MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT PLANS
In simple terms, A Medicare Supplement Insurance which is also called as a medigap policy refers to different health insurance plans sold to supplement medicare in the U.S. It is sold by private companies, can help pay some of the health care costs that Original Medicare doesn’t cover, like copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles.Some Medicare Supplemental insurance plans also cover certain hospital or services not covered by Medicare. Some Medigap policies also offer coverage for services that Original Medicare doesn’t cover, like health care when you travel outside the U.S. If you have Original Medicare and you buy a Medigap policy, Medicare will pay its share of the Medicare-approved amount for covered health care costs. Then your Medigap policy pays its share.
Medigap insurance provides coverage for many of the co-pays and some of the co-insurance related to Medicare-covered hospital, skilled nursing facility, home health care, ambulance, durable equipment, and treatment charges.In order to take advantages of this type of insurance one should take keep the following points in mind:
-
You can choose to buy a Medigap policy from any insurance personnel that is authorized to sell one.
-
You must already have medicare part A and medicare part B
-
A Medigap policy only covers one person. If you and your spouse both want Medigap coverage, you’ll each have to buy separate policies.
-
You pay the private insurance company a monthly premium for your Medigap policy in addition to the monthly Part B premium that you pay to Medicare.
-
If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan, you can apply for a Medigap policy, but make sure you can leave the Medicare Advantage Plan before your Medigap policy begins.
Medicare Supplement (Medigap) Chart shows the benefits that few plans cover:
|
BENEFITS |
A(%) |
B(%) |
C(%) |
D(%) |
|
Blood |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
Medicare part A coinsurance and hospital costs |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
Medicare part B coinsurance |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
Part A hospital care |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
Skilled nursing care insurance |
|
|
100 |
100 |
|
Medicare part A deductible |
|
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
Medicare part B deductible |
|
|
100 |
|
|
Medicare part B excess charges |
|
|
|
|
|
Foreign travel emergency |
|
|
100 |
100 |
You should also be aware about the insurance plans that are not covered by medicare advantage plans, medicare prescription plans, medicaid, tricare, veterans benefits among the few of them.
If you decide to drop your entire Medigap policy, you need to be careful about the timing. For example, you may want a completely different Medigap policy (not just your old Medigap policy without the prescription coverage), or you might decide to switch to a Medicare Advantage Plan that offers prescription coverage. So choose your medigap policy carefully.
