What Exactly is the “Household Discount”? Do I Need to be Married to Qualify?

The “Spousal Discount” refers to the discounted rates offered to applicants who are married and reside with their spouse. At Manhattan we offer a more inclusive version of the Spousal Discount, referred to as the “Household Discount”. On top of married individuals residing with their spouse, non-married individuals may also qualify for the Household Discount if they reside with an individual meeting certain qualifications. If you are not married, but have resided with an individual who is 60 years or older for at least the last 12 months you can also qualify! This allows individuals in so called “common law” marriages, living with a family member 60 years or older, or in any other situation meeting the “past 12 months” and “60 years or older” requirements to benefit from the savings traditionally only offered to married individuals. These savings are significant, as they range from 7%-12% and are offered in most states!

*Disclaimer: Additional qualifications for the Household Discount exist in some states due to mandates from the Department Of Insurance in that state.

I Used to Smoke, Can I Qualify for Non-Smoker Rates?

Ultimately the answer is yes, you can potentially qualify for Non-Smoker rates if you have been a smoker in the past depending on how long it has been since you smoked. If you were previously a smoker, but it has been at least 5 years since the last time you smoked you qualify for the Non-Smoker rates. It is also important to note that if you have quit smoking but it has not yet been 5 years since you quit, you can still eventually get the Non-Smoker rates! When you hit your 5 year anniversary from the time you quit smoking you can contact Manhattan Life to switch over to Non-Smoker rates at your next payment period!

I Live in Different States Throughout the Year, What Rates do I Get? What if I Move?

This is a common question for “snowbirds”, those who alternate between residences depending on the season. Luckily, the answer is fairly straight forward, the residence which is your primary residence, in that it is where you file your taxes, is the residence that is used to determine your premium payments. Time spent in each residence is not a factor. If you move after your policy is active, in that you change your primary residence, you could see a change in your premium payments. Every state has different “area factors” associated with the medical costs of that state, so your rates could go up, go down, or stay the same, depending on the area factors of the state you previously lived in and the state you are moving to.

Visit ManhattanLife's Medicare Supplement for plan information.