vision, dental and hearing aids.

• Plan options:UHC offers most standardized benefit packages (plans A through N, with F, G and N being most popular) to fill gaps in Original Medicare coverage (20% of hospital and doctor coinsurance, for example), plus the option to add Part D drug coverage. In some states, enrollees are eligible for long-term care, vision, hearing and dental discounts or coverage as well.
• Provider network:Medicare provides a broad network of health care providers and hospitals, and beneficiaries are able to see their preferred provider (in or out of network) using UHC Medicare Supplement insurance(as long as they accept Medicare).
• Average monthly premium:Costs vary dramatically by location, age, smoking status and plan type selected, among other variables.

Medicare Supplement plans fill gaps in coverage by Original Medicare and are standardized into 10 plans—lettered A through N—offering the same coverage across insurance providers. Most states follow federal and state guidelines, however, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin utilize different standards. Costs of UHC Medicare Supplement plans vary widely depending on a person’s location. The company’s online tools help customers navigate plan selection and find service providers.

You must be an AARP member, as well as enrolled in Medicare Part A (hospital) and Part B (outpatient care) to purchase a UnitedHealthcare Medicare Supplement plan. UHC Medigap users can visit any provider who accepts Medicare. As an AARP member, you have access to all AARP services and programs, including Staying Sharp (a brain health program) and Smart Driver (a refresher course that can lower auto insurance premiums).

You may purchase Medicare Supplement insurance during your initial Medigap enrollment period, which lasts up to six months after you turn 65. You cannot be refused coverage during this period; however, you may be subject to medical underwriting or denial of coverage during any other enrollment period.

If you or your spouse worked for at least 10 years, you won’t need to pay a monthly premium for Medicare Part A, as you already contributed to Medicare Part A premiums through taxes.However, you do need to pay apremium for Part B. The premium may increase for people with higher incomes and tends to change annually.

All UHC Medicare Supplement plans cover Part A coinsurance and hospital costs for up to 365 days after Medicare benefits are depleted. Plan K provides the least coverage and is usually the least expensive. Plans F, G and N are most popular. Plan C and F are no longer available to beneficiaries who weren’t eligible for Medicare before January 2020. Plans cover different amounts of Part A deductibles, skilled nursing or hospice coinsurance, blood products and foreign travel costs. The cheapest plans set higher deductibles and/or out of pocket limits. In addition, an annual AARP membership costs $16, which is required to access the AARP and UHC Supplement plan benefits.

If you use prescription drugs, you can purchase AARP MedicareRx, UHC’s Part D prescription drug plan. This plan covers common generic and brand-name prescription drugs, though available drugs and costs are subject to change. Many popular drugs are available for $0 copays at thousands of Walgreens and Duane Reade stores nationwide, and plan participants can locate pharmacies via the company’s pharmacy search page. UHC’s mail-order pharmacy, OptumRx, offers home delivery as well.

“Medicare is a little bit of a journey, and it changes every year,” says Rob Colangelo, an insurance broker at Colangelo Group based in New York. “Most people don’t really understand all the options for Medicare. Though defined plan benefits are the same, Part D drug plans can be very different from one company to another, working with different preferred pharmacies or offering different drugs at low cost. UnitedHealthcare has a particularly good drug program because they own OptumRx.”

Andrew Byrd, an insurance broker and owner of Medicare Help Me, notes Medicare Supplement plans can also be cost-effective for healthy people and those who can get all their medical care within an insurance company’s network of providers.

References

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