Humana Medicare Supplement Plans

Humana Inc. (Humana) provides insurance to over 16 million U.S. health plan members and has attained number 40 in the Fortune 500 rankings for 2022. This company traces its roots to 1961 when it launched under the name Extendicare in Louisville, Kentucky. Originally focused on providing nursing home care, Humana pivoted to offering a wide variety of health insurance plans when it changed names.

Still headquartered in the same city it was founded in, Humana is now a major provider of all forms of private Medicare-related health plans, including Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D (prescription drug coverage), and Medicare Supplement Insurance. Over the past few years, Humana President and CEO Bruce Dale Broussard has led improvements and expansions in many aspects of the company’s Medicare health plans. He has also cultivated partnerships with brands like Walgreens and Walmart with the aim of providing better services to the growing senior population.

The Basics of Humana Medicare Supplement Insurance

Original Medicare (Parts A and B) provides valuable but limited health coverage, so many seniors turn to Humana Medicare Supplement Insurance to fill their coverage “gaps.” With Medicare Supplement plans (also called Medigap), customers pay the insurance company monthly premiums, and in exchange the insurance company agrees to pay certain copays, coinsurance, deductibles, and other costs as they arise.

This arrangement often makes medical bills both lower and more predictable. It’s a great solution for many seniors since they’d otherwise be left paying about 20% or more of their total medical costs under Medicare. Note that with most Medicare Supplement plans, you will still need to pay premiums for Medicare Part B and possibly Part A.

If you’re considering a Medicare Supplement plan, it’s important to remember that Medicare does not provide or pay for this insurance, it only regulates it. Furthermore, there are some important restrictions you should keep in mind when shopping for plans.

Medicare Supplement Restrictions: 

• Incompatible with Medicare Advantage: Medicare Supplement plans cannot be purchased by those who are using Medicare Advantage. They are only intended to be used by those who have Original Medicare. You may be able to purchase a plan if you have Medicare Advantage but are in the process of switching back to Original Medicare, however.
• Cannot Provide Drug Coverage: These plans are also not allowed to include prescription drug coverage, though in previous years it was allowed. Those who need prescription drug coverage (also called Medicare Part D) may purchase a separate drug coverage policy in addition to their Medicare Supplement plan. Humana does offer these separate policies in most locations.

Overview of Humana Medicare Supplement Plans

Humana offers several different Medicare Supplement plan styles in accordance with official guidelines. Of the standardized plans that are allowed, Humana chooses to offer A, B, G, K, L, and N, as well as Plans C, F, and High Deductible F.

Due to recent regulatory changes, C and F plans are only available to those who were eligible for Medicare prior to January 1, 2020. The chart below focuses on the six plans that are available to newly eligible seniors. Note that Humana does not currently offer standardized plans D or M.

Although it’s not listed in the table below, all Medicare Supplement plans also include 365 additional days of Medicare Part A coverage for hospital stays. This means that if you have to stay in the hospital longer than Original Medicare covers, then your Medicare Supplement plan kicks in to cover those additional days.

*Excess charges occur when a doctor charges the patient more than Medicare is willing to pay.
**Plan N’s Part B copay/coinsurance coverage excludes some minor copays for office visits and emergency visits.

How Location Affects Plan Availability

The above table will be useful to seniors in most states. However, there are a few exceptions. The states of Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Wisconsin each have chosen to regulate Medicare Supplement plans in unique ways that suit their populations best. Currently Humana has about six different plans in each of these states, and more details on their coverage can be found on the Humana website.

Aside from the three exceptions listed above, the plans in the table will be available in most locations. Note that in some states, one county may offer more plans than a neighboring county does. You can usually discover which plans are available in your area online, but in some cases the Humana website will direct you to call an 800-number for more information.

The Cost of Humana Medicare Supplement Plans

Monthly premiums for Humana Medicare Supplement policies begin around $40 and can be as high as $230+. Costs depend largely on the plan style and the cost of living in your county. However, a few other factors, detailed below, also affect premium costs.

Preferred Costs Vs. Standard Costs for Medicare Supplement Plans
Your Humana Medicare Supplement insurance costs are affected by whether you qualify for preferred pricing. Preferred pricing is charged to customers who have guaranteed issue rights and are not subject to medical underwriting (the practice of insurance companies charging higher costs or denying coverage based on health). Generally, you have guaranteed issue if you apply when first eligible.

To learn more about applying when you’ll be eligible for the best prices, read When Can I Buy Medigap, an article published by Medicare.gov. Those who do not qualify for preferred pricing may be charged an average of about $50 extra per month.

Attained Age Pricing for Medicare Supplement Plans
In the majority of states, Medicare Supplement prices from Humana will rise regularly based on your increasing age. This is known as attained age pricing, and it’s the pricing model used by most companies. Over the course of 20 years, your policy’s monthly premium may rise about $100 due to your attained age, but this can vary.

Humana provides a document called “Outline of Medicare Supplement Coverage” for all states, and in these documents it includes full pricing charts that show increases over time. In most cases, these documents are available online.

Unique Benefits and Drawbacks of Humana Medicare Supplement Insurance

Benefits of Humana Medicare Supplements

• Three Premium Discounts: Humana gives its customers three different opportunities to save money on premiums. If multiple people in your home have a Humana Medicare Supplement policy, then you may be eligible for the household discount of 5%. If you sign up for automatic electronic payments (ACH), Humana will give you a $2 discount each month. If you complete your purchase of a Medicare Supplement plan online, you may also receive the Online Only discount of 6% in some states.
• Free Supportive Services: Humana customers can benefit from several forms of free support that goes beyond what’s required for standardized plans. One such service is the Humana advice nurse phone line, which allows customers to speak with nurses when they have minor medical concerns. Members can also benefit from the MyHumana app that can help them keep track of their benefits or make appointments. Finally, members in some locations may also have access to a “silver sneakers” gym as well as to a limited meal delivery service called MyDine following surgery.
• Optional Upgrade Packages: Some Humana plans are available in both a regular and a “Healthy Living” version. Both plans have the discounts and free supportive services covered above, but the Healthy Living version includes additional benefits for dental and vision care. Details vary by state, but with a healthy living plan you may be able to receive routine $0 copay vision and dental exams, plus credit toward the purchase of prescription eyeglasses and partial coverage (50%+) of things like dental fillings, x-rays, and extractions. Healthy Living plans will often cost about $20 extra per month compared to non-upgraded plans of the same type.

Drawbacks of Humana Medicare Supplements

• No Plan D or M: Like most Medicare Supplement Insurance companies, Humana does not offer all possible plans. If you look at “How to Compare Medigap Policies” page on the Medicare website, you’ll notice that companies can choose to offer plans D and M. At this time, Humana does not offer them. Those who were hoping to find plan D might consider plan G, while those seeking plan M could consider plan N. Each of these alternatives provides just slightly more coverage than plans D and M, respectively. 
• Overwhelming Details: Due in part to the fact that this company offers multiple versions of several plans, reading the “Outline of Medicare Supplement Coverage” that Humana provides can be a daunting task. Rather than each plan style having its own pamphlet, all plan details for your state will be included in one pamphlet which may be nearly 50 pages long. Speaking with a local insurance agent may be helpful if telling the different plans apart proves challenging.

Customer Reviews of Humana Medicare Supplement Plans

For many people, reading reviews is an important part of any shopping experience. Below you can read about some of the trends that we found in reviews of Humana insurance. The average review score that Humana has, based on data from the Better Business Bureau (Louisville, KY headquarters profile), Trustpilot (not location-specific), and Google Business (Louisville, KY headquarters profile ), was 2.2/5 stars.

Note that many online reviewers do not specify whether their insurance is a Medicare Supplement policy or some other form of Humana health insurance, so this average score reflects customers’ ratings of Humana as a whole.

Positive Reviews from Humana Customers

The majority of the five-star reviews that Humana receives online seem to be on the Google Business profile of the Humana Inc. headquarters in Louisville, KY. Many of these positive reviews are merely star ratings that don’t have any text with specific details, so it’s difficult to say what some of these reviewers liked about Humana.

Of the positive reviews that do have text attached to them, reviewers tend to mention the friendliness of the staff or their appreciation of the health coverage provided. Reviews that specifically include details on the Medicare Supplement plans are very rare, but one reviewer on Trustpilot mentions her good experiences, saying: “I have no problems with Humana as my Medicare Supplement plan. Very pleased with coverage, service, etc.”

Negative Reviews from Humana Customers

Negative reviews of Humana insurance tend to mention complaints about coverage and network changes, home delivery pharmacy delays, and customer service inefficiency. Most of these issues are unlikely to be relevant to seniors who sign up for Medicare Supplement plans since Medicare Supplement insurance coverage is tightly regulated and does not include prescription drug coverage. However, the customer service issues that are mentioned may affect Medicare Supplement insurance customers.

Those who have problems with Humana’s customer service most frequently mention their dissatisfaction with phone representatives. Multiple reviewers said they were transferred between representatives frequently. One Google reviewer said that the customer service line was staffed with “reps who bounce you from one department to the next,” while another Google reviewer said that over an extended time period he had “spent dozens of hours on the phone with no results.”

We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.