Medicare supplemental insurance policies can help cover a lot of the health care costs that Original Medicare doesn't cover, like co-payments, co-insurance, deductibles, and other out-of-pocket costs. These plans are distributed by private insurance companies which compete against each other helping to keep the premiums low. A Medigap insurance plan is different from a Medicare Advantage Plan. Those plans are different ways to receive Medicare benefits and are not guaranteed to renew each year, while a Medigap insurance plan pays the expenses not covered by original Medicare. Some Medicare supplement plans provide services that original Medicare doesn't cover, like medical assistance when traveling away from the U.S. If you have original Medicare and you buy a Medigap insurance policy, Medicare pays its share of the Medicare approved amount for covered health care costs, and then your Medigap policy pays its share.
Eight facts about Medicare supplemental plans
1. When you presently have a Medicare Advantage Plan, you are able to sign up for a Medicare supplement plan, but you have to terminate the Medicare Advantage Plan before your Medigap policy starts.
2. If you and your spouse both want Medigap coverage, you'll both have to buy separate Medicare supplemental insurance policies. A Medigap plan can only cover one person.
3. If you have Medicare Medical Savings Account plan it is illegal for an insurance company to sell a Medigap policy to you.
4. Any standardized Medigap policy is guaranteed renewable even if you currently have health issues. This means the insurance company can't terminate your Medicare supplement plan provided that you keep paying the premium.
5. If you would like to purchase a Medicare supplement plan you have to have both Medicare Part A and Part B.
6. Several older Medigap plans covered prescription drugs. No Medicare supplement insurance policies sold after January of 2006 have prescription drug coverage. If you need insurance for prescription drugs you will need to get Medicare Part D plan for prescription drugs.
7. In addition to the monthly Part B premium that for most comes out of your Social Security you have to pay a monthly premium to a private insurance company for your Medigap policy.
8. You may buy a Medigap policy from any insurance company that's licensed in your state to sell one.
Medicare supplement plans are labeled with letters A through N and come in ten different plan types. I,H,I, and J are older plans that are no longer available. The most popular plan is Medigap plan F with plan G a near second. Plan C is another popular plan many people tend to like. Medigap plan F covers all of the copayments, coinsurance, deductibles, as well as the excess charges not covered by Medicare. Medigap plan G is identical to plan F with the exception of not covering the yearly deductible for Medicare Part B. Often the yearly savings on the plan G premium is more than the expense of the deductible for Medicare Part B so it is a plan definitely worth checking out. When searching for a Medigap plan it is important understand that all of the plans are standardized. This means that every plan by the exact same letter provides the exact same coverage. So in other words Medigap plans provided by Forethought, Mutual of Omaha, Secure Horizons, and Sterling all provide identical coverage even though the companies may charge a different premium. For most people, the best time to obtain Medicare supplement insurance is when first turning 65. During the first six months from the time you turn 65 or whenever you first purchase Medicare Part B the insurance companies cannot turn you down and there is no medical underwriting. This is a huge benefit as there are many medical conditions that will normally keep you from purchasing a Medicare supplement.
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